Write a strategy your school can put into practice.
Inclusion is experienced in the classroom, at lunchtime and in the moments between. Your strategy should help the adults around a child understand what needs to change, who will act and how you will know it is helping.
For schools covered by England’s Inclusive Mainstream Fund grant conditions, the 2026–27 strategy must be published by 31 December 2026 and updated annually. It should explain the activities and budgeted costs intended to address barriers to learning and participation. Each academy needs its own statement, including where a trust pools funding.
Check the DfE conditions of grant for the requirements that apply to your setting. This guide supports school planning; it is not a substitute for the official guidance.
A concise statement, backed by a working plan
Write the public statement in language pupils and families can understand. Describe your cohort’s barriers, selected activities, intended outcomes and budgeted costs, with a review of the previous academic year where applicable. Keep the fuller delivery plan in your school’s working documents.
Show how your everyday provision and early targeted support work together. Support should respond to identified needs without waiting for a diagnosis. Use the DfE strategy guidance and linked template to check coverage.
Begin with the school day your pupils actually experience.
Bring together cohort information, pupil and family perspectives, staff observations and the provision you already offer. Consider classroom access, attendance, transitions, enrichment and the school environment. Look beyond labels: a pupil does not need a diagnosis for adults to notice a barrier.
Ask colleagues where support holds together and where it becomes difficult to sustain. A teaching assistant, receptionist or lunchtime supervisor may notice a pattern that is less visible in a leadership meeting. Invite contributions in accessible ways, including from families who are less likely to attend meetings.
Keep the public strategy at school or cohort level. Use your established secure processes for individual pupil information.
Give the document a clear job.
A useful strategy connects your school’s priorities, everyday provision, additional support, funding decisions and review arrangements. Keep the language understandable to families and make responsibilities visible. Whole-school improvements sit alongside individual and specialist support, not in place of it.
For your first working draft, answer these questions in your own words:
What do we want children to experience more consistently?
What tells us that change is needed, and whose perspective is missing?
What will adults do differently, with what time and resources?
Who will check delivery and listen to feedback?
What will we continue, adapt or stop at the next review?
Write targets that describe action, not just ambition.
“Improve inclusion” is a shared intention. A working target also needs an identifiable change, a responsible lead, a timescale and a way to review it. Set numerical ambitions from your own starting point rather than borrowing a percentage that has no meaning in your school.
The examples below are original planning illustrations, not ANCHOR Inclusion® assessment criteria or claims about programme outcomes.
A more settled start to learning
What needs attention?
Pupils and staff describe the return from lunch as difficult to navigate.
Example target
By the end of the first half-term, each participating class will have agreed and trialled an accessible return-to-class routine, shaped by pupil feedback.
Who leads?
Phase leader, working with teaching and lunchtime staff.
What makes it possible?
Briefing time, accessible communication materials and a planned handover.
What will we review?
Check whether adults use the agreed routine, whether pupils find it helpful and whether learning starts feel more manageable. Adjust where experiences differ.
Belonging beyond the classroom
What needs attention?
Some families report that clubs do not feel accessible to their child.
Example target
Before the next club cycle, the enrichment lead will review access with families who have faced barriers and agree practical adjustments with each relevant club provider.
Who leads?
Enrichment lead, with the SENCO and family liaison colleague.
What makes it possible?
Provider discussion time and a costed plan for necessary adjustments.
What will we review?
Record whether the agreed adjustments were available, who could participate and what pupils say about their experience. Attendance alone does not show belonging.
Support that does not depend on one adult
What needs attention?
Helpful adjustments are less consistent when the usual member of staff is absent.
Example target
Within one term, each team will test a proportionate handover arrangement so authorised colleagues can access the information needed to maintain agreed support.
Who leads?
SLT inclusion lead and team leaders.
What makes it possible?
Protected collaboration time and existing permission-controlled school records.
What will we review?
Ask staff whether they could act confidently, check a small sample of handovers and listen to pupil and family feedback. Keep confidential information out of public reports.
Make space for follow-through.
Before you begin
Agree a small number of priorities. Record your starting point, involve the adults who will deliver the change and protect time for preparation. Check whether your plan adds work that needs to be resourced.
