Strengthening inclusion in mainstream education 

 

The Mainstream Inclusion Fund is additional funding designed to help mainstream schools strengthen inclusive practice and respond earlier when children experience barriers to learning, communication, regulation or participation. 

 

At North Mead, this fits closely with our existing approach to inclusion. 

 

We believe support should be based on need, not simply on diagnosis or funding. 

 

Our starting question is always: What does this child need in order to succeed? 

 

The Mainstream Inclusion Fund helps us strengthen the provision, staffing and approaches that allow more children to belong, participate and succeed within mainstream education. 

 

What is the Mainstream Inclusion Fund? 

The fund has been introduced nationally to support schools to improve inclusive mainstream provision. 

 

Its purpose is to help schools: 

  • identify needs earlier; 
  • strengthen high-quality universal provision; 
  • respond to commonly occurring and predictable barriers; 
  • improve everyday teaching and reasonable adjustments; 
  • develop targeted, evidence-informed support; 
  • support areas such as communication, literacy, learning and emotional regulation; 
  • improve transition and participation; 
  • provide support without children always having to wait for a diagnosis or formal assessment. 

 

The emphasis is on earlier support and stronger mainstream provision. KELSI 

 

How this fits the North Mead Graduated Response 

The Mainstream Inclusion Fund does not sit separately from our SEND and inclusion work. 

 

It supports the same graduated approach already used across North Mead: 

 

Universal 

Strong provision available to every child. 

This includes high-quality teaching, adaptive teaching, explicit modelling, vocabulary and visual support, reasonable adjustments, strong relationships and regular assessment. 

 

Targeted 

Additional focused support where universal provision alone is not enough. 

This may include intervention, communication and language work, literacy or mathematics support, ELSA, regulation support and personalised targets. 

 

Targeted Plus 

A higher level of personalised provision for children with more significant barriers. 

At North Mead, this may include access to Pheasants, our Targeted Plus provision. 

 

Specialist 

Highly personalised support for a small number of pupils with significant and complex needs. 

At North Mead, this may include Bumblebees, our specialist internal provision. 

The Mainstream Inclusion Fund helps strengthen the earlier parts of this continuum so that children receive appropriate support as soon as a need becomes evident. 

 

Our priorities 

At North Mead, we will use the Mainstream Inclusion Fund strategically rather than treating it as a standalone programme. 

 

Our priorities are to strengthen provision that: 

 

Improves communication and interaction 

This may include: 

  • visual communication; 
  • communication-friendly classrooms; 
  • vocabulary development; 
  • structured interaction; 
  • language support; 
  • staff development; 
  • specialist resources. 

 

Strengthens learning 

This may include: 

  • high-quality adaptive teaching; 
  • carefully targeted literacy support; 
  • phonics and reading intervention; 
  • mathematics support; 
  • smaller learning steps; 
  • pre-teaching and additional rehearsal; 
  • practical and accessible resources. 

 

Supports regulation and wellbeing 

This may include: 

  • regulation approaches; 
  • sensory strategies; 
  • calm and purposeful spaces; 
  • predictable routines; 
  • emotional literacy; 
  • trusted-adult support; 
  • support for social development. 

 

Builds staff expertise 

Sustainable inclusion depends on adults having the knowledge and confidence to respond successfully. 

Funding may therefore support: 

  • professional development; 
  • coaching; 
  • modelling; 
  • specialist advice; 
  • development of adaptive teaching; 
  • training in communication and regulation; 
  • resources that improve classroom practice. 

 

Strengthens targeted provision 

Where children require more than universal classroom support, funding may help us develop: 

  • small-group provision; 
  • targeted interventions; 
  • personalised programmes; 
  • transition support; 
  • additional adult capacity; 
  • appropriate resources and equipment. 

 

Investing in sustainable inclusion 

We do not want funding to create isolated interventions that disappear when the funding ends. 

 

Where possible, we want investment to improve the capacity of the whole school. 

 

That means asking: 

  • Will this make our mainstream provision stronger? 
  • Will staff be better able to meet children’s needs? 
  • Will barriers reduce? 
  • Will children become more independent? 
  • Can the improvement be sustained? 

The strongest use of additional funding is not simply to provide more support around a child. 

