23/03/2026
If you are a school in Northern Ireland who would like training…. It’s possible to bring the INPP UK national trainer to your school. No barriers…
The child who can't sit still might not have a behaviour problem.
They might have an unfinished body.
We're trained to look upward when a child struggles — to attention, motivation, intelligence, home life.
But what if the answer lies further down?
In the nervous system. In the body itself.
There's a concept called neuromotor immaturity — the idea that some children enter the classroom still carrying primitive reflexes that should have integrated in their earliest months of life.
These reflexes aren't a diagnosis. They're a developmental stage that hasn't fully completed.
And when they persist, they can interfere with everything we associate with being "ready to learn" — sitting still, tracking a line of text, copying from a board, regulating emotions on the playground.
Not because the child isn't trying.data: Because the physical foundations aren't yet in place.
Sally Goddard Blythe and the Institute for Neuro-Physiological Psychology (INPP) have spent decades researching exactly this — the connection between physical development, central nervous system maturation, and learning readiness. Their work is documented and accessible at inpp.org.uk.
The practical response is the INPP Schools Programme — a 10-minute daily movement routine, led by a qualified teacher, with the whole class.
Schools running this programme have reported outcomes including 40 minutes more concentration time per day, playground incidents reduced by half, and measurable improvements in learning outcomes.
Not through additional intervention. Through addressing what was missing at the foundation.
12 more experienced teachers are now taking this approach into their schools as part of the current cohort — a signal that this is gaining real traction in the classroom.
If you're a teacher or SENCO who has tried the usual approaches and still feels like something foundational is being missed — this might be the lens you've been looking for.
Two ways to take this further:
→ Attend the next course in St Albans on 5th June — details at inpp.uk
→ Want to bring this training to your whole staff? Contact info@inpp.uk to host a course
How many children in your school might this describe?
