For more than a decade, children with additional needs have faced what often feels like a postcode lottery of support. Throughout my years leading a mainstream primary school and working nationally to strengthen inclusion, I have sat with families waiting months, if not years, for assessments or provision. I have listened to parents navigating a system that can feel complex, inconsistent and at times stacked against them. I have also watched fellow teachers and leaders stretch every resource to meet rising need. And yet, despite the strain, I have seen something powerful. I have seen how inclusive practice can transform lives. I have walked into classrooms where adaptive teaching is second nature, where calm routines, visual scaffolds and strong relationships remove barriers before they escalate. I have seen how collaboration between teachers, SEND teams and families prevents children from slipping through the cracks. These moments are not isolated, they are the result of sustained, intentional work that spans across our academies. At Oasis, inclusion is not a nice to have. The Oasis way – our relational, trauma-informed ethos -–shapes how we create environments where every young person belongs. It informs our curriculum, our pastoral systems and our belief that every pupil, regardless of need or diagnosis, deserves ambitious, high-quality teaching. So, when I read the government’s proposals for SEND reform, I felt both recognition and responsibility. Much of what is proposed reflects practice already embedded in our academies. Our graduated response underpinned by high-quality teaching, targeted intervention and specialist provision mirrors the potential national move towards clearer tiers of support. Strength-based approach Our pupil passports anticipate the strengths-based approach of individual support plans. And our focus on calm, regulated environments reflects the understanding that inclusion depends as much on culture as structure. But the reforms also highlight what still needs to change. Too often, what counts as “ordinarily available” provision varies between settings. Families experience inconsistency not because of need, but geography. A clearly defined, nationally understood universal offer and a non-negotiable baseline of inclusive practice are both essential. I see what this looks like when it works. At Oasis Academy Warndon, our personalised curriculum is strengthened by dedicated sensory spaces, specialist speech and language experts and valuable relationships consistently built between our staff and families. While in our London and South-east cluster, Natalie French, our secondary inclusion lead, supports our secondary academies to share expertise across SEND, pastoral and teaching teams. At Oasis Academy Coulsdon, the classrooms and dedicated SEND spaces are purposeful and complementary, teachers work closely with SENCOs to embed adaptive strategies seamlessly, and relationships with students start and stay strong. It does not feel like a school doing inclusion. It feels like a school where inclusion is the culture. Clarity must extend across the whole system. Movement between levels of support should be fluid, not delayed by unclear thresholds. Early, proportionate intervention grounded in evidence-informed practice prevents escalation and improves outcomes. The proposal for inclusion bases is another area where we are already seeing impact. At Oasis Academy Oldham, structured provision pathways are not endpoints, but bridges back into mainstream learning. As one student said: “This gave me my way back.” Cultural shift Perhaps the most important shift, however, is cultural. Inclusion works best when it is co-produced. Families must be partners from the outset. They must help shape decisions, review impact and define success. This requires accessible engagement, practical support and ongoing dialogue. It also requires systems that work together. Education, health and local authorities must collaborate in ways that are joined up and focused on the whole child. And none of this is possible without confident, well-trained staff. There remains a significant gap in SEND training, and professionals need practical, evidence-informed development which supports inclusive practice without adding to workload. For Oasis, these reforms do not change our direction, but they do reinforce it. We know inclusive, relational, high-quality education is achievable. The challenge now is to make it consistent everywhere. Our hope is that every young person, regardless of need or starting point, can belong, contribute and truly thrive. That is the Oasis way. And now it is time for it to become the national way too.