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Government plans for schools in England have set out a vision for inclusive mainstream education. This would see children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (Send) learning in the same place as their peers without these needs. A central feature of these plans are “inclusion bases”.
Many schools already have spaces that could be called inclusion bases. These include quiet rooms where children and young people can take time out, get extra support, or which provide internal alternative provision, with a distinctive curriculum. They may be spaces which cater for students with specific requirements. This could be around communication or social interaction, for instance.
But the proposed policy calls for an increased number and more formal use of these facilities in primary and secondary schools. It is anticipated that over time every high school and many primary schools will have an inclusion base. They would contribute to the provision of a new special educational needs system. The government has issued new guidance, demonstrating how central inclusion bases are to their vision of inclusive mainstream education for students with Send.
Given the substantial commitment to inclusion bases, it would be reasonable to expect that the evidence for them is compelling. But there is insufficient evidence to show that these bases are the answer to providing inclusive education for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities.
Hubs for support
The policy proposals include two key types of inclusion base. These match two levels of support for children and young people who require additional help beyond the universal offer. This change is planned as part of earlier intervention in schools.
Children who require additional support beyond what is provided to all pupils at school will receive “targeted” or “targeted plus support”. Support bases are intended for students receiving targeted plus support, and will be funded by schools.
These children and young people who have more complex needs, requiring input from external agencies and professionals, such as speech therapists, educational psychologists or expert teachers, will receive specialist support. Specialist bases would be funded and commissioned by local authorities, and have access to extra expertise provided through a new experts at hand service.
It is clear that the bases are expected to share and adopt best inclusive practice and be a source of knowledge and expertise for other teachers across the school. The hubs are intended to provide a setting in which pupils can learn or receive tailored help for longer or shorter periods, depending on their requirements and how much the young person can access mainstream classrooms.
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