How Our Content Supports SEND Learners

CENTURY’s Learning Material

Our learning material is meticulously crafted through a unique blend of educational expertise, cutting-edge technology, and robust scientific research. This multi-faceted approach ensures that our content is not only accurate and comprehensive but also highly effective for every learner.

Expert-Led Content Creation

All videos, questions, and slideshows are exclusively created by subject specialist experienced teachers. This ensures that the content is pedagogically sound, curriculum-aligned, and directly addresses the needs of students of all abilities. We incorporate cognitive neuroscience and learning science research for the latest understanding of how the brain learns, to optimise retention and understanding.

“Nugget” Micro-Lessons

Our extensive learning material is broken down into “nuggets”, which are short, focused micro-lessons. Each nugget is designed around a specific learning objective and usually includes:

• Engaging learning content with detailed explanations.

• Modelling of concepts with  worked examples.

• Opportunities for practice and questions that are marked instantly with feedback.

Inside a Nugget

Within each nugget, specific pedagogical strategies are implemented to create an inclusive and effective learning experience for students with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND):

• Small Step Planning (Nuggets): Specific, sequential areas of learning make complex topics more manageable for students, including those with diverse learning needs.

• Anticipating and Planning for Errors: Common misconceptions are identified and addressed directly within the videos and through assessment feedback. This proactive approach helps to pre-empt difficulties and provide immediate, targeted support.

• Assessment for Learning: Continuous assessment is integrated into CENTURY usage through guided practice within the learning content  and assessment questions in each nugget. This allows for ongoing monitoring of understanding and immediate intervention.

• Concrete and Pictorial Representations: The content utilises images of common manipulatives (concrete methods) and pictorial representations to explain abstract concepts. These visual scaffolds aid understanding, particularly for learners who benefit from multi-modal approaches.

• Modelling Metacognition: In the videos, teachers explicitly model problem-solving and thinking processes, including planning, monitoring, and evaluation. This helps students to develop their own metacognitive skills.

• Explicit Vocabulary Instruction: Subject-specific vocabulary is explicitly taught across all subjects and Key Stages within every nugget. This is often supported by pictorial examples to enhance comprehension.

• Matching Modality (Audio and Visual): Videos effectively use both audio and visual channels to convey complementary information, such as narrated animations, to help students follow what is being taught. 

• Signalling Important Information: Key information is highlighted in various ways, including showing keywords or highlighting text, to help learners focus on crucial aspects of the content.

• Segmenting Learning: Nuggets are segmented into short, digestible parts, allowing learners to pause, practise, and control their own pace, which is particularly beneficial for students who require more processing time.

• Examples and Non-Examples: Content includes both examples that support a concept and non-examples, with explanations of why they don't fit, to clearly define concept boundaries.

• Purposeful Practice: Students are given specific, guided tasks within the learning content. These skills are broken down into chunks, ensuring that students practice correctly and master concepts incrementally.

These design principles, embedded within the content creation, aim to make learning more accessible, scaffolded, and adaptable for all students, including those with SEND.

Last updated: Summer 2025