On Inclusion:​ From my book – Lessons From the Heads Office – Sage 2023

“Creating a sense of belonging within and beyond the boundaries of our school is a fundamental cog in the system of good educational leadership. Inclusion should be the cornerstone on which we build our values, knowing that what we do within our school should be more than a positive reflection of society; that it should be a guiding light within it.”


I hate the term resource base. It sounds like a storeroom. A dusty corner. Something you bolt onto the side of a school like an admin block or a poorly thought-out shed.

What we run at my school isn’t a bolt‑on.
It isn’t a warehouse of needs.
It’s a school— a living, breathing, exhausting, joyous, and beautiful school.

We simply call it The Willows.

And after 11 years of running a Specialist Provision, within the heart of a large mainstream site, that grew from 18 to 55 pupils (despite being told every year it would shrink), here are some of the lessons I’ve learned. Not polished ones. Not theoretical ones. The real ones.

1. Inclusion Is %$£*ing Hard Work

I’m not dressing it up.
Trying to be inclusive, properly inclusive, not marketing‑brochure, or national speech inclusive, is relentless.

Every decision you make is magnified. Every behaviour incident becomes a referendum on your leadership. Every misstep is observed by parents, staff, and impacts upon your confidence (Even after 22 years as a head).

And it hurts sometimes.
Inclusion challenges people’s sense of fairness, their understanding of behaviour, and their expectations of what a school should look like.

I’ve seen SATs results take a hit. This year 20% of my Year 6 cohort have an EHCP. It will reduce SATs % scores in published data SIGNIFICANTLY (To use DFE reporting language), as it has for years – last year as much as 11% (Imagine that – Mathematic was 81% for children who sat the test – down to 70% – Ouch!

But, you also have to face up to the impact on attendance (As reported in last weeks blog) and exclusions. If your approach to school improvement is to flatten the grass… you can’t run a specilaist unit and therefore, I believe you can’t preach about how inclusive you are.

2. Take the Heat Out, Not the Heart Out

A specialist provision attracts complaints, internal, external and at times from complete randoms…

Most of them aren’t malicious.
They’re personal because every leader I know wants to run a great school and our narratives about what make great schools are often glossed over.
They’re often born of fear, frustration, exhaustion, or memories of the battles families have already fought to get any support at all.

We’ve learned:

  • Be absolutely clear about what your provision can and cannot do.
    (We say no 1:1s up front; we talk about teams around children and developing independence away from one adult (who can’t be there all the time)
  • Recognise that complaints are information, not indictments.
  • Take the heat out. Don’t take it personally.

Inclusion is high‑stakes for families. I always try to remember this when in court. What parent wouldn’t fight for the highest possible provision? It frustrating because I’ve learned over the years that high cost provisions aren’t necessarily better provisions. I’m so pleased that the White Paper talks of a cap on them. There is nothing worse than saying you can meet need and an external private provision comes in at over £100,000+ higher and you think – but what’s the difference in provision? Is this the best use of tax payers money? I once thought – when a private independent provision said it had a team of people who went into the home to support – “Well, If I received that amount of funding- I’d clean your house and bring your shopping as well”. The current system of costed provision is NOT fair and that has to be tackled.

3. Staff must understand the provision

This is a whole‑school endeavor, not a separate group on the edge of the field.

You must fight the gravitational pull towards:

  • Segregation

Even when you have to plan differently and much of the provision is operationally separate… What cannot be separate is school culture – that has to be embedded across the entire school without any deviation..

One careless comment in a staffroom can undo trust.
One decision made without specialist voices can blow a hole in your relational culture.

If your staff still call for the Head to deal with behaviour, then something is wrong. But, they must know that you understand what they are doing daily and that you appreciate this approach. You need to lead it. Leadership needs to be visible, modelling inclusion in language, decisions, and presence at ALL times.

Therefore, I only make a decision to suspend based on conversations with staff- they lead on this and what I have found is when the culture is an inclusive one staff have 101 ways to approach a possible suspension rather than sending a child home. What they tell me matters. By building this culture I have very low suspension data considering the huge challenges we have.

But, you have to stick to your rules, and if staff feel that they have done everything – you must back them.

4. Training People is Challenging

When it matters so much that staff are with children – training can be a real challenge, especially with support staff. You have to make sure that professionals that come in also offer training alongside practice, that they model and support during the day. I’m not interested in reports (I know Ed Phys ones are slightly different)… But, having SALTs that work hand in hand with staff and model makes a big difference.

Trauma‑informed practice can be a buzzword.
Test it.
If it’s just posters and warm phrases, chuck it out.

