The government says mainstream schools must be more inclusive. It is liberating to have inclusion prioritised by the new government, but the question remains as to how this will happen.
The need to address the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) support ecosystem is absolute and must be underpinned by new resources and the removal of barriers to inclusive leadership (including accountability, attendance and an inclusive curriculum). But if we want to improve SEND, we’ll need to review the quality of whole-school inclusion.
SEND and inclusion have a symbiotic relationship. SEND policy and practice without inclusive principles can become disconnected from wider school development. Conversely, school development planning without a focus on inclusion can fail marginalised pupils.
Systemic approach needed for SEND
For schools to be more inclusive, we need not only to have SEND as a priority in school improvement planning but also ensure equity is planned for throughout the cycle, with a systemic approach of inclusive actions and behaviours.
Take the example of The Marvell College in Hull, which I came across through a SEND leadership workshop with the Pathfinder Teaching School Hub in York. Pre-2016, they were back-to-back in special measures. In 2019, they achieved a “good” rating from Ofsted, but still had falling numbers, high staff turnover and poor outcomes for their most vulnerable learners.
Leaders recognised a need for creative and intentional school improvement planning. They conducted a SEND review, visited other schools and gradually formulated a clearer picture of their barriers.
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Culture was at the root of their challenge. Staff needed help to shift belief in themselves and in their learners with SEND. Systems and behaviours had to change to affect what happened in the classroom, and distributing leadership and knowledge was key to supporting staff to understand their learners.
The school set up a SEND champions programme, which means that every teacher and leader is now a champion for two children with SEND. They meet with these children and report back to parents every term. The champions then use their new insights to inform strengths-based profiles. It’s a great example of pupils, parents and staff working together to acknowledge and make change.
Today, for pupils with SEND, results have improved, exclusions and suspensions have reduced, and attendance is improving. Teachers have more confidence now in the process of “getting to know” learners with SEND and seeing how that curiosity helps inform teaching and learning.
Inclusion is a process, not a snapshot
The approach was unique to their context. The goals were achievement and belonging, and the process was deliberately designed to be equitable and achieved gradually as part of inclusive school improvement implementation.
It’s just one school and one example, but it’s a powerful demonstration of a methodology that many schools see as a game-changer: system change at a whole-school level over time, rather than simply seeing SEND as a target for intervention.
Next year, SEND might not be as explicit on the school improvement plan, but building the school’s inclusive capacity will remain for the long term as an ongoing expectation within every iteration of whole-school planning.
Inclusion is a process, not a snapshot. For inspiration, read the Orkney Islands Council’s definition of inclusion. Inclusivity is fundamentally a cycle of change. Let’s pay more attention to the cycle and celebrate good inclusive school improvement planning.
Margaret Mulholland is the special educational needs and inclusion specialist at the Association of School and College Leaders
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