If you are looking to improve inclusive practice and provision for pupils with special educational needs in your school, one of the key documents teachers should be aware of is this Guidance Report published by the Education Endowment Foundation. It draws on the best available evidence to set out five key recommendations for mainstream schools seeking to improve their provision for pupils with SEND.

These recommendations are summarised below and can also be found here.

1. Create a positive and supportive environment for all pupils, without exception
2. Build an ongoing, holistic understanding of your pupils and their needs
3. Ensure all pupils have access to high quality teaching
4. Complement high-quality teaching with carefully selected small-group and one-to-one interventions
5. Working effectively with teaching assistants

Using the Great Teaching Toolkit to build inclusive excellence

High -quality teaching is likely to be the most effective way to improve outcomes for pupils with special educational needs and this is where we believe we should focus our attention. There is no magical set of strategies to support pupils with SEND. In fact, teachers often already have the most powerful and effective strategies within their repertoire. What they should focus on is adapting these based on the individual needs of the students they teach.

Of course, there are some specific strategies and adaptations that work well for students with a particular learning need, for example learners with autism, and you may be directed to use these by a specialist. However, the evidence tells us that it is quality classroom teaching that has the potential to make the biggest difference. The report suggests that great teaching should be underpinned by a deep understanding of the needs of individual pupils; a culture of high expectations for all and classrooms that foster positive relationships.

Schools should ensure that time spent outside of the classroom on interventions is meaningful and effective. There should also be a strong focus on upskilling and empowering the adults who work to support children with special educational needs on a daily basis, through on e-to-one interaction or as part of group interventions.

This document highlights some of the ways in which you can use The Great Teaching Toolkit to develop knowledge and understanding of inclusive practice and enhance provision for pupils with special educational needs in your school. There is a strong argument for choosing this as an area for development as we know that, to a great extent, good teaching for pupils with SEND is good teaching for all.