Inclusion Strategy

This statement details our school’s approach to delivering inclusive practice for all children, including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). It is funded by our core school budget (including the notional SEN budget) and the Inclusive Mainstream Fund (IMF).

Strategy overview

Detail	Data
School name	The King’s School, Grantham
Academic year that our current Inclusion Strategy covers	2026/27
Date this statement was published	TBC
Date on which it will be reviewed	TBC
Statement authorised by	TBC

Statement of intent

At The King’s School, Grantham, inclusion is at the heart of our vision to inspire young people to become confident, kind and ambitious adults who live fulfilled lives for the common good. We believe that every child has the right to belong, participate and achieve within a mainstream school community that values and celebrates difference. Our ultimate objective is to remove the gap in academic attainment, progress and life chances between pupils with SEND and their peers, ensuring that all students receive the support they need to thrive academically, socially and emotionally.

Our inclusion strategy is built on the principle that meeting the needs of pupils with additional needs and SEND is everyone’s responsibility. We achieve this through a strong focus on high-quality teaching, consistent implementation of reasonable adjustments, early identification of need, targeted support and effective partnership working. Through robust screening processes, a sustained graduated approach of assess, plan, do and review, and regular monitoring of pupil progress, we seek to identify needs early and respond quickly. Specialist support, well-trained teaching assistants, enhanced staff expertise and the development of our Student Support Centre as an inclusion hub ensure that support is timely, effective and personalised.

Our strategy reflects the seven principles of inclusion.

Principle	What this means at King’s
1	Every pupil is valued and welcomed as a full member of the school community.
2	High aspirations are maintained for all learners.
3	Barriers to learning, participation and achievement are proactively identified and removed.
4	High-quality teaching is the foundation of support for all pupils.
5	Support is tailored to individual strengths and needs.
6	Pupil voice is central to decision-making and review processes.
7	Strong collaboration between staff, families and external agencies secures the best outcomes.

Families and the wider school community have played an important role in shaping our inclusion strategy. Parent and carer feedback, pupil voice, staff consultation and external SEND reviews have informed our priorities for improvement. The ongoing review of student passports, regular communication with families, collaborative target setting and multi-professional working ensure that the voices of pupils and those who know them best remain central to the support we provide. We are also committed to working closely with the local authority and wider education partners to strengthen inclusive practice and contribute to the development of inclusive provision across our community.

Through this strategy, we aim to create a culture where every pupil feels valued, supported and successful, and where inclusion is not an initiative but a shared commitment that shapes everything we do.

Barriers to learning and participation

This details the key barriers to learning and participation that we have identified amongst our pupils, which call for inclusive universal approaches and targeted support.

Barrier number	Detail of barrier to learning
1	Consistency of adaptive teaching and reasonable adjustments While strong practice exists across the school, leaders recognise that the implementation of adaptive teaching, scaffolding, modelling, vocabulary development and reasonable adjustments is not yet fully consistent in every classroom. Further work is required to ensure all pupils benefit from a high-quality, inclusive learning experience regardless of subject or teacher.
2	Early identification and assessment of need While the school’s identification systems are a recognised strength, leaders are committed to developing targeted screening, vulnerability profiling and staff understanding of SEND indicators so that emerging needs are identified and addressed as early as possible. This will enable timely intervention and prevent gaps in learning from widening.
3	Coordination of support and the graduated approach Leaders have identified the need to strengthen consistency in the implementation of the assess, plan, do, review process, target setting, EHCP monitoring and intervention planning. Developing a shared understanding of inclusive practice will ensure support is coordinated effectively and pupils receive the right support at the right time.
4	Partnership with families and pupil voice Feedback from pupils and parents has highlighted opportunities to further strengthen communication, co-production and engagement. Leaders are committed to ensuring that families are active partners in planning and reviewing support and that pupils have a meaningful voice in decisions about their education and provision.
5	Social, emotional and participation needs Some pupils experience barriers relating to social communication, emotional wellbeing, confidence, attendance or engagement with learning. Leaders have prioritised the continued development of the Student Support Centre as an inclusion hub, alongside targeted intervention, pastoral support and wider opportunities for participation, so that every pupil can access and engage successfully with school life.

Activity in this academic year

In this context, “activity” is a reporting term to help understand where funding has been allocated to build an inclusive core offer; it does not indicate only targeted provision. Activity may address several of the barriers identified, particularly where it improves our universal offer.

