The SEND Reforms – From Silo to Inclusion

From my perspective the SEND reforms are an opportunity to rethink the whole system and rationale behind how we go about supporting individuals who may need additional support. The SEND reforms give us an opportunity to dispense with silo thinking and move towards a mindset of inclusion. One of the most unhelpful (but well intended) phrases used is ‘Every teacher is a teacher of SEND’. We don’t do this for pupil premium or EAL or for any other group of underserved learners so why do we do it for SEND? The risk here is that staff don’t apply the graduated approach to their everyday practice. Useful strategies get allocated into the ‘use in the event of SEND’ category and then whole classes miss out on benefitting from impactful inclusive strategies. What we really want is ‘Every teacher is a teacher, aware and capable of adopting high-quality inclusive practices’.

We need to avoid SEND being seen as a bolt on, a separate entity that is considered as an afterthought. The reforms have the potential for us to change mindsets, so we consider the needs of cohorts (contextual awareness and understanding), barriers to engagement and then explore and discuss what can be done to support individuals, groups and cohorts of learners. We need strong leadership of inclusion which supports proactive approaches based on a clear, fact-based understanding of the learners attending school settings.

Moving to an inclusion mindset and approach can also help shift the burden of responsibility away from the SENCo. Currently, we have some mainstream schools with more than 50% SEND. How can 50% of the school population be seen as the responsibility of the SENCo? If we move towards inclusion, then we start thinking about how whole school approaches that impact on learners. We start thinking about the curriculum, relational practices, high-quality teaching, school policies and how all these things combine to impact on learners, families and their experiences at school. We can still have someone specifically overseeing SEND but inclusion will be seen as a whole school responsibility with every member of staff having an important part to play.

The proposed plans outlined by the government have several layers from training on SEND and inclusion linked to the updated SEND Code of Practice, experts at hand and updated evidence of effective practice to name but a few. The consideration will need to be how we change thinking around SEND and ensure classroom practice and whole school approaches are the first considerations when issues arise. If we don’t change mindsets then when things get tricky (and they will) then there is a likelihood that instead of evolving practices, individuals will revert back to old habits. The hope is that the 3-year training programme will have opportunities for retrieval practice for all staff so that learning and skills are developed, reinforced and consolidated over time to really embed inclusive practices.

The proposed inclusion standards have the potential to play an important role in shaping whole-school approaches and ensuring better consistency across the country. However, the suggested introduction date of 2028 feels distant. Cultural change rarely happens quickly, but equally momentum matters. The challenge will be ensuring that the system begins the journey towards inclusion now, rather than waiting for formal standards to arrive.

Essentially, what the whole system needs is for there to be a sustainable cultural adoption of inclusion over time rather than improving immediate competency which is not then built upon or developed further. There is no point there being better classroom practice if it is short lived or for settings to adopt a tick box approach to implementation to then focus on something else the following academic year. Inclusion is a process which needs to be at the forefront of everyone’s thinking, a positive influence that drives continuous improvement, not only for learners with SEND but whole school communities. If we get inclusion right, then there are many benefits to be had.

In finishing this piece, I am going to repeat myself. If the SEND reforms are to make a genuine difference, we must shift the focus from SEND to inclusion. We must move from silo thinking to whole-system responsibility. Schools are only one part of the system. Sustainable change will require education, health, social care and wider services to work together with a shared purpose. Early intervention with coordinated support and a collective commitment to inclusion will be essential. Only when there is a coherent, system-wide approach to inclusion will we know that the SEND reforms have truly been successful.