Over the past year, there has been a growing national focus on SEND and inclusion, with a range of government guidance, reforms and new frameworks being developed to strengthen mainstream provision and improve outcomes for children and young people with additional needs.

• Fielding Launches New Inclusion Strategy

While much of this work is still evolving, it has provided an important opportunity for schools to reflect on how we can ensure every child feels they belong, can participate fully in school life and has the support they need to thrive.

At Fielding, we have spent time reviewing the emerging reforms alongside our own evidence, including pupil outcomes, attendance, enrichment participation, family feedback and staff voice. Through this process, we developed a refreshed Inclusion Strategy built around a simple vision:

Every child belongs, participates, achieves and thrives.

Our strategy recognises that inclusion is not the responsibility of one person or one team. It is created through strong relationships, high-quality teaching, meaningful opportunities to participate, effective support and close partnership with families.

What have we done so far?

To help turn our strategy into action, we recently launched our Inclusion Development Group (IDG).

The IDG brings together staff members from across the school to help shape the next phase of Fielding's inclusion journey. Members include teaching staff, support staff, leaders and specialist practitioners who are working together to explore key areas such as:

• Communication and Engagement
• Workforce Development and Specialist Expertise
• Participation, Opportunity and Enrichment
• Emotional Wellbeing, Belonging and Family Partnership
• Development of our new Targeted Plus support pathways

The group had a productive first meeting and has begun developing a shared definition of inclusion, identifying strengths within our current provision and exploring ways to improve pathways for children whose needs sit between targeted and specialist support.

While we are still at an early stage, the discussions have been thoughtful, practical and exciting. Most importantly, they are helping us ensure that future developments are shaped by the needs of our children and families.

Keeping Parents Informed

We know that partnership with families is essential if inclusion is to be successful.

Alongside updates in newsletters and other communications, we will also be holding a series of face-to-face parent briefing sessions throughout the year. These sessions will provide an opportunity to share what we have been doing so far, explain the direction of our Inclusion Strategy, discuss emerging developments and answer any questions parents may have.

Further details and dates will be shared shortly.

Parent Volunteers Wanted

We would now like to invite two parents of children with SEND to join the Inclusion Development Group.

This is an opportunity to contribute to discussions, share perspectives and help shape the future development of inclusion at Fielding. We are particularly keen to ensure that parent voice remains at the heart of our work. You would need to be able to attend a half-termly meeting within the school day, and have additional capacity to meet with a subgroup in between meetings as needed. These could be face to face or online.

If you are interested in finding out more, please contact me via the admin email for further information and details about the commitment involved.

We look forward to continuing this journey together and ensuring that every child at Fielding feels that they belong, participate and thrive.

Clare Haines, 22nd October 2026