Description of activity (noting evidence and barrier numbers addressed)	Activity type	Total budgeted cost (IMF and core budget)
Consistent deployment of teaching assistants Barrier addressed: 1. Defining the role of teaching assistants gives clarity about their responsibilities, helping them to support teaching, learning and classroom management effectively. This promotes consistency and maximises their impact on pupil outcomes. Teachers, pupils and teaching assistants themselves all benefit from clear expectations and effective collaboration. (EEF, Deployment of Teaching Assistants)	Universal	Nil
Consistent provision for students with SEN Barrier addressed: 1. Evidence from our SEN review shows pockets of high-quality first teaching and a strong universal offer, but this is not yet consistent across the school, and the reasonable adjustments set out in student passports are not always applied consistently. Working with the Assistant Headteacher for Teaching and Learning on the King’s 7 Pedagogical Principles, we will increase the consistency of this provision. (EEF, Guide to Inclusive Teaching)	Universal	£2,000
Early and targeted screening Barrier addressed: 2. Early, targeted screening for SEN helps identify pupils’ needs as soon as possible, including at the point of transition, so that timely support can be put in place before gaps widen. Pupils benefit through improved outcomes and confidence, while teachers can plan more effectively and provide appropriate interventions. (EEF, Special Educational Needs in Mainstream Schools)	Universal and targeted	£4,000
CPD and development of the SEN team Barrier addressed: 1. Performance management for teaching assistants will focus on supporting students with SEN. Training for the SEN team will develop specialists within the team, focused on the key areas of need at King’s.	Universal	£1,000
Embed and sustain the graduated approach Barrier addressed: 3. We will embed the process of teacher referral and identification of SEN, establishing a reporting culture in which SEN is everyone’s responsibility. The assess, plan, do, review cycle will become an embedded and sustained feature of our SEN provision, with processes tightened so that targets are set for all students on the SEN register and EHCP targets are tracked and reviewed over time. (EEF, Special Educational Needs in Mainstream Schools)	Targeted	Nil
Establish the Student Support Centre as an inclusion hub Barriers addressed: 3, 4 and 5. The Student Support Centre (SSC) will become a genuine inclusion hub with an established triage system and a tiered approach for students who are out of lessons for any length of time. Bespoke education plans will be put in place for all students using the SSC, reviewed fortnightly by the SEN multi-personnel group and updated as required. New systems will strengthen communication with parents and Heads of Year, and regular weekly meetings with the SEN teaching assistant team will ensure clear communication. Interventions will be planned and used for every student on a bespoke plan. We will also continue to explore the SEN hub initiative with the local authority. (DfE, Inclusion bases in schools)	Targeted	£5,000
Develop the use of AI for SEN support Barrier addressed: 1. AI can support teachers in meeting the needs of pupils with SEND by helping to identify learning gaps, personalise resources and suggest targeted strategies quickly. This enables more responsive, consistent support and reduces workload, allowing staff to focus on high-quality interactions with pupils. Pupils with SEND benefit from more tailored learning, while teachers and support staff gain practical tools to collaborate and adapt effectively. (DfE, Generative artificial intelligence (AI) in education)	Universal	£3,000
Total budgeted cost		£15,000

Intended outcomes

This explains the clear, realistic outcomes we want our inclusive approaches to achieve by the end of our inclusion strategy, and how we will measure whether they have been achieved.

Intended outcome	Success criteria
Teaching assistants are deployed consistently across the school.	Teaching assistants are deployed consistently according to identified pupil need, with lesson observations and learning walks showing effective support in at least 90% of lessons where a teaching assistant is present. Teachers and teaching assistants routinely communicate with each other, evidenced through shared lesson resources and staff voice indicating that support is purposeful and aligned to pupil outcomes. Pupil progress, student voice and classroom observations demonstrate that teaching assistant support promotes independence, engagement and access to learning rather than over-reliance on adult support.
Consistently high-quality adaptive teaching across the school, reflecting the King’s 7 Pedagogical Principles, ensures that the universal offer is of a high standard for all.	Learning walks, lesson observations and quality assurance activities show that the King’s 7 Pedagogical Principles are consistently evident across all departments, with adaptive teaching strategies routinely embedded in classroom practice. Staff voice demonstrates high levels of confidence in adapting teaching to meet a range of needs, with professional development leading to increased use of scaffolding, modelling, vocabulary instruction, questioning and reasonable adjustments. Student voice, attainment data and progress measures show that pupils with SEND can successfully access the curriculum alongside their peers, resulting in narrower attainment gaps and improved engagement in learning.
Student passports are updated regularly in line with a refreshed graduated approach, showing evidence of target setting and EHCP target monitoring.	Student passports are reviewed and updated within agreed timescales, with current strengths, needs and support strategies clearly recorded. All student passports contain specific, measurable targets that are reviewed through the assess, plan, do, review cycle. EHCP outcomes and targets are routinely monitored and evidenced, with progress clearly recorded in student passports and review documentation. Parent voice, including through parent and carer forums, shows positive engagement with student passport reviews and the wider SEN strategy.
The gap in Attainment 8 and Progress 8 between students with SEND and the wider King’s cohort narrows.	The Attainment 8 gap between pupils with SEND and their peers reduces year on year. The Progress 8 gap between pupils with SEND and the wider school cohort reduces year on year. Internal assessment and external outcomes show that pupils with SEND make progress in line with, or better than, expectations from their starting points.
Fewer students miss lessons, attendance in school (including in the Student Support Centre) and in lessons improves, and participation in the wider life of the school increases.	The number of pupils with SEND missing lessons reduces year on year. Attendance rates for pupils accessing SEND and Student Support Centre provision improve and remain in line with, or above, national expectations. Participation of pupils with SEND in enrichment activities, trips, clubs and wider school opportunities increases year on year.

Review of the previous academic year

2026/27 is the first year of our Inclusion Strategy. From next year, this section will set out the progress made towards our intended outcomes, how it was assessed, and the impact of the strategy on pupils’ engagement, participation, attendance, sense of belonging and attainment.

Further information

Activities outlined in this strategy are funded through a combination of the school’s core budget, notional SEND funding and the Inclusive Mainstream Fund (IMF). Funding is targeted towards strengthening high-quality inclusive practice, staff expertise, early identification and intervention, and enhanced provision through the Student Support Centre.

This Inclusion Strategy should be read alongside The King’s School SEND and Disability Policy, which sets out the school’s statutory responsibilities, procedures and provision for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities. The policy is available on our Policies page.

Together, these documents outline how the school identifies, supports and monitors pupils with SEND, and how we work in partnership with families, external agencies and the wider school community to ensure that all pupils can thrive and achieve their potential.