Building Inclusive Learning Communities

SHARING VISION AND VALUES

A learning community where each child is nurtured and valued as an individual and which supports their sense of belonging and efficacy is a central component of inclusion.
Learning communities should articulate what demonstrating inclusive and nurturing values means within their individual context.

Finding the right language to make this meaningful to parents, learners and staff could form part of a process of community engagement and participation.
Supporting the whole learning community to understand and contribute to the vision and values for Inclusion is something that takes time and proactive engagement.

Guiding Principles of the Inclusion Framework

UNIVERSAL SUPPORT

Universal support starts with the ethos, climate and relationships within every learning environment. It is the responsibility of all practitioners to take a child-centred approach which promotes and supports wellbeing, inclusion equality and fairness. The entitlement to universal support for all children and young people is provided from within the existing pre-school and school settings.

  • Positive relationships will be experienced by pupils and staff in all learning establishments.
  • All staff understand that all behaviours are a form of communication and will respond appropriately.
  • Schools will deliver inclusive, nurturing practice through effective, creative learning and teaching and maintain positive learning environments for all children and young people.
  • High quality, evidence-based, professional learning and development will be provided for all staff.
  • All schools and learning establishments will be familiar and comply with legislation and National and Local Guidance.
  • All children and young people will be heard through recognising their rights and hearing their voice.
  • The health and wellbeing of all our children and young people is central to decision making.
  • All children and young people will experience a nurturing environment.
  • We will value and celebrate equality and diversity within all our learning establishments.

An environment which is caring, inclusive, fair and focused on delivering learning to meet individual needs will encourage all children and young people to strive to meet their learning potential. Every child and young person is entitled to support to enable them to gain as much as possible from the opportunities which Curriculum for Excellence can provide. When a child or young person may require some additional support, this is initially the responsibility of the classroom teacher. The majority of children and young people’s needs are met through universal support.

Some examples of universal support are below – this list is not exhaustive.

  • Personalised learning plans
  • Literacy, numeracy or health and wellbeing support
  • Enhanced transition e.g. P7 – S1
  • Use of ICT e.g. digital learning and teaching resources such as digital SQA exams
  • Quiet spaces
  • Visual timetables

TARGETED SUPPORT

Children and young people can benefit from additional or targeted support, tailored to their individual circumstances. This could be at any point on their learning journey or throughout the journey. This targeted support is any focused support which children or young people may require for short or longer periods of time to help them overcome barriers to learning or to ensure progress in learning.
All learning establishments will:

  • Provide targeted, nurturing support in schools and local communities to meet the needs of our most vulnerable children, young people and families.
  • Ensure that learners affected by poverty are supported to attain and achieve their full potential.
  • Develop a professional learning and development strategy to support targeted approaches.
  • Ensure health and wellbeing and the wellbeing indicators are considered when delivering targeted support.
  • Ensure that exclusion is rarely used and schools will prioritise support to ensure maximum attendance and engagement of all learners.

Targeted support is usually, but not exclusively, co-ordinated and provided by staff with additional training and expertise through a staged intervention process. This may be by staff other than the class teacher and outwith the pre-school or school setting but within education services
In a secondary school, this support may be coordinated by guidance/pastoral care/pupil support staff.

Some examples of targeted support are below – this list is not exhaustive:

  • Higher attaining children (ensuring progression)
  • Bereavement peer support group
  • Input from Allied Health Professionals e.g. speech and language
  • Specific learning difficulties
  • Nurture groups/bases
  • Trauma informed interventions designed for a care experienced child/young person
  • Complex needs e.g. sessions in a sensory room

Reducing barriers and supporting needs

Effective communication between professionals, parents/carers and learners is an essential contributing element required to reduce any barriers to learning. A child or young person may have additional support needs arising from more than one of the factors. Support for children and young people may be provided in a range of locations including in school, at home, in hospital, or in a specialist health, social services or voluntary agency facility.

Examples of support to reduce barriers may include:

  • a particular approach to learning and teaching: for example, as used with children and young people with autism spectrum disorders , dyslexia or sensory impairments • youth work provided through community learning and development
  • attendance shared between school and further education college
  • a higher attaining child at the later stages of primary school receiving support to access the secondary mathematics curriculum.
  • the deployment of personnel from within the school or education authority: for example, support from a learning support teacher in the school or from a peripatetic teacher of the deaf
  • the deployment of personnel from outwith education: for example, support provided by allied health professionals working in health or social workers from the local authority or staff from the voluntary sector where this support enables the child or young person to benefit from education
  • provision of particular resources, including information and communications technology (ICT) and particular learning and teaching materials.
  • class teacher helping a child by following a behaviour management programme drawn up in consultation with all relevant professionals
  • tutorial support from a support for learning teacher to help with a reading difficulty • use of communication symbols by an autistic learner
  • use of an app on a tablet computer to support writing