With £200 million recently announced to roll out special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) training to all teaching staff as part of the recently published schools white paper, the direction of travel is clear.
Schools will be expected to strengthen SEND expertise across their workforce, and quickly.
But national reform will only succeed if schools can translate policy into practice.
At Swale Academies Trust, we’ve spent the past four years developing a trust-wide SEND training model, led by our central trust SEND lead Tina Murphy across our 19 schools in the south east.
What began as leadership development has evolved into a whole-workforce approach to inclusion. Here are five lessons we’ve learned.
1. Focus on leadership rather than compliance
Trusts rightly invest in SENCO development, but we saw a gap at senior leadership.
Too often, senior leadership teams focus on compliance rather than a strategic understanding of SEND.
That leaves SENCOs carrying too much responsibility and reduces the ability for schools to effectively embed inclusion across all areas of school life.
We therefore began training headteachers and senior leaders, building secure knowledge of the SEND code of practice, identification processes, education, health and care plans (EHCPs), adaptive teaching and preparation for adulthood.
We found that securing leadership buy-in was critical to ensure our strategies were confidently lived in practice by our decisionmakers.
2. Make it whole workforce, not specialist-only
SEND expertise must extend even beyond SENCOs and SLTs, because everyone has a role in inclusive practice, from the classroom to the playground and lunch hall.
We designed a layered training programme that deliberately cascades knowledge across curriculum leads, classroom teachers, teaching assistants, pastoral teams and support staff.
By ensuring all staff receive consistent, high-quality training, we’ve reduced variation between schools, creating shared language, best practice and equal provision for all pupils.
Leaders also explore how to quality-assure provision, engage parents and ensure governors play an active role in monitoring SEND.
3. Focus on practical, classroom-ready strategies
The key lesson has been to make training immediately applicable.
Sessions on adaptive teaching, for example, include subject-specific strategies that colleagues can take straight back into lessons.
The more practical and tangible the tools, including toolkits, templates and structured CPD materials, the quicker we have seen them adopted and the more confident and capable our staff feel.
We have also integrated SEND into our induction process for new headteachers. Inclusion is not an add-on. It is part of leadership from day one.
4. Keep training continuous
Training is an ongoing conversation, as the newly launched white paper shows.
A continuous approach is essential as needs shift and statutory expectations evolve.
Termly SEND network meetings, a comprehensive CPD offer and trust-wide guidance ensure professional learning remains ongoing, and fortnightly bulletins help us maintain momentum.
5. Measure impact beyond paperwork
Across our trust, staff confidence has increased significantly.
SEND is no longer viewed as the SENCO’s sole domain, but as a collective responsibility.
Senior leaders integrate inclusion into curriculum design, resource allocation and improvement plans with greater assurance.
For pupils, this has meant earlier identification of need, greater consistency in provision and improved access to the curriculum and wider school life. Parents also report clearer communication and stronger leadership oversight.
National reform may set the direction. But for us, the daily reality of inclusion is shaped in classrooms, staffrooms and leadership meetings. Ensuring your training is genuinely helping your staff and achieving impact is crucial.
Our experience suggests that when SEND expertise is embedded across the workforce, inclusion becomes part of school culture rather than an isolated initiative. And when that happens, outcomes improve for all learners.
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