What matters is:

  • De‑escalation as culture
  • Purposeful behaviour strategies that everyone understands
  • Accurate, honest reporting
  • Specialist training in intimate care, safety, and dignity
  • A strategic plan so the whole team are working as effectively as possible

And learn to love your data, because it never makes sense, is never an accurate reflection and often makes things even more obscure and confusing… But love it all the same. You’ll need it more than you think; Just remember you can not look at the data in the same way as you do in mainstream… it’s a completely different way of thinking about reviewing progress… you have to find the smallest of steps and know how to build on them.

5. Everything Is the Curriculum

I never say – alternative provision – I say, Our Curriculum, because that is what it is.
For us, the curriculum is everything.

Uniform? Flexible. If it means a child being in school. Uniform is pretty much 99%, but I’d rather keep a child in school than not…
Assemblies? Optional. Ask what children get from these… I love it when children from The Willow choose to come to assembly, but equally it is hard to meet all the needs via this format.
Therapies and sensory breaks? Should be integral – but under constant review for impact. They can become an immediate answer and eventually just happen without any real review of what difference they make. Be curious at all times.

We use the outdoors constantly.
Offsite learning isn’t an alternative provision.
It’s our provision. Our Trust has now bought a lot of land and we have animals, highly trained staff and specific provisions.

6. Communicate Until You’re Sick of Your Own Voice

You will explain your provision a thousand times — to parents, staff, governors, taxi drivers, random locals, and definitely Ofsted.

Some people still won’t get it… The new Ofsted framework is clearly going to be a joy. My IDSR is a car crash full of data that is devoid of any context. I have had too many conversations with people who just do not get what impact 60 EHCPs can have across the IDSR… So do, and hopefully I’ll get lucky in my next inspection – but this seems like chance rather than by design.

I’ll say it anyway. I will not stop until they understand and if they don’t I’ll shout it from the rafters afterwards because it matters. Schools who are inclusive should be celebrated – never punished as a system tried to fit it into the norm.

Ask yourself:

  • Do governors really understand what we do? Mine do, and they are KEY in how our voice is heard.
  • Do specialist staff have a seat at the table, not just a stool in the corridor? Make sure they are integral to your Senior Leadership structure – I have an Assistant head and Lead teacher.
  • Can we respond quickly to urgent need? Build capacity into your system. One of the off-shoots of having a reputation for ‘being inclusive’ is your SEND base with rise above others around you. We currently have 28% SEND across the academy with some year groups going over 40%

Like everyone else, even when you set your system up to be more inclusive – capacity must NEVER be overlooked – otherwise you could slip into chaos.

7. Redefine Success Before Someone Else Does It for You

If you don’t tell your story, someone else will — usually badly.

We track the usual: attendance, exclusions, safeguarding, academic outcomes.

But our real success sits elsewhere:

  • regulation, not perfection – individual growth (E.g a child who was permanently excluded (elsewhere) becoming a house captain and loving school – what better measure of success for that individual?)
  • communication over compliance – understand what is going on rather than sticking to rigid systems that give you no flexibility to address something other than suspend someone. We don’t accept violence and are clear about what is expected… but we do listen to the signs, reasons and context and turn this into help…
  • engagement over avoidance – You need to see children to help them; engagement first…
  • trust over tension… You’ll never not have tension but you can build that trust through honesty and attention to the issues impacting your school. Never run away from them – the more you ignore the reality – the greater the tension.

Write your case studies.
Share them and reflect on them.
Show the journey, not just the destination.

8. Isolation

There will be days:

  • someone gets hurt – or staff moral takes a real hit
  • the building looks like a demolition project
  • you question your sanity (and your job choices)
  • everyone questions your leadership- including you – how on earth is this “inclusive practice”?

That’s when you need other “like-minded” leaders, networks, and colleagues who get it.
Not politely.
Not academically.
But viscerally.

Build your network before you need it. Build it now.

9. And Finally

Running a Specialist Provision within a mainstream site is really challenging.
It will stretch you and those around you.
It will show you hard truths about people — including yourself.

But it will also:

  • transform lives
  • build belonging
  • reveal strength in unlikely places
  • show your community what humanity looks like in action
  • remind you why you became a teacher in the first place

When you see a child self regulate for the first time… after months of chaos
When a parent finally exhales after years of battles… and says something positive about their child’s schooling experience
When you find joy in the small victories…

You realise:
You’re exactly where you’re meant to be.

And that’s the privilege of it.

So, I’m off to water the grass… and let it sway…