Inclusion

Creating an inclusive environment is the most important thing a school can do. An inclusive culture is a prerequisite for an effective school: it brings happiness, a feeling of safety and being part of the community, and, of course, it impacts positively on learning, both in the classroom and beyond.

It is our job to prepare pupils to flourish and feel truly included in society. An inclusive environment does not come by accident, it is achieved through design. All staff embed this culture proactively. Inclusivity also goes beyond the classroom. Where appropriate, for example, reasonable adjustments are made to cater for sensory needs. This may include, but is not limited to, food choices at lunch times. 

Pupils with SEND are not just in school, they are part of the school—they have the same opportunity as their peers to benefit from the highest quality teaching the school can provide. Pupils at Broughton Jewish all have access to:

  • Quality First Teaching

  • Wider curriculum opportunities such as clubs, trips and opportunities to participate in school plays

Adopting inclusive practice requires distributed responsibility for SEND. The SEND Code of Practice is clear: ‘Every teacher is a teacher of special educational needs.’

To ensure Inclusion in the classroom we use the EEF’s ‘Special Educational Needs in Mainstream Schools Guidance’. More specifically we:

  • Create a positive and supportive environment for all pupils without exception

  • Build an ongoing, holistic understanding of pupils and their needs

  • Ensure all pupils have access to high quality teaching

  • Complement high quality teaching with carefully selected small-group and one-to-one interventions

  • Work effectively with teaching assistants


EEF Special Educational Needs in Mainstream Schools Guidance

This offers five evidence-based recommendations to support pupils with SEND, providing an approach and practical ideas that are implemented across school. The recommendations in this report encompass the best available international research. The research consulted teachers and other experts.


Language matters - talking about SEND 

‘Pupils are SEND’ 

It is not helpful to say that a pupil ‘is SEND’ or ‘there are SEND pupils in our class’, and this language may undermine efforts to establish and maintain high expectations for the learning of all pupils. It is more helpful to say pupils ‘have SEND’ or ‘there are pupils with SEND’ within a class. SEND is not a fixed or permanent characteristic; it is a recognition that at a specific time a child has additional learning needs. At times, many pupils will require tailored or additional support to fully participate in everything the school has to offer.


Challenging the view that ‘a pupil with SEND will always have SEND’

Pupils’ development is not linear. As pupils age, the complexity of their needs will change. Some pupils might not have SEND to begin with but will develop SEND as they mature. Others who are considered to have SEND at the beginning of their lives may no longer have these needs later in life. We must not assume that all pupils with SEND have a lifelong learning need.


Pupils’ development at Broughton Jewish

Pupils’ development is influenced by the interaction of ‘what happens in class every day’ with their personal characteristics, wider environmental influences, and time. This approach helps to highlight that special educational needs are not something the pupil needs to change about themselves; rather, the school needs to consider how to change the quality of what happens in the immediate environment to best support the pupil’s learning, taking into account the individual, the home and wider community, and time.

The Bronfenbrenner diagram demonstrates how this works: