SEND School Improvement
Our SEND School Improvement work supports over a thousand schools nationally to strengthen provision for children and young people with SEND. We work with individual schools, groups of schools, multi academy trusts and Local Authorities to embed inclusive practice, share learning and build sustainable systems that improve lived experiences for learners with SEND.
A whole education for all
We believe deeply in the importance of a whole education. The holistic development of children and young people matters for everyone, and it is especially vital for learners with SEND. Our work supports and celebrates schools as they develop the knowledge, skills and dispositions learners need to thrive in life, learning and work.
Why SEND School Improvement
SEND is not the responsibility of one role or one team. In the most effective settings, it is understood as a shared endeavour across the whole organisation. By focusing on SEND School Improvement, we centre whole school and whole system approaches that shape leadership decisions across curriculum, teaching and learning, co curricular experiences, family engagement, pastoral provision and wider school life. This ensures that learners with SEND benefit from coherent, inclusive leadership at every level.
Leadership at the heart of SEND
Strong leadership is essential to rigorous SEND provision. Our work supports leaders to develop and embed a clear strategic vision for SEND, grounded in evidence, professional learning and connection with peers. Through engagement with local and national practitioners and experts, leaders deepen their understanding of the processes and practices that underpin effective provision.
We do not believe there is a single model or answer. Instead, we believe that strong networks focused on SEND leadership create the conditions for every school and system to move their provision forward in ways that reflect their context and community.
Our reach
Whole Education supports SEND School Improvement in over a thousand schools nationally. We work with close to one hundred multi academy trusts and more than fifteen Local Authorities, building strategic capacity for SEND and strengthening self sustaining local networks.
Our SEND programmes
Whole Education delivers three tailored SEND programmes:
SEND School Programme
Supporting individual schools and groups of schools to build strategic SEND capacity. Launching January 2026.MAT SEND Programme
Supporting multi academy trusts to develop strategic SEND leadership and collaboration across schools.Local Authority SEND Programme
Supporting Local Authorities to strengthen SEND leadership and provision across schools within a locality.
How we help you drive SEND School Improvement?
Throughout the project, we will use the Evaluate My School (EMS) platform to support SEND leaders to work alongside their School Leaders to effectively self evaluate provision in their schools across 7 key areas.
The key focus areas are:
Intent
Implementation
Impact
Working with children and families
Effective use of teaching assistants
Identification
Provision mapping
Impact
School leaders and SENCos then use this self evaluation to write action plans which are put into practice, guided throughout by the expert Whole Education SEND network and an effective peer support model.
High quality professional learning and national networking groups, hosted by leading SEND experts, further support SEND leaders in embedding sustainable self improving systems into their schools in a way that is manageable, motivating and ultimately improves outcomes for SEND learners.
From our independent evaluation:
“The Whole Education SEND School Improvement Programme is well-positioned to build the capacity and capability of leaders of SEND at both school and system level (across MATs and LAs) to meