FEATURE FOCUS: SEND the likes of their curriculum (70%)


• focusing on teaching tolerance and empathy (54%)


• using more accessible resources to support students with SEND (52%)


• using more inclusive resources (50%) • promoting pupil voice e.g running a student diversity council (46%)


Where 1 in 3 teachers have already diversified the whole or part of their curriculum, almost 1 in 2 headteachers plan to diversify curriculum topics to cover subjects like disability in the next two years. The benefits seen by school leaders as a direct result of taking such steps include increased pupil interest, improved empathy, wellbeing and confidence, as well as more engaged learners and staff. When 1,000+ students were asked if they feel like they belong and are accepted at school, 8 in 10 agreed.


• Infrastructural changes


More than 1 in 5 schools teachers said their school had adapted their infrastructure through elements like ramps or rethinking the school bell to support learners with sensory issues. However, there were many comments from teachers calling for more support to be able to enact further change here.


Speaking about the importance of inclusive buildings in our Diversity Defined Series, Zoe Mather Education Officer at nasen said the system is “still designing buildings with steps, rather than ramps that all can use; we design equipment such as science benches at a certain height without considering having height adjustable benches; we have dining rooms too small to manage all the pupils at one time, so they are overcrowded and noisy.”


She explains how “we should all be talking to young people with differences and seeing their input as key to developing models of change to ensure all are included. We should be actively removing archaic barriers and co-creating new spaces and environments to avoid inadvertently introducing new ones.”


• Training


While 51% of schools said they had provided staff with training on equality, diversity and inclusion, specialist teacher training in regard to SEND was a key area that came through in the comments shared by teachers and leaders:


“What could be done to make things more inclusive? Better training, particularly supporting subject specialists in understanding how suggested strategies might look on their subject.” Secondary Middle Leader


“All teachers should receive updated training. All teachers should be reminded that we are ‘all teachers of SEND’.” Primary teacher


There were lots of leaders who shared how they were placing increased emphasis on providing in-school training to support staff here. One secondary school leader shared: “We are designing our own inclusion centre, training staff and sharing best practice on SEND adaptations.” Others discussed how their school was exploring


October 2023 www.education-today.co.uk 29


staff training on Makaton and the use of ‘PECS’ - a communication system that teaches people with autism to communicate using pictures.


• Technology is transforming access


“Technology has allowed me to easily adapt my materials to support SEND learners and gives me lots of flexibility. I can use/create dynamic models to support ideas and help students visualise content.”


Secondary teacher


New digital solutions have allowed many schools to adapt their offer to suit students’ different circumstances and needs. 1 in 3 primary schools are using specific software to support pupils with SEND and half of all teachers say that new tech has improved remote and flexible learning (48%) over the past two years. Over a third are seeing improvements in student engagement (34%) and accessibility for learners with SEND (34%). One York-based teacher we spoke with recently explained: “We’ve seen the biggest gains from digital (in terms of academic achievement) for students with SEND. We developed a tool that lets students reflect on their own strengths and weaknesses before highlighting a personalised target with a selection of interactive keyword / definition games that are designed to disproportionately benefit dyslexic and ASD students. These are students who are experts at finding coping strategies so they thrive when given effective digital tools that support them to learn in an accessible way.”


Despite the positive impact of technology and associated software on learners with SEND, 1 in 6 secondary school teachers say pupils have no access to portable digital devices (compared to just 1% of primaries), fewer than 1 in 10 teachers have access to certain assistive technologies for learners with additional needs (like screen readers) and just over half say they have access to reliable WiFi across their entire school. Issues like this will need to be addressed urgently to ensure learners can reap the benefits of technology equally.


• Student-centred assessment


“I really enjoyed sitting my exams from home in my bedroom, as it was very good for accessibility. I can get panic attacks, but being able to sit my


exams from somewhere that I felt comfortable and being able to take regular breaks easily and make noise on my trampoline really helped me manage my stress and do my best.” Student involved in a remote invigilation pilot


It’s not just learning in the classroom that is undergoing positive transformations for learners with SEND; there have also been some groundbreaking developments in assessment. At Pearson, we’ve been exploring how, where and when assessments can evolve with the help of teachers, students and regulators. Together with King’s InterHigh, the UK’s leading online school, we made history this summer by enabling over 150 learners – many with SEND – to complete their International GCSE online from home via a remote invigilation pilot. By bringing secure assessments into students’ homes and chosen environments, learners with medical conditions could have rest breaks throughout their exams as they needed them. Students with neurological differences could sit their exams from their bedroom or the kitchen table, in places where they felt most comfortable, and where they could make noise and move around in ways that they just couldn’t have done in an exam hall.


We have also seen a noticeable rise in our modified exam paper service. As a result, we are running a project in collaboration with nasen to explore student’s experiences of using modified exam papers and learning from this to make a more inclusive and accessible exam environment. Learnings have already shown how practical assessments can present inaccessible and unfair challenges for visually impaired students, while 3D models in maths exams have greatly supported accessibility. One student involved in the project said: “3D models really helped me in maths, because, for the first time, I did not have to conceptualise and try to figure out the models ... I’d never done a maths paper with 3D models...the first time was in the actual GCSE exams, and those were coincidentally the only exam times I have ever passed a maths exam.’ As we can see, there are great steps being taken in schools and beyond to better support learners with SEND, however, it will be a whole- sector effort to address the significant challenges at play, and keep driving further progress forward.


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