Bridging the Gap: Helping Learners with Additional Needs Build Micro-Skills for Success

At FIIT Learning Academy in Addiscombe, Croydon, we believe that every child is capable of learning, but not every child learns in the same way or at the same pace. For many young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), the challenge isn’t a lack of ability; it’s that key building blocks of learning; known as micro-skills have been missed along the way.

By identifying and strengthening these smaller foundational skills, we help learners rebuild their confidence, independence, and readiness to learn. These micro-steps often make the biggest difference, turning small moments of success into lasting growth.

What Are Micro-Skills?

Micro-skills are the small but essential abilities that sit beneath larger learning outcomes. Before a student can write an essay, they need to form letters, organise ideas, and focus for sustained periods. Before they can solve a maths problem, they must first develop number recognition, sequencing, and working memory. And before they can participate in group work, they need social awareness, listening, and emotional regulation.

When one or more of these micro-skills is underdeveloped, learning can quickly become frustrating, leading to avoidance, low confidence, or challenging behaviour. At FIIT Learning, we focus on making the invisible visible — identifying which micro-skills need to be strengthened and developing them step by step through targeted support.

Identifying Skills Gaps

Our process begins with personalised assessment and observation. We look beyond academic results to understand how a student learns and where they might be getting stuck. Using a blend of assessment tools, classroom insights, and professional collaboration, we explore areas such as cognitive processing, memory, attention, language and communication, emotional regulation, and motor coordination.

We also assess executive functioning skills, like planning, organisation, and time management, which play a crucial role in learning success. Alongside this, we work closely with families, previous schools, and external professionals such as educational psychologists, speech and language therapists, and occupational therapists to gain a complete picture of each learner’s strengths and needs.

Building Skills, One Step at a Time

Once we’ve identified where the gaps are, we design a bespoke micro-skills development plan. This plan includes short, focused activities embedded into the school day, allowing learners to practise new skills in manageable, low-pressure ways. For example, learners might complete focus and attention games to strengthen concentration, visual sequencing tasks to improve memory, or speech and language activities to enhance comprehension.

Movement breaks and sensory integration exercises help regulate emotions and prepare the brain for learning, while social stories and role-play sessions build empathy, communication, and cooperation.

By mastering one micro-skill at a time, learners experience small, consistent wins — leading to increased motivation, confidence, and sustained engagement with their education.

Therapeutic and Relational Support

Developing micro-skills isn’t just about repetition — it’s also about relationships and emotional safety. Our staff use trauma-informed approaches to create a learning environment where students feel secure enough to take risks, make mistakes, and try again.

We teach learners to understand their own learning patterns and emotional states, encouraging them to recognise when they need help or a break. This self-awareness becomes a vital micro-skill in itself — one that underpins not only learning but wellbeing and resilience.

Measurable Growth, Meaningful Change

Progress at FIIT Learning is measured through both academic and developmental milestones. As learners strengthen their micro-skills, we see improvements in focus and stamina during lessons, accuracy in literacy and numeracy, and confidence in independent task completion. Emotional regulation and positive behaviour also improve as students feel more capable and in control.

These gains create a ripple effect — enabling students to access more complex learning, achieve qualifications, and build readiness for further education, training, or employment.

The FIIT Difference

At FIIT Learning Academy, we see every learner as capable, intelligent, and worthy of success. Our commitment to identifying and developing micro-skills ensures that no student is left behind because of missed foundations.

By meeting learners exactly where they are and guiding them forward with compassion, we turn frustration into flow — and potential into progress.