A world-class curriculum needs to inspire and challenge all learners and
prepare them for the future. To achieve this, personalised approaches to
learning and imaginative and flexible approaches are essential to realise
a vision of the curriculum where each and every learner feels included.
Inclusion is about the active presence, participation and achievement of
all pupils in a meaningful and relevant set of learning experiences. Some
of these experiences will come from the National Curriculum; others, equally
important, will come from the wider curriculum in and beyond the classroom.
One of the main purposes of the National Curriculum is to establish the
entitlement to a range of high-quality teaching and learning experiences,
irrespective of social background, culture, race, gender, differences in
ability and disabilities.
Planning an inclusive curriculum
Planning for inclusion at key stage 3 means thinking about how to shape
the curriculum to match the needs and interests of the full range of learners.
These include:
- the gifted and talented
- learners with special educational needs and disabilities, including
learning difficulties
- learners who are learning English as a second language
- the different needs of boys and girls.
Young people will also bring a range of cultural perspectives and experiences.
These can be reflected in the curriculum and used to further an understanding
of the importance of diversity issues.
An inclusive curriculum is one where:
- different groups of pupils can all see the relevance of the curriculum
to their own experiences and aspirations
- all young people, regardless of their ability, have sufficient opportunities
to succeed in their learning at the highest standard.
Teachers may find that a useful starting point for planning is the school's
Disability Action Plan, Race Equality Plan and other equality policies -
combined with comprehensive overview data on learners from various groups.
This information can then be used to draw up a framework for curriculum
review. Teachers will also be able to identify the appropriate points at
which to involve learners in some developments.
QCA is working in collaboration with practitioners to develop an inclusion
audit tool. The tool will cover the principles and points described below
and it will be easy to use for different audiences.
These principles can be used to review the whole curriculum, including
activities beyond subjects, to enable full participation.
Learning activities should be set at the right level of challenge for
the entire attainment span within the group.
- Have you aimed to give every learner the opportunity to achieve a meaningful
outcome at as high a standard as possible?
- Have you paid enough attention to the needs of pupils with SEN and the
gifted and talented when designing your curriculum, rather than relying
on 'one off' adaptations in every lesson?
- Have you taken account of the fact that bilingual learners need to learn
English and the content of the curriculum at the same time?
- Can the necessary knowledge, skills or understanding be taught in ways
that suit learners' interests and abilities?
- Is there enough flexibility to allow any gaps in learning to be addressed?
- Can the pace of learning be adjusted to ensure that learners are making
meaningful progress?
- Have you met the needs of gifted and talented learners with a range
of approaches and resources?
- Have you met the needs of pupils with learning difficulties with a range
of approaches and resources?
- Have you met the needs of pupils learning EAL with a range of approaches
and resources?
- Have you planned for those learners who will stay at the same level
of attainment for some time?
- Have you provided opportunities for all learners to progress systematically?
- Is the level of demand appropriate for the target group?
- Have you identified the skills, knowledge and understanding that learners
will need at the outset?
- Is there a balance between practical and theoretical approaches to learning?
- Are there accessible materials for learners at all levels of attainment?
- Do the assessment arrangements enable learners to demonstrate their
understanding and attainments?
- Are the assessment arrangements fine grained enough to track the progress
of children with SEN?
- Do you continue to focus your planning on the same group of learners?
For example, could you develop similar opportunities for learners of other
attainments?
Example
A group of gifted and talented learners in year 9 are given opportunities
to undertake independent research across the curriculum. The projects are
designed to build on their analytical skills. They undertake a range of
research and reporting tasks: reviewing the current use of land within their
town in Geography; analysing the success rates for foreign aid schemes in
Maths; looking at what makes a successful 'blog' and what accounts for the
growth of this mode of communication in English, etc. They review each other's
progress as a part of self-assessment.
The curriculum should be made inclusive by ensuring that the diversity
of group learning needs is addressed.
- Are learning environments effective and do they reflect the diversity
of pupils?
- Have you considered the best way to organise provision for learners
in your school. For example, there is no requirement to deliver the programmes
of study through discrete subject slots and there are no statutory regulations
about how much time ought to be spent on different areas of the curriculum.
- What needs to be done to promote the engagement, motivation and concentration
of the group?
- Have you set appropriate group and individual learning targets?
