This post may be a little contentious. Bear with me…
During my visits to schools, I often hear schools talk about being inclusive.
Some leaders are proud of leading the school perceived to be the most inclusive in the area. They tell me how impressed local partners, such as Local Authority SEND advisors are. However, when I talk to the staff in schools, they sometimes tell me another story.
They tell me about children with complex needs not being met.
They tell me about having to manage extreme behaviour incidents.
I hear about children and adults being harmed.
So, I wonder, is this school really inclusive?
You see, I think it takes more than just welcoming children with SEND into your school. You have to change your culture, your provision, your training, your pedagogy, your relationships to fully include these children so that they are also having their needs met well.
I completely understand that schools are not being well funded for children with high needs, and that local authorities are struggling to provide the services to meet pupils needs. But that doesn’t mean that it’s ok that these children’s needs are not being fully met, and they are disrupting the learning of other children.
I also understand how challenging and complex this can be. It’s hard enough to manage a small number of pupils with high needs, but when it is two or three in a class, it can become really difficult.
However, there is an answer, and I am lucky enough to have witnessed this in some great schools recently too. Despite the current challenges around SEND mentioned above, these schools were doing an amazing job. Pupils’ needs were well understood, members of staff were well trained, and the culture was genuinely inclusive and welcoming for these pupils, creating a strong sense of belonging for all. Teaching approaches were fully adapted so that all children could access their learning in an appropriate way. Support staff were trained to support within lessons and also with providing additional support to cater for individual needs.
I have noticed that these successful schools have one thing in common, they are all proactive at creating the conditions that all pupils can achieve. This is very different to those schools where leaders are constantly reacting to challenges caused by being an ‘inclusive’ school.
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