Best Practices in Inclusive Teaching: FOBISIA webinar

This webinar was held in partnership with FOBISIA. Ginette Moore, Real Training NASENCO and iSENCO tutor teamed up with Sofia Keigher, Assistant Head at Brighton College Bangkok to investigate the latest best practices in inclusive teaching. They looked at:

• The latest thinking around adaptive teaching, differentiation and Universal Design for Learning.
• Some low and no-cost ways to ensure every student can access the curriculum.
• How to evaluate progress in your school and share best practice.
• How Brighton College Bangkok has swapped IEPs for pupil passports and how they are being used to support adaptive teaching methods.

Your questions answered

Q: What would be the best approach to teach a challenging topic to SEN students for whom English is not their primary language?

Sophia: “In our teaching approach, we use widget symbols to provide visual support that enhances student understanding, especially for those who are emergent language learners. These symbols are also translated into the students’ home languages, making the content more accessible and inclusive. Additionally, pre-teaching is a key strategy we implement, allowing students to be introduced to essential concepts and vocabulary before the lesson. This ensures they have a foundational understanding, which boosts their confidence and engagement during the main instructional time.”

Q: What are the assessment/diagnostic tools that can be used by SEND for early identification and planning intervention for young people?

Ginette: “It’s important to gather data from a range of sources, and then consider how assessment and diagnostic tools can be used to enhance the picture of need that you are constructing. As well as consulting the pupil’s teachers, the pupil and their parents should also contribute. The school’s own data from baseline assessments, as well as data about progress and attainment compared to expectations, provide further insight. There are tools that can be used without further training, such as the free CHIPS early literacy screener, and paid products by GL Assessment. Those who have completed the CCET (Certificate of Competence in Educational Testing) course (available from Real Training) can purchase and administer psychometric tests. Together, these sources of information guide school staff in making decisions about targeted interventions.”

Q: How can I support all the pupils all at the same time if, for example, there are multiple pupils who have varying different and very detailed learning passports?

Sophia: “Adapting learning in the classroom requires a thorough understanding of each pupil, which develops over time. While not all information from a pupil’s learning passport may apply in real time, being preloaded with knowledge about the student allows for minor, timely adjustments as needed. These adjustments can be simple yet effective, such as giving a pupil a quick pre-warning that a question is coming or using a sand timer to help manage task time. The aim is to create a flexible and responsive learning environment tailored to individual needs.”

Q: Can you give any advice about how to change culture and mindset (including SLT)  – moving away from ‘SEND is Inclusion’s job’ to ‘SEND is everyone’s responsibility’

Ginette: “As the saying goes, every teacher is a teacher of children with SEND.  The inclusion team is never big enough to do all of the work! The UK teacher standards support this viewpoint, and as we said in the webinar, adaptive teaching is for all pupils.  Lesson planning and observations must include a focus on the experiences of pupils with SEND and how they are accessing learning.”

Q: How do you track progress for students you monitor/work with?

Ginette: “Through a combination of data sources used at regular intervals. At my school, GL progress tests in maths, English and science are taken each year; this information is supplemented by internal testing and mock exams for older students. We are lucky to have a dashboard that collates the information for each student and class. Pupils with learning targets who receive intervention have those targets evaluated each term.”

Q: Can we sell adaptive teaching to class teachers by saying that it saves planning time rather than taking up more time and if so how?

Sophia: “I think that sometimes when you feel like one term is directly replacing another it can be a little bit of a hard sell. How we’ve addressed this is by saying that it is not necessarily about saving planning time but it is about using that time differently. Instead of creating a multitude of worksheets, it’s more about having a look at the lesson plan in order to pre-empt what might come up. So, knowing this individual pupil and their pupil passport, what might they might find tricky? What potential barriers might crop up and what do I plan to do about this?

It doesn’t need to all be written down it doesn’t all need to be evidenced with worksheets – it’s more about being able to show that you know the child in front of you. So I’d say yes it perhaps saves pen-to-paper planning time but maybe not the more kind of pedagogical and cognitive planning time.”

Q: I have an extremely bright student with Asperger’s. How can I make sure the student thrives without intimidating others? 

Ginette: “Every student is entitled to reach their potential. Enrichment, stretch and challenge activities will contribute to this. It’s OK for the student to receive provision that is additional to and/or different from others in the class, just as you would for a student working significantly below year group expectations. A culture of mutual respect where every student is valued ensures that differences can be celebrated.”

Q: Any strategies to reduce sensory overwhelm in subjects that are loud/noisy environments? (i.e Music) 

Sophia: “We implement additional support strategies such as providing rest breaks or offering an exit pass to pupils who may need a moment away from the learning environment to self-regulate. Ear defenders or headphones playing white noise are also available for students who require assistance in managing sensory input or maintaining focus, helping to create a more conducive learning atmosphere tailored to individual sensory and concentration needs.”

Q: What role do Teaching Assistants play and how much should they focus on being friendly or getting the serious business of learning done?

Ginette: “Relationships are important and those relationships include not just the teacher but any other adults who work with the child. So yes absolutely as a teaching assistant you’re friendly when you need to be – but it’s all about being focused on engaging the pupil with the content you are trying to present. The crucial role of the teaching assistant is that you’re hearing that student’s voice in real time. If you’re talking about a class size of up to 20 often up to 25, the teacher’s not going to have their eye on all of those children all of the time and the TA has a vital role to play in recognizing when somebody’s not getting it. Perhaps the skilled TA can even help with scaffolding, but all teaching assistants can help by drawing the teacher’s attention and just saying this child’s having a bit of a struggle with this, could you just help explain that again.”

Further resources

Alex Quigley writes a great introductory blog explaining the Scaffold, Scale, Structure and Style approach: https://alexquigley.co.uk/adaptive-teaching-scaffolds-scale-structure-and-style

PrimaryTimery: A great article on adaptive teaching with practical examples and strategies to support memory https://primarytimery.com/2024/03/29/adaptive-teaching-the-four-verbs-approach/

The Center for Family Support: A useful step-by-step guide to creating One Page Profiles https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brcjbVkbph0

Daniel Sobel and Sara Alston’s book The Inclusive Classroom, a fantastic guide for Primary and Secondary teachers. It addresses why we should meet needs rather than focusing on diagnosis, and guides you through different phases of a single lesson and how they can be adapted. Sobel, D. and Alston, S (2021). The Inclusive Classroom. Bloomsbury https://www.amazon.co.uk/Inclusive-Classroom-Daniel-Sobel/dp/1472977920

Inclusive classroom checklist – (from the above) can be accessed here

CAST: Universal Design for Learning guidelines: https://udlguidelines.cast.org/

Jon Eaton writes a guest blog about how adaptive teaching has benefitted his Trust: https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/news/moving-from-differentiation-to-adaptive-teaching

A basic pupil passport template can be downloaded here

The Education Endowment Fund (EEF) have good general information about adaptive teaching https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/news/eef-blog-assess-adjust-adapt-what-does-adaptive-teaching-mean-to-you

Sara Alston writing in Headteacher Update: neatly summarises what went wrong with our previous use of differentiation: https://www.headteacher-update.com/content/best-practice/adaptive-teaching-or-differentiation/