Research School Network: Inclusion as everyday practice How Bowling Park Primary School has developed an inclusive approach for all pupils
—
Blog
Inclusion as everyday practice
How Bowling Park Primary School has developed an inclusive approach for all pupils
Share on:
by Bradford Research School
on the
Simone McLindon
SENDCo and Associate Leader at Bowling Park Primary School
Simone has worked across the primary school phases (KS1 and KS2) and has worked within SEND leadership at the school for the past 7 years, assuming the role of SENDCo in September 2024. Her work centres on improving provision and outcomes for pupils with SEND needs within mainstream primary settings, with a particular focus on embedding evidence-based quality-first teaching practices that benefit all learners. She is committed to building inclusive cultures across schools to support the most vulnerable learners.
Many educational settings have already been adapting their offer to meet the needs of a growing number of pupils with SEND and complex needs. However, developing an inclusive strategy isn’t straightforward for school leaders. Though inclusion is now firmly at the forefront of the education agenda, there is still no agreed definition of what it means in practice. As a result, schools often take different approaches to achieving the same goal: ensuring every child can thrive.
For the past 13 years, I have worked within an inner-city primary school that serves some of the most deprived areas in the UK. Over 80% of our pupils speak English as an additional language, over 25% of pupils are on the SEND register and over 50% are in receipt of pupil premium. For our setting, inclusion must be at the heart of everything we do, and engaging with educational research to develop our universal offer has supported us to do this.
Split across different key levels: teaching and pedagogy; environment; targeted and specialist support, we have developed an inclusive offer to benefit all pupils, not just those considered ‘vulnerable’.
Build the strongest possible foundation for inclusion by considering what you do every day that is especially important for pupils with additional needs.
High-quality teaching
To create clarity on what quality-first teaching should look like throughout school, we created shared expectations based upon the EEF’s ‘5‑a-day’ approach (Aubin, 2022). This approach describes five key practises teachers should incorporate into their classrooms to support the progress of children with SEND and their peers:
For the purpose of this blog, I have focussed on two of these recommendations in particular: the use of scaffolds and flexible grouping.
Scaffolding
Scaffolding is the provision of temporary supports to facilitate pupils’ understanding, which are gradually removed as understanding develops (McLeskey et al., 2017). It should be noted here that this is distinct to ‘differentiation’, whereby groups of students may be given different tasks entirely based upon judgements around prior attainment, which has been argued to potentially restrict learning potential. Research has indicated that providing appropriate scaffolds promotes pupil independence in situations whereby they may have been reliant on adult support to access the classroom material (EEF, 2022; McLeskey et al., 2017). Across the curriculum, we provide scaffolded work to support all individuals in accessing whole-class learning.
Flexible grouping
In addition to scaffolding, we also recommend flexible grouping is used within our classrooms – where the support given to pupils in lessons is determined by their level of understanding in that moment, as opposed to notions based upon prior attainment (EEF, 2022). Research has demonstrated that the use of flexible groupings allows children to learn from their peers whilst facilitating the development of their social skills (McLeskey et al., 2017). This is particularly important in our setting whereby grouping pupils in accordance with ability means children may remain working alongside peers who are experiencing similar barriers in terms of their understanding and use of language.
Inclusive environment
Supporting communication and interaction
Within our setting, communication and interaction reflects the most prevalent primary need for children on the SEND register, a pattern which is reflected nationally. In addition to this, over 80% of our pupils speak English as an additional language. Therefore, another significant element of developing our whole-school approach has been considering the modifications we can make to support pupils’ comprehension and application of language. Considering and adapting our classroom environments has supported with this, in particular through the use of visual aids.
EEF research has indicated that visuals are a vital tool to reduce pupil’s cognitive load, support working memory and aid social communication. We employ the use of visuals across the curriculum to support pupils’ understanding of key concepts. In addition to this, visuals are used to aid pupils in communicating their feelings, promote pupil independence in following routines and to support communication of behavioural expectations.
On a day-to-day basis within our setting, this includes using visuals across working walls to support understanding of key vocabulary, using visual timetables in each classroom and using symbols and pictures within scaffolds.
Targeted and Specialist Support
Evidence-based support prioritising early intervention
Alongside our universal offer, we also employ targeted support, where required. As outlined in the EEF’s SEND in Mainstream schools’ guidance report, this is carefully considered and used alongside high-quality teaching.
Staff are provided with training and coaching to promote the quality of interventions being delivered and pupil progress is closely monitored to ensure the intended outcomes are being achieved. This is important as research has indicated that when used improperly, interventions can have a detrimental impact on pupil outcomes. Where possible, careful timetabling is also used to balance intervention against pupils’ access to the mainstream curriculum.
Strong partnerships with wider services
At every phase of development of our whole-school offer we have consulted with a range of professionals whose support has provided invaluable. This has included NHS Mental health support teams and speech and language therapists; the local authority’s educational psychology and specialist teaching teams and charity services.
Research has indicated that the best outcomes for pupils are achieved when there is effective liaison between sectors. I’m aware this local offer will vary considerably depending on your local context – however, I strongly recommend exploring and consulting with the expertise available within your area.
Summary
Fundamentally, inclusive approaches should focus on developing provision in a way that benefits all individuals, not just those identified as SEND, EAL or otherwise ‘vulnerable’.
The strategies I’ve described here today are by no means exhaustive, however, have all contributed to the development of our whole-school approach to inclusion and can be embedded within an inclusive strategy that works for all.
Reflection activity
The DfE outline 7 principles that should be part of your school’s inclusion strategy:
1. ambitious leadership and governance that embeds inclusion 2. evidence-based support prioritising early intervention 3. high quality adaptive teaching with curriculum designed for all learners 4. enriching provision beyond the classroom that all children can access 5. a safe and respectful culture fostering belonging, attendance, and participation in learning 6. strong partnerships with families and wider services 7. inclusive environments with continuous improvements to accessibility
How does the practice at Bowling Park Primary School align with these principles?
