In this new course within the Great Teaching Toolkit, inclusion means creating the conditions and expectations for every learner – especially those most likely to face the greatest barriers – to:

• access ambitious teaching and the support needed to access and succeed in it;
• participate and matter meaningfully in learning and the wider life of the school or college;
• belong and become within their classroom and wider community;
• succeed in learning which is worthwhile, rich, and ambitious.

So, inclusion does not mean lowering ambition or creating a separate lesson plan for every learner. It’s about paying close attention to where access is becoming difficult, and making thoughtful changes proportionately. That is what we mean by the phrase that echoes through the course: ‘Same ambition, better access’.

High quality teaching is the most important lever for improving outcomes for all pupils in mainstream schools, particularly those with SEND.

Developing teachers’ expertise in high-quality adaptive teaching can therefore improve the experience of every pupil, alongside targeted support where it is needed.

The Great Teaching Toolkit offers leaders, teachers and teaching assistants access to evidence summaries, curated resources, courses, videos and classroom techniques, with step-by-step guidance to implement and adapt techniques authentically to learning barriers.

Too often, we begin with the programme, intervention or provision we intend to put in place. A stronger starting point is to build a holistic picture of the barriers pupils are actually experiencing, identify a small number of evidence-informed priorities, and then decide how best to respond.

The Great Teaching Toolkit brings together student feedback, self-reflection and feedback from colleagues, all aligned to the Model for Great Teaching. Together, these perspectives help teachers, teaching assistants and leaders to spot patterns they may otherwise miss and identify where changes to practice could improve access to learning.

The current education policy picture in England now places everyday inclusive teaching, sustained professional learning and collective expertise firmly within school improvement. The Great Teaching Toolkit gives schools practical infrastructure to act on that direction – provided it is actively used as a process for professional learning, not simply held as a library of resources.

Where the Great Teaching Toolkit fits, and where it does not:

• It can support universal, high-quality-teaching; sustained professional learning; a common language for improvement; purposeful collaboration; and disciplined use of feedback. 

• It does not replace specialist SEND provision, targeted support, statutory duties, reasonable adjustments or collaboration with families and external professionals. 

If you’d like to include the Great Teaching Toolkit as part of your inclusion strategy for developing high-quality inclusive teaching, we’ve created an editable Inclusion Strategy Statement template to help you get started.