- Do your assessment approaches give positive and constructive feedback
to learners to actively engage them in self-improvement?
- Have you identified the possible progression routes for the group?
- Does your work cater for the different learning styles of individuals?
- Have you acknowledged the achievements and contributions of people from
a variety of ethnic groups in your work?
- How can you monitor and research the effect of your work on the achievement
of learners from minority ethnic groups?
- How can you assess the impact of your work on pupils with SEN who make
slower progress than other pupils?
- Are materials and procedures free from gender discrimination and stereotyping?
- Have you promoted approaches to teaching and learning that interest,
motivate and engage pupils from different backgrounds?
- Have you made sure that the demands made on language skills, particularly
reading and writing, in a range of subjects do not de-motivate particular
learners?
- Can you make sure that learners have opportunities to develop their
understanding and skills of formal assessment techniques?
- Is there a balance between practical and theoretical approaches to learning?
- Have you provided approaches and resources that are culturally relevant
for all groups, including new arrivals to the UK? Have you taken into
account and valued the diversity of learners' backgrounds?
- Have you avoided indirect discrimination and, for example:
- acknowledged diversity rather than assuming a homogeneous population
- reflected a range of perspectives rather than prescribing a white,
Eurocentric view of the world
- acknowledged different faiths and beliefs instead of favouring one
religion to the exclusion of others?
- Have you avoided direct discrimination, for example using racist language
or stereotypical images?
- What action can you take if learners from a particular minority ethnic
group underachieve?
- Do you positively promote the notion of a multicultural society in your
work?
- Do you promote racial harmony through your materials?
- Have you made it possible for learners with disabilities to use alternative
means of communication, such as signing, using symbols or communicating
through ICT?
- Have you identified the different paths that learning may take for some
learners?
Example
A group of learners with language and communication difficulties are on
the joint rolls of a special and a mainstream school. The schools work together
with the speech and language therapist to plan and build opportunities for
their language and communication development across the curriculum. This
involves learners having the opportunity to extend their interests in some
subjects, such as art, but planning their learning to develop both the written
and spoken language, for example through a better knowledge of letter shapes
and sounds.
The curriculum and assessment approaches should address the potential
barriers to learning for groups and particular individuals.
- Has thought been given to the type of support that some learners may
need to participate effectively?
- Have you considered the range of difficulties that learners may have
when planning learning contexts and activities? Are you clear about how
they can be addressed?
- Have you met the needs of learners with significant learning difficulties
with a range of approaches and resources?
- Has your school developed a 'provision map' that sets out the extra
provision available and its impact on outcomes?
- Have you made sure that the demands made on language skills, particularly
reading and writing, in a range of subjects do not de-motivate particular
learners?
- Have you attended to the study skills that might need to be developed
by pupils with SEN or behavioural problems?
- Have you developed essential learning materials and resources for learners
who are unable to see?
- Are there tactile materials, Braille text and taped materials for assessments?
What other resources may be necessary to support a visually impaired learner?
- Have you planned for learners who are unable to hear sounds clearly
or at all?
- Have you developed materials for hearing-impaired people at all levels
of attainment that match their language development? Do you provide special
assessment papers for hearing impaired-learners?
- How can you help to compensate learners with limited mobility for the
learning opportunities they have missed in the wider world?
- Have you made it possible for disabled learners to use technological
aids or alternative means of communication in assessment?
- Have you allowed for the greater length of time, physical effort and
concentration required by these learners to complete a task?
- Do you show that you value the additional learning activities such as
mobility, Braille and therapy, carried out by these learners?
- Have you made it possible for these learners to use alternative means
of communication, such as signing, using symbols or communicating through
ICT?
- Do the assessment arrangements enable these learners to demonstrate
their understanding and attainments?
- How far can these learners demonstrate their competency using their
first language?
Example
A school has many young people who are new arrivals to the UK. They are
matched, where possible, to a teacher who speaks their first language. Other
departments, such as mathematics and science, produce posters, worksheets
and other materials where the content is represented visually, where possible.
The pupils are all given bilingual dictionaries to help them understand
the specialist vocabulary used in these lessons. The school takes a flexible
approach to oral work and assessments, allowing pupils to have some access
to written questions and also allowing pair work and more time for learners
who need to prepare their answers.
