Find out more

Sign up for our brochure

Request a full Catch Up® information brochure and details of our free information webinars

Find out more

News

28th January 2026 - Cognitive Science Approaches and Catch Up®

Anyone else out there drowning in new buzz words in education? Are you completely up to speed on gamification and AI-driven individualised learning for pupils? We have to admit that we sometimes feel that all the new jargon is making our heads spin!! Is it all a bit of a gimmick? Or are they really valuable practices that will enhance our teaching?

Often in the classroom we are too busy getting on with teaching to stop and reflect on how we teach and, just as importantly, how learners learn.

So, we at Catch Up decided to spend our latest online INSET day for the Catch Up® Accredited trainers, sifting through the deluge of new terminology to pick out those teaching and learning approaches that do two things:

a) Come from a research base (For this we turned to The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) 2021 report: ’Cognitive Approaches in the Classroom: A Review of the Evidence’)

b) Relate directly to how we do things in Catch Up

And that’s what we want to share with you in this blog.

So here goes with 4 cognitive science principles to blow your mind!

1. Spaced learning

Sounds out of this world but is really about how it is easier for learners to learn if we intersperse chunks of information with an unrelated activity. (Basically it’s ‘And now for something completely different’ - Thank you, Monty Python’s Flying Circus!) The EEF found this teaching, setting aside and then revisiting approach - which allows for revision and recall - was a very effective way of embedding skills in the long-term memory.

At Catch Up we hadn’t thought to call it ‘spaced learning’, but it is exactly what goes on in the Catch Up sequence of learning.

The structure of both interventions, and the process of ‘over-learning’, leads to spaced learning being a natural part of the support! Just the two 15-minute sessions a week, broken up by other lessons, supports the principle.

That’s not all! Take Catch Up® Numeracy, we work on an individual component a level at a time, heading for the next target level. When that target level is achieved (and sometimes before!) we switch to another component. We may then revisit the first component after a few days or even weeks! This allows for revision and recall practice, supporting skills to become embedded in the long-term memory.

How about Catch Up® Literacy? We choose one word to practise in linked writing. Is this where the work on that one word ends? No! We may often ‘drop’ that same word into future sentences (without it being the focus word) in a spaced manner to again support embedding it into the long-term memory.

2. Interleaving

Not a million miles from ‘spaced learning’ but interleaving involves sequencing tasks which are slightly different (but not unrelated). So, the tasks or learning content share some likeness.

An obvious example in Catch Up® Numeracy would be linking addition and multiplication and in Catch Up® Literacy linking reading with spelling.

Where else does this occur? Well, during linked writing, we build on the learner’s prior knowledge, supporting their practise of a single word which is then written in a sentence. Looking back across these record sheets can support the learner to compare the sentences and fix aspects such as grammatical conventions into their long-term memory.

In Catch Up® Numeracy, the picture is similar! Much of the research into ‘interleaving’ has taken place during Maths teaching, so it is no surprise that our numeracy intervention supports the principle. When choosing components, we may look for a flow of concepts, for example, working through all the subcomponents of one section. When tackling the ‘worrisome’ Word Problems, this is the ideal place to see interleaving take place! We encourage choice of apparatus and solutions to support thinking. In linked recording we also introduce the learner to a variety of recording techniques.

So, does Catch Up get a tick for interleaving?? YES WE DO!

1. Retrieval Practice

We might do this in the park on a Sunday morning with our four-legged friend, but in the classroom, it is recalling information from memory with very few prompts and support.

Straight away we can think of our first three minutes of ‘Prepared Reading’ and ‘Review and Introduction’. These can often support the principle of retrieval practice!
At the start of a Catch Up® Literacy individual session (whilst they are finding a pencil and telling us about their weekend) we may often ask the learner to quickly recall their focus word from last time and verbally spell it out! The success rate for this is generally high, starting the session very positively! If we have split a text over two or more sessions, our prepared reading time also includes a recall of what they read last time.
How about the start of a Catch Up® Numeracy session? At the heart of this first three minutes is the learner recalling what they learnt last time. Some may require some prompts, but often, especially when looking at the previous session sheet, they can remember the activity and what they did! Especially when it involved something fun!

So, another tick!

2. Managing Cognitive Load

The one we hear about the most! It involves limiting unnecessary load to ensure that the working memory can remain focused. (The one we have trouble with for ourselves working in busy classrooms!)
The EEF report identified three specific practices – using worked examples, providing scaffolding and collaboration between pupils.

Can we find each of these in Catch Up? Let’s see, starting with ‘using worked examples’.

The adult model is at the core of both Catch Up® Literacy and Catch Up® Numeracy. Right from the first stage of the Assessments for Learning we use models to reduce cognitive load and enable the learner to show us what they already know! Then, with the individual sessions, modelling runs throughout! Whether that is modelling reading expression or modelling the numeracy task, and it is always present in the linked writing and linked recording. Your wonderful adult models support your learners to focus on ‘their go’ and builds their self-confidence and independence!

What about ‘providing scaffolds’? Do we scaffold in Catch Up?
Of course, scaffolds can come in many forms - a verbal or physical prompt, a visual cue or specific instructions. Sound familiar? How often have you used these in a Catch Up® individual session?
We use the principle of ‘pause, prompt and praise’ within both interventions. This well-researched process encourages independent thought and problem solving, allows for thinking time and enables us to provide well-timed and appropriate prompts to scaffold the learner. In both interventions, but especially in Catch Up® Numeracy, resources also play a key role. These can act as visual reminders, a way to ‘double-check’ thinking and support for working independently.
In fact, the whole structure of the 15-minute individual session, whether you’re using Literacy or Numeracy, is designed to break the learning into manageable chunks, provide models and allow for learner exploration! What a lot we fit into 15 minutes!

The final specific practice of ‘collaboration between pupils’ may seem a bit of a stretch when delivering a one-to-one intervention, but let’s think about what DOES happen in a Catch Up® session!
Throughout the 15-minute process you and learner are working as a team. Perhaps you share ideas about the text? Perhaps you take it in turns to complete the numeracy activity? Perhaps you decide together how to show the linked recording or how to work on a focus word? In all these cases, we are modelling to the learner how to collaborate.
Then we should consider communication! In both interventions the learner is encouraged to explain information, express opinions and discuss what they have been doing. This occurs during part 2 of the individual session but also at the end, when we add to the comments box! Supporting the learner to communicate effectively will, in turn, provide them with some of the skills needed to collaborate with their peers in other lessons.

So, 4 cognitive science principles explored! 4 principles which are already part of the work we do with Catch Up, even if we use slightly different words!

To read some case studies from schools or to find out more please visit our website www.catchup.org

News archive