The Educator Magazine U.K. Jan-April 2023. - Magazine - Page 23
Three ways to make your
classroom more inclusive
By Will Cannock, MAT SEND Lead at The Charter Schools Educational Trust
Whether you’re a SEND lead, a class teacher
or a one-to-one learning support assistant,
the desire to ensure all children thrive
permeates every aspect of the school day.
Providing excellent SEND provision is a key
part of this and as education professionals,
we turn to tried and tested interventions,
resources, and support networks to
support children with a variety of
additional needs.
Charles Dickens Primary School in
Southwark is attended by a higher-thanaverage number of pupils with SEND, so
there is a firm focus placed on creating
an inclusive learning environment for all
children, wherever possible.
This approach is built on three key steps:
Academic support
In curriculum areas such as maths, science
and geography children need to be familiar
with subject-specific words and phrases to
access the curriculum and make progress.
This may be difficult for pupils who do
not yet have the breadth of vocabulary or
processing ability to fully engage, so taking
steps to reduce the risk of children falling
behind can help.
A school focused on inclusion might use
symbolic imagery to directly support
learning outcomes and help ensure
children with additional needs do not feel
singled out. Providing visual prompts in the
form of symbols is a simple way to support
and engage all children.
Symbols can supplement the simple visual
representations of the spoken and written
words and phrases used regularly in
most schools. Over time they become as
recognisable as the headteacher or a
child’s best friend.
At Charles Dickens Primary, symbols are
used to teach subject-specific vocabulary
such as ‘circuit’, ‘voltage’ and ‘conductor’, a
few weeks before it comes up in a lesson to
give children the opportunity to build their
knowledge and memory of these terms
before they encounter them in lessons.
Teachers regularly use word charts for
specialist terminology and include
appropriate symbols for each so they are
immediately more accessible for children
with speech, language and communication
needs. Visual word charts can be created
online before the lesson, then displayed on
a whiteboard so pupils can see them
during the lesson. Importantly, as
vocabulary is pre-taught to whole classes,
the school was able to close vocabulary
gaps as children moved through each year
group and key stage giving them a head
start in a new academic year.
Easing transitions
Children are often happier, more focused
and more engaged in their learning when
they feel prepared for transitions and new
events. This is particularly important for
children with SEND, who may experience
anxiety about unexpected situations or
fear of the unknown.
Social stories are used in all classrooms
across Charles Dickens Primary to support
children through new or different
experiences. In advance of a school trip,
for example, a social story will be created in
the format of a comic strip to help a child
see the different stages of what is going to
happen on the day which often reduces
their concerns.
The symbolic imagery used in these
resources can be easily adapted to the
child or situation too, including the use of
different skin tones, pets and clothing
preferences. This makes it easier for the
child to instantly recognise themselves
in the story, reducing anxiety levels even
further. Social stories can be created online
and printed off or displayed on a tablet for
easy access to multiple different scenarios.
We use the same symbols in every
classroom and at every age to ensure that
as children move through different key
stages, the symbols used to explain events
are reassuringly familiar. This helps ease
transitions for all children. We use Widgit to
create the symbol imagery.
Personalised and visual tools
As one of the DfE’s behaviour hub schools,
creating a more inclusive environment
using visual prompts has helped Charles
Dickens Primary to encourage positive
behaviour. Symbols were used in every
classroom, every year group and practically
every subject area from English and maths
to science and PE.
Our positive behaviour bingo cards really
helped children to engage in the school’s
ethos and values. They include words and
symbolic images to represent actions such
as working hard, listening carefully and
being kind.
The children really enjoyed being spotted
doing all these things in school and would
be rewarded by getting their game cards
marked off by the teacher. One of the
strengths of this approach is that the cards
can be tailored to the needs of individual
pupils and groups. So, you can create
a specific action on the card, such as ‘
put your hand up’ or ‘contribute to a
discussion’ to encourage a shy child to
be more confident. I saw first-hand the
number of teachers needing support and
guidance on managing behaviour fall after
the bingo cards were introduced.
Next steps
As our school community continues to grow
and we meet children with more diverse
needs, our strategies to support them will
develop. While we can’t anticipate every
eventuality, we know that by providing an
inclusive classroom environment we’re
helping every child to feel happy and well
supported in school.
Friday 31st March will be ‘SEND’ Friday at Bett with keynote speakers, sessions, content and all
focusing on how schools can better support SEND students