As part of Kent County Council’s broader SEND strategy, SPP partnered with LLSE and nasen to develop the Kent Inclusion Leadership Programme, forming a Professional Learning Network of 136 schools dedicated to inclusion. This network aimed to tackle the inconsistent quality of SEND provision across schools and strengthen leaders’ commitment to inclusive practices. 

Through a structured process of self-evaluation and peer review, schools engaged in meaningful collaboration, fostering a culture of shared responsibility and continuous improvement. The PLN emphasised a “whole-school” approach to SEND, ensuring that inclusion became central to each school’s ethos. 

Key elements of the programme included: 

• Building system leaders: The Inclusion Leader of Education (ILE) are senior leaders or specialist practitioners with a proven track record in improving SEND outcomes. ILEs provide expert peer support, driving inclusion and fostering collaboration across local schools.
• Leadership development: Empowering school leaders to understand the complexities of SEND and its critical role in raising standards of support and outcomes.
• Peer-to-peer support: Facilitating meaningful knowledge sharing and skill-building among schools to enhance inclusion practices.
• Accountability tools: Introducing unified evaluation frameworks that guided schools toward sustainable improvement in SEND provision and outcomes. 

Insights from peer reviews 

Thematic analysis of peer reviews conducted during the Kent County Council project revealed two primary areas of focus: 

1. Effective use of resources 
2. Developing inclusive teaching and learning 

Within these areas, common themes emerged, such as: 

• Adaptive teaching practices
• Effective use of Teaching Assistants and EdTech
• Supporting emotional needs and wellbeing
• Ensuring provision for the lowest 20% of learners
• Improving social time (e.g., lunch and break times)
• Cross-phase collaboration to ensure continuity of support 

Cross-phase collaboration, in particular, proved vital in ensuring consistency during transitions—often a critical stressor for students with SEND. Research highlights that poorly managed transitions can disrupt learning, hinder wellbeing, and result in unmet needs. By using a shared evaluation framework, schools addressed these challenges collectively, creating cohesive support systems. 

Headteachers involved in the Kent Inclusion Leadership Programme shared: 

“I frequently raised this Programme as one of the most successful and useful pieces of Inclusion work that we have ever taken part in. The value of the cross-phase element has significantly changed all our ways of working.”

"The SEN cohort had the biggest increase in progress and attainment last year than has been seen in a long time. This was across the board in all subjects. Within student voice examples, students stated that they felt well cared for and that there is always someone to go to when they have a difficulty."   

Building on the Kent Inclusion Programme, Education Development Trust (EDT) and the Schools Partnership Programme (SPP) team have worked with experts, educators, researchers, and reviewed evidence to design a new Inclusion Framework .

This enhanced framework provides schools with a consistent structure for self-evaluation and peer review, helping them maintain the highest standards in inclusive education. A collaborative approach to Inclusion fosters a culture of mutual learning and accountability, enabling schools to refine their inclusive practices, address common challenges, and build capacity collectively. The SPP Inclusion Framework empowers schools to tackle complex challenges in SEND and sets a powerful precedent for sustainable, system-wide change.