A new ADHD toolkit from the University of Exeter is the first of its kind designed specifically to be used in UK primary schools.
On average, at least one child in every classroom will have attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), with many more who struggle to pay attention, resist impulses to do things like jump out their seat or shout out, or are overly active. School is a particular challenge for children with ADHD, who are at risk of exclusion, mental health problems, and poor attendance.
Existing interventions have shown some effectiveness but are often impractical in UK mainstream schools because they need a specialist to deliver them. Most have also been tested in the USA, meaning many elements don't transfer easily to UK schools.
The FLEX Toolkit has been co-designed by University of Exeter researchers alongside the Tools for Schools Planning Group – comprising children with ADHD, their families, and school staff, along with educational and clinical psychologists and child psychiatrists. The online toolkit has been designed specifically for use in mainstream UK primary schools and to be easily accessible to teachers without the need for a specialist.
Dr Abby Russell from the University of Exeter Medical School is project lead and said: "Teachers log into the toolkit, and it has basic information about ADHD, the science behind the condition, as well as a neurodiversity approach. Then there are activities to get to know the child, their strengths and what interests them – so you can really tailor what you're doing in the classroom towards the child.
"Then it gets a bit more personalised, so based on the strengths or challenges a child is having the teacher picks strategies from the toolkit to use. And one of the neat things about the toolkit is a lot of the strategies we've developed are things teachers can use with their whole class. So rather than having to take a child out and work with them one to one, they can stay involved with their peers."
Researchers tested the toolkit with eight schools and 40 children with ADHD across 16 weeks in this latest study, funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and published in Pilot and Feasibility Studies.
Rachel Hanna is the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Coordinator (SENDCo) at Otter Valley Federation in Devon. She works at Feniton and Tipton St John primary schools, who took part in the study, and said: "ADHD is something we deal with in the classroom every day and children with ADHD are often being told off. The number of negative comments they receive can impact their self-esteem.
"So, it's exciting to have a toolkit like this, which can help shift the narrative to support these children by giving them the strategies and regulation tools to allow them to have success, as well as celebrating what they're good at and what makes them unique. But it's also something teachers can access quickly and easily when the curriculum and school day is crammed.
"I think the highlight for me was when I walked into a classroom months after the study finished and one of the resources was still on the wall and being used actively with the children in that class. That to me was a win. And I thought, 'yes, it's embedded. That teacher has taken it on board'."
The toolkit is available online for the next academic year, with a license costing £150 per school to gain access. Multiple teachers in a school can use the toolkit with their own logins in order to personalise it to the children in their class.
Dr Abby Russell continued: "There are still some improvements we could make for future versions, but our ultimate hope is the toolkit gets used in primary schools across the UK and maybe even beyond. That local authorities or healthcare systems might start recommending it to schools to support pupils with ADHD that's not part of a medicalised pathway, which lots of families and children don't want and isn't appropriate.
"We want the toolkit to help when children are first struggling at school, rather than waiting until they've got really severe problems or challenges."
The paper titled 'Assessing the feasibility and acceptability of a school-based non-pharmacological intervention for ADHD: The Flex Toolkit'is published in Pilot and Feasibility Studies.
