Our existing system to support pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) isn’t working. That’s the message coming loud and clear from teachers, parents and politicians. Even education secretary Gillian Keegan has described SEND as being in a “lose-lose-lose situation”, with no one left happy.

It’s clear that something needs to change. But what?

Schools struggling with accessing SEND support routinely focus on what they can do in the classroom to improve the situation. Indeed, with the number of pupils identified as having SEND rising (last year there were 87,000 more pupils recorded as having SEND than the year before), it’s essential that teachers explore manageable and meaningful changes that they can make to their practice.

Often this involves seeking out promising interventions. Yet, in this well-meaning pursuit, teachers and leaders may be missing opportunities for smaller adjustments and adaptations that can make a real difference.

This is a point made by the Education Endowment Foundation’s guidance report Special Educational Needs in Mainstream Schools, which distils the best available evidence on how to support students with SEND.

“Searching for a ‘magic bullet’ can distract teachers from the powerful strategies they often already possess,” the report states.

Ultimately, this is an empowering message. Too often teachers can feel nervous and ill-equipped to support pupils with SEND. But the research evidence synthesised by the EEF indicates that strategies that teachers already have in their repertoires can go a long way toward creating more inclusive classrooms.

Teaching strategies to support pupils with SEND

The report recommends five approaches that have been “identified as having relatively strong evidence for their effectiveness for supporting pupils with SEND”.

1. Explicit instruction: This involves using teacher-led approaches, such as well-structured explanations, modelling and worked examples.

2. Cognitive and metacognitive strategies: Cognitive strategies are skills like memorisation techniques or subject-specific strategies like methods to solve problems in maths; while metacognitive strategies help pupils to plan, monitor or evaluate their learning more effectively.

3. Scaffolding: This involves providing pupils with temporary supports for a complex task. For example, offering a writing frame and vocabulary guide for an essay in history.

4. Flexible grouping: Rather than streaming pupils on the basis of prior attainment, teachers should aim to group pupils flexibly, according to the individual needs that they currently share with other pupils. This might involve, for example, a teacher working temporarily with a small group to reteach an algebra explanation.

5. Using technology: There are a variety of simple edtech tools that can support pupils with their learning, such as speech-to-text assistive technology.

Hearing that these familiar approaches can improve provision should help to boost teachers’ confidence in their ability to meet a range of needs.

However, it’s also important that we don’t read terms like “explicit instruction” and “scaffolding” and just assume that we are already doing all of this as well as we could be.

A useful next step might be to take these approaches and consider them through the lens of a specific pattern of need.

For example, take a pupil with dyslexia who struggles with reading and writing. Explicit instruction of reading fluency strategies can break down the complexity of reading into smaller steps. Flexible grouping can offer timely small-group reading fluency practice. We may also make reasonable adjustments, such as using speech-to-text technology.

We can do all of this while recognising that no single adjustment will be a straightforward “fix”.

The wider system for supporting SEND must improve. But teachers shouldn’t wait for a magic bullet; they already possess a wealth of powerful strategies that can make a significant difference to their pupils.

Alex Quigley is the national content and engagement manager at the Education Endowment Foundation. He is a former teacher and author of Closing the Writing Gap, published by Routledge

For the latest research, pedagogy and practical classroom advice delivered directly to your inbox every week, sign up to our Teaching Essentials newsletter