Focus & Getting Organised for School (Older Children)

Who this program is for

• Finds it hard to concentrate on schoolwork or reading for more than a few minutes
• Is easily pulled off track — by noises, screens, siblings or their own thoughts
• Regularly forgets instructions, or loses homework, books, PE kit and belongings
• Has a chaotic bag, folder or desk, and often turns up without the right things
• Starts tasks with good intentions but rarely gets to the end of them
• Gets told they “don’t try hard enough” when really they’re trying hard to focus

Your step-by-step roadmap

Move at your child’s pace, not the calendar’s — the “weeks” are just a gentle order, not a race. Feel free to repeat any stage for as long as it’s helping.

1. Stage 1 — Set up a calm, distraction-light workspace

   Give the brain the easiest possible conditions to focus before you ask it to work.
   • Agree one regular homework spot together — a cleared table or desk, not the bed, with good light and their back to the busiest part of the room.
   • Before they start, clear the obvious pulls: phone in another room, tabs closed, TV off, and only the bits for that one task on the table.
   • Keep a small “launch tray” nearby with pens, paper, charger and a water bottle, so they never have to get up and lose their thread mid-task.

   Try this: Do a 30-second “clear the runway” together before every session — a tidy space tells the brain it’s time to focus.

   Mark week done

2. Stage 2 — Break work into chunks and short focused bursts

   Make a big, vague task feel small and finishable, so getting started is far less daunting.
   • Take one homework task and break it into 2–4 tiny steps on a sticky note (“read question”, “plan 3 points”, “write”, “check”).
   • Try a short focused burst — a timer for 10–20 minutes of work, then a 5-minute break — and let the sessions grow as their stamina does.
   • Tick or cross off each chunk as it’s done, so your child sees progress and feels the win instead of staring at one huge job.

   Try this: Lean on the phrase “just the first chunk” — agreeing to only one small step is often enough to get a reluctant brain moving.

   Mark week done

3. Stage 3 — A simple planner, checklist and homework routine

   Move the remembering out of their head and onto paper, at the same time each day.
   • Set up a simple daily checklist or planner where they write down each homework task and its due date, and tick it off when it’s done.
   • Pick a consistent “homework o’clock” — the same slot most days — so the routine goes on autopilot and there’s less nightly negotiation.
   • End each session with a glance at tomorrow: what’s due, what’s packed, what’s left — a two-minute look-ahead you do together at first.

   Try this: Externalise memory: “If it’s only in your head, it’s not safe — put it on the list.” The list remembers so they don’t have to.

   Mark week done

4. Stage 4 — One place for everything and night-before packing

   Build a bag and folder system so things stop getting lost in the first place.
   • Create a simple folder system — one folder or coloured section per subject, plus a single “to hand in” pocket for finished work.
   • Give belongings a fixed home: bag on the same hook, keys and reading book in the same spot, so “where is it?” always has an answer.
   • Pack the bag the night before against tomorrow’s timetable, laying out PE kit or forms by the door so mornings run calmer.

   Try this: Run a nightly “bag check” together — timetable in one hand, bag in the other — until your child can do it solo.

   Mark week done

5. Stage 5 — Managing time and beating “I’ll do it later”

   Help your child start sooner and get a real feel for how long things actually take.
   • Guess-then-time: before a task, ask how long they think it’ll take, then time it — this slowly builds a realistic sense of time.
   • Beat the delay with a tiny first move — “open the book and read one line” — since starting is usually the hard part, not the work itself.
   • For bigger projects, work backwards from the due date and drop mini-deadlines into the planner, so nothing lands as a last-minute panic.

   Try this: Try “body-doubling” — quietly sit and do your own paperwork alongside them. The company makes getting started far easier.

   Mark week done

6. Stage 6 — Building independence and self-monitoring

   Hand the strategies over so your child starts running the system themselves.
   • Shift from doing it for them to prompting: instead of packing the bag, ask “what does your checklist say next?” — then wait.
   • End each week with a two-minute review together — what worked, what got lost, one small thing to tweak next week.
   • Let them own their reminders — phone alarms, sticky notes, a whiteboard — so the supports belong to them, not just to you.

   Try this: Fade your help slowly, one prompt at a time. The goal is a child who can catch and coach themselves, not one who never needs a reminder.

   Mark week done

Little tricks that make it work

• Keep work in short focused bursts with real breaks — stamina grows faster this way than by forcing long, painful sessions.
• Lean on external memory: checklists, planners, alarms and sticky notes do the remembering, so their brain is free to think.
• Cut the distractions before starting — phone out of the room and a clear desk beat willpower every time.
• Praise the effort and the starting, not just the finished result. “You sat down and began” is the hardest part done.
• Build in movement breaks — a quick walk, a stretch or a drink of water resets attention far better than pushing through.