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Winshill Village Primary & Nursery School

Winshill Village
Primary & Nursery School

Inclusion Strategy

Lead: Mrs C Frend

Our Inclusion Strategy 

At Winshill Village Primary and Nursery School, inclusion is at the heart of our vision: “A Place to Dream Big and Learn Without Limits.” We believe that every child should be able to participate, belong, achieve and thrive, and that every pupil should have the opportunity to reach their full potential.

Every child is unique, with different starting points, experiences, strengths and needs, and some may experience additional barriers to learning or participation. We are committed to recognising and removing these barriers so that every child feels valued, respected, included and safe, while being supported and challenged to achieve their very best.

Our Inclusion Strategy sets out how we identify barriers early and develop our provision to meet the needs of all pupils, including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Through our DREAM BIG values, we aim to create a community where every child has a strong sense of Belonging, is encouraged to have Aspiration, develops Independence, and experiences Growth.

Inclusion enables every child at Winshill Village to Dream Big, Learn Without Limits and flourish.

A New National Approach to Inclusion

During 2026, the Government set out its ambition for an education system that is increasingly inclusive by design, with mainstream schools supported to identify and meet children’s needs as early as possible.

As part of this approach, the Department for Education introduced the Inclusive Mainstream Fund (IMF) for 2026–2027, providing additional investment to help mainstream schools strengthen inclusive practice and remove common barriers to learning and participation.

A key principle of this national approach is early identification and support. Where a child needs additional help, schools should be able to respond promptly and put appropriate support in place, rather than always waiting for a formal diagnosis or statutory process.

The funding is intended to complement schools’ existing resources, including the notional SEN budget, and focuses particularly on:

  • Inclusive universal provision – developing high-quality teaching, learning environments, resources and approaches that are accessible and effective for a wide range of pupils from the outset.
  • Early, evidence-based targeted support – identifying emerging or additional needs quickly and providing appropriate, timely support before barriers become more significant.

At Winshill Village Primary and Nursery School, this national direction closely reflects our own commitment to ensuring that every child can Dream Big and Learn Without Limits. We want inclusion to be embedded in everyday school life, with children receiving the right support, at the right time, to help them participate, belong, achieve and thrive.

What does this mean at Winshill Village Primary and Nursery School?

The principles behind the Inclusive Mainstream Fund closely reflect our existing approach and our vision to be “A Place to Dream Big and Learn Without Limits.”

At Winshill Village, we believe that inclusion is about much more than SEND or providing additional interventions for individual children. Our aim is to create a school that is inclusive by design, where high-quality teaching, appropriate adaptations, accessible environments and strong, positive relationships enable every child to participate, belong, achieve and thrive alongside their peers.

Our Inclusion Strategy therefore brings together the different aspects of school life that can influence a child’s ability to flourish, including SEND, disadvantage, attendance, safeguarding, behaviour, communication and language, emotional wellbeing and family support.

Through our approach to identifying barriers to learning, we consider the whole child — their strengths, experiences and individual needs. We ask what might be preventing a child from fully accessing learning or participating in school life and, most importantly, what we can do to reduce or remove those barriers.

This reflects our DREAM BIG values and our commitment to ensuring every child feels valued, included and supported to Dream Big and Learn Without Limits.

High-Quality Teaching

Our first response is always high-quality, adaptive and inclusive teaching.

At Winshill Village, we want every pupil to access an ambitious, broad and balanced curriculum alongside their peers wherever possible. This means providing effective scaffolding, appropriate adaptations, accessible learning environments, strong communication approaches and the thoughtful deployment of adults to support learning.

The Inclusive Mainstream Fund will help us to continue strengthening our universal provision so that inclusive practice is embedded in everyday teaching. Our aim is to anticipate and remove barriers wherever possible, rather than waiting until a child has been identified as having an additional need.

This reflects our vision of “A Place to Dream Big and Learn Without Limits” — maintaining high expectations for every child while providing the support they need to succeed.

Early Identification & Support

Children may require different levels of support at different points in their school journey. A key part of our Inclusion Strategy is therefore to identify needs and barriers early and respond promptly.

We use assessment, observation, pupil and parent voice and professional dialogue to build a picture of the whole child and understand what may be affecting their learning, participation or wellbeing.

Where additional support is needed, this may include targeted academic interventions, speech and language support, SEND provision, attendance support, pastoral support, or opportunities to develop social, emotional and communication skills.

Where specialist advice is required, we will continue to work closely with external professionals and agencies, alongside children and their families.

Supporting Social & Emotional Development

We know that children learn best when they feel safe, valued, understood and that they belong. Supporting children's social and emotional development is therefore an important part of our inclusive approach and connects closely with our DREAM BIG values, particularly Mindfulness, Belonging and Growth.

Our approach focuses on building strong, positive relationships and understanding what a child may be communicating through their behaviour. Staff support children to understand and regulate their emotions, develop positive relationships and build the confidence and resilience they need to engage successfully in school life.

This complements our relational approach to behaviour and pastoral support and our commitment to providing safe, calm, supportive and predictable learning environments.

Inclusion Beyond the Classroom

At Winshill Village, inclusion means much more than being able to access classroom learning. To Dream Big and Learn Without Limits, children should also have opportunities to experience the wider richness of school life.

Our Inclusion Strategy therefore considers pupils' access to educational visits, residentials, clubs, sport, outdoor learning, pupil leadership and wider enrichment opportunities.

Where financial, physical, social, communication or emotional barriers may prevent a child from participating, we will consider what reasonable and appropriate steps can be taken to reduce or remove those barriers.

Our aim is for every child to feel that they belong and can participate fully in the life of our school.

Working with Families

Parents and carers are essential partners in understanding and supporting their children.

We value the knowledge families have about their children and will continue to build open, supportive and collaborative relationships with parents and carers. We will listen to their experiences, recognise their child's strengths as well as their needs, and involve them in decisions about additional support.

Where appropriate, we will also work alongside external professionals and agencies to provide joined-up support for children and their families.

Measuring Our Impact

We will continually evaluate the impact of our Inclusion Strategy and the additional provision supported through the Inclusive Mainstream Fund.

We will look beyond academic outcomes alone and consider a broad range of evidence, including attainment, progress, attendance, behaviour, engagement, participation, wellbeing, independence and the views of pupils and families.

Importantly, we will consider whether improvements to our universal provision are successfully removing barriers and enabling more children to access everyday teaching, learning and wider school life alongside their peers.

Our Ambition

Our ambition is simple:

We do not lower our expectations because a child experiences a barrier. We identify and understand the barrier and consider what we can do differently to reduce or remove it.

Through our Inclusion Strategy, our DREAM BIG values and the opportunities provided by the Inclusive Mainstream Fund, we will continue to develop Winshill Village as a school where every child is known, valued, included and supported to participate, belong, achieve and thrive.

Above all, we want every child to have the opportunity to Dream Big and Learn Without Limits.