An interview with Richard Archbold

Richard Archbold – MEd in Inclusive Educational Leadership

Richard is a SENCO and senior leader in an all-through school based in Birmingham. He has extensive experience in SEND strategy, access arrangements, autism support, consultancy and advocacy through RDA SEND Services.

Last year he gained his MEd in Inclusive Educational Leadership with us, gaining a Distinction.

Being a SENCO is a notoriously busy role – what compelled you to complete further study and why was this important?

Honestly? I wanted to make sure the decisions I was making strategically were rooted in evidence rather than just experience and instinct. Working in a large, busy secondary setting, you are constantly balancing EHCPs, behaviour, attendance, safeguarding and whole-school improvement. The role can easily become reactive.

The MEd gave me space to stop, think and properly reflect on what effective inclusion should actually look like.

What does gaining an MEd in Inclusive Educational Leadership mean to you?

It has given me confidence in my own thinking and practice as a leader. SEND leadership is often underestimated, but completing the MEd reinforced that inclusion is strategic school improvement work, not just paperwork and compliance.

It has also given me the credibility and confidence to move towards consultancy work and support other schools more widely.

Plus I was the first person in my family to get a degree and now I’m the first person to complete a Masters level qualification….what next – a PhD?

How has completing the MEd helped you make an impact and support improvements for pupils with SEND in your school?

It changed how I approached inclusion.

Rather than SEND sitting separately from teaching and learning, it helped drive a stronger focus on adaptive teaching, curriculum access and sustainable classroom practice. The biggest impact came from embedding practical strategies staff could actually use consistently.

The research around visual supports and task boards especially helped improve independence and engagement for a number of pupils.

Were there any particular modules that stood out for you or that you particularly enjoyed?

The enquiry-based modules definitely stood out because they linked directly to real school improvement work.

I particularly enjoyed exploring inclusive pedagogy, implementation and cognitive load because it all connected so closely to what happens in mainstream classrooms every day.

What drove you to select the use of visual supports to support autistic pupils for your enquiry project?

It came from seeing pupils struggle with the structure of learning rather than the learning itself. In busy secondary classrooms, verbal instructions can disappear into the chaos quite quickly. I wanted to explore something practical, sustainable and realistic for teachers that could genuinely improve independence and reduce overwhelm for autistic pupils.

What were some of the main findings?

The biggest finding was that relatively small adaptations made a significant difference.

Visual task boards improved independence, engagement and task completion, particularly for autistic pupils who found sequencing and organisation difficult. Interestingly, the strategies also benefited a much wider group of learners than expected.

It also reinforced that staff ownership matters. Strategies only stick when teachers feel they are workable in real classrooms.

What’s been the impact on staff and pupils?

For pupils, there was noticeably greater independence and confidence with tasks. Some pupils needed less prompting and were more willing to engage with learning.

For staff, it helped simplify inclusive practice. It moved the conversation away from “different work” towards making mainstream classrooms more accessible for everyone.

Would you recommend Real Training and this master’s programme to others?

Absolutely. The programme felt genuinely relevant to real school life rather than disconnected academically. It challenged my thinking whilst still being practical enough to apply immediately within school.

It is demanding, especially whilst leading SEND full-time, but definitely worthwhile.

Explore more of Real Training’s Master’s programmes by visiting our webpage here