During the term
Use brief, planned check-ins to find out what is actually happening. Resolve practical obstacles early. A missed action may signal a timetable, information or resource problem rather than a lack of commitment.
At termly review
Bring delivery evidence together with pupil, family and staff experience. Record the decision, its reason and the next owner. Share a clear summary with governors and communicate relevant changes to families.
Keep two questions separate: did we implement the change, and did it help? Training attendance answers neither on its own. Compare like-for-like periods where possible, note other changes in the setting and avoid drawing large conclusions from a small group.
Connect your ambitions to staffing and budgets.
Cost the whole commitment: training, staff release, collaboration, materials and any continuing licence. A clear plan helps SLT consider workload allocation and resource decisions before pressure builds.
The IMF has specific spending restrictions, including a prohibition on capital works and subsidising pre-existing activity. Other funding streams have their own conditions. Ask your business manager to confirm the fit between the identified need, proposed expenditure and relevant grant rules. Read the permitted uses of IMF funding.
School planning example: replace each entry with your agreed activity and actual cost.
Activity
Barrier addressed
Funding decision
Budgeted cost
Staff development and release time
Inconsistent support across roles
Record the eligible funding source and split
Training quote plus staff cover
Accessibility improvements
Difficulty accessing everyday learning
Confirm the proposed expenditure is permitted
Costed adjustments and materials
Family engagement activity
Barriers to shared understanding
Confirm eligibility and any school contribution
Agreed delivery and access costs
Do not assume a named course or workshop is automatically eligible for a grant. Record why the selected activity fits your cohort, the available evidence and the funding conditions.
Connect professional learning with policy and evidence.
SEND and the graduated approach
Use staff learning within your existing assess, plan, do and review arrangements. Keep responsibility for individual provision, specialist advice and decisions with the appropriate school professionals. Read the SEND Code of Practice.
Inspection conversations
Explain the barriers leaders identified, the support adults delivered and what pupils experienced. Training records show professional learning; evidence of practice and outcomes needs to come from the school. Consult Ofsted’s current school inspection materials.
A proportionate evidence base
Use existing records and pupil, family and staff perspectives to understand change. Agree useful measures before training begins, including participation, access and whether agreed support is available. Avoid creating paperwork simply to demonstrate attendance at a course.
ANCHOR can contribute to staff development and implementation. It does not confer DfE or Ofsted approval, guarantee an inspection judgement or establish compliance through purchase.
TURNING SHARED INTENT INTO SHARED PRACTICE
How ANCHOR Inclusion can support your school
ANCHOR’s school training is designed to develop shared understanding, staff confidence and more consistent SEND support across the adults who work directly with children. We help schools connect professional learning with the priorities they want to address, while keeping the child’s experience at the centre.
Set a meaningful direction
Discuss your school’s priorities and where staff development could support them. Use that conversation to shape a realistic training proposal, with clear expectations for participation and protected learning time.
Build understanding across roles
The 12-week school certification route gives teams a sustained professional-learning opportunity. Include the staff who need to work together across teaching, support, lunchtime and wraparound provision.
Support leadership review
The school app offer is intended to help SLT examine inclusion information and inform support, resource allocation, governance reports and strategy updates. School leaders retain responsibility for interpreting evidence and agreeing action.
We recommend shared ownership. SLT should bring together the SENCO, finance and operational colleagues, staff delivering support, governors and family perspectives. The SENCO’s expertise matters, but delivery needs responsibilities across the school.
Can we adapt an existing school improvement priority?
Yes. Start by checking whether it clearly identifies the inclusion barrier, planned adult action, resources and review arrangements. Link related documents so staff are not working from competing priorities.
Does buying ANCHOR training fulfil the strategy requirement?
No single purchase completes a school strategy. Training can support delivery where it fits your identified needs. Your school owns the strategy, its funding decisions and its evaluation.
Can we discuss our strategy without sharing pupil records?
Yes. Describe school-level priorities and general barriers in the enquiry form below. Do not submit pupil names, diagnoses, individual plans or safeguarding information.
