Six and seven-year-olds chosen for the scheme are taken out of their class groups for a 45-minute session once a week for six weeks. Angela Jackson trains teaching assistants to run the sessions. She makes the point that sessions are not aimed at the child who is already seeing an educational psychologist or the one with a recognised learning difficulty.
     
"Instead, they are designed for the child who is sitting in the classroom and is not attracting much attention," she says.

While there is nothing wrong with being quiet, Mrs Jackson stresses that it is important that children are able to participate.

"They may be perfectly happy children, but if they do not have the confidence to put their hands up and ask questions they are not going to get the full benefit from all that's going on around them." 

Richard Lee, head teacher of Barford Primary School in Ladywood, Birmingham, said he decided to try the scheme because he had a year group of children with a lot of interesting characters.
 
"We thought this would be useful for them because it's all about social interaction and how to relate to their peers and adults. We chose a selection of children who weren't necessarily the most difficult or challenging but would benefit from raising their self-esteem. They might have been classed as your classic wallflowers, or they were stigmatised by a certain type of behaviour.

"They didn't know that they were being treated any different but they were all taken out of class on a regular basis. They all thoroughly enjoyed it and we saw quite a change throughout the period that we ran the sessions."

Mr Lee described one child who was very, very shy and had a tendency to clam up.

"He had a lot to say but he just couldn't get it out in an acceptable manner. He would get it all mixed up in his head and stutter a lot. By the end of the programme, he was the child who could have a full 10 or 20 minute conversation with the rest of a group."

Another child, Mr Lee recalled, lacked the social skills to interact in class properly.

"He wasn't malicious, he was a bit over-enthusiastic, and didn't take his turn to speak. By the end, he could wait and listen and respect other people's points of view."

"And it is not just the children's ability to participate and play by the class rules that improved, they have also shown improvements in their ability to organise themselves and learn in a group effectively."      

The 6s and 7s programme is all about helping children with their social and emotional development so they can make friends and participate in class. And by all accounts it works.

"I've always said you can have the most wonderful teacher, but if they can't manage the class and there isn't that social relationship between the children, then the children won't learn. You have to create a situation where children feel comfortable to speak out and know that they won't be ridiculed by anyone," Mr Lee concluded. (Source: BBC News)