 

It is to improve the environment, teaching and systems around them. 

 

Provision based on need 

 

A central principle at North Mead is Need, not diagnosis. 

 

Children should not have to wait unnecessarily for a formal diagnosis before appropriate support begins. 

 

A diagnosis can help us understand a child, but our responsibility is to respond to the barriers we can already see. 

 

We therefore consider: 

  • what the child can already do; 
  • what is difficult; 
  • what the barrier appears to be; 
  • what reasonable adjustments are needed; 
  • what teaching needs to change; 
  • what additional support may help; 
  • whether that support is making a difference. 

 

This reflects the wider North Mead approach already set out in our Graduated Response and SEND provision. 

 

Inclusion beyond lessons 

Mainstream inclusion is not only about academic attainment. 

 

We also want pupils to be able to participate successfully in: 

  • their class; 
  • friendships; 
  • assemblies; 
  • playtimes and lunchtimes; 
  • trips and visits; 
  • sport and swimming; 
  • clubs; 
  • Fantastic Fifty experiences; 
  • performances; 
  • leadership; 
  • wider school events. 

 

Our aim is always to reduce barriers without reducing opportunity. 

 

How we decide what to fund 

 

Decisions are informed by evidence rather than by simply dividing funding between pupils. 

 

We consider: 

  • assessment information; 
  • pupil progress; 
  • SEND information; 
  • communication needs; 
  • attendance; 
  • behaviour and regulation; 
  • pupil voice; 
  • family views; 
  • teacher knowledge; 
  • participation; 
  • advice from external professionals; 
  • patterns across the school. 

 

We then ask: What problem are we trying to solve? and: What is most likely to make a sustainable difference? 

 

How we evaluate impact 

We will review whether funded approaches are improving children’s experiences and outcomes. 

 

We may consider whether pupils are: 

  • accessing learning more successfully; 
  • making progress; 
  • communicating more effectively; 
  • attending more regularly; 
  • regulating more successfully; 
  • participating more fully; 
  • developing relationships; 
  • becoming increasingly independent; 
  • accessing wider opportunities; 
  • experiencing a stronger sense of belonging. 

 

Our key question is: What has changed for the child? 

 

That is also the impact question used throughout North Mead’s wider approach to inclusion. North Mead Website 

 

Working with families 

 

Families remain important partners. 

 

Where additional support is being considered, we aim to: 

  • listen carefully; 
  • understand the child’s strengths and barriers; 
  • explain provision clearly; 
  • agree priorities; 
  • involve families appropriately; 
  • review whether support is helping; 
  • adapt provision where necessary. 

 

Funding does not replace partnership with families. 

 

It helps strengthen the provision available around the child. 

 

Part of a much wider investment in inclusion 

 

The Mainstream Inclusion Fund is only one part of North Mead’s investment in inclusion. 

 

Our wider provision includes: 

  • mainstream classroom staffing; 
  • teaching assistants and HLTAs; 
  • SEND leadership; 
  • pastoral support; 
  • ELSA; 
  • attendance and behaviour support; 
  • Pheasants Targeted Plus provision; 
  • Bumblebees specialist provision; 
  • EHCP and top-up funded support; 
  • specialist resources; 
  • external professional involvement. 

 

The fund therefore complements — rather than replaces — the resources already committed to meeting additional need. 

 

Accountability 

 

We will use the Mainstream Inclusion Fund in line with national and local funding requirements. 

 

Our approach will remain focused on: need → provision → implementation → review → impact 

 

We will retain appropriate evidence of how funding has been used and evaluate whether it has strengthened inclusion and improved outcomes for pupils. 

 

National guidance indicates that oversight should be proportionate and focused on how funding has supported improvements in mainstream inclusive practice rather than creating unnecessary administrative burden. GOV.UK 

 

Our commitment 

 

The Mainstream Inclusion Fund supports something that is already central to North Mead: Every child belongs. 

 

We want mainstream provision to be increasingly capable of meeting a wider range of needs successfully. 

 

That means identifying barriers earlier, responding intelligently, investing in staff and provision, and continually reviewing whether what we are doing is making a difference. 

 

Belong. Participate. Succeed. 

 

Every Child. Every Lesson. Every Day. 

Link to Inclusive Mainstream Fund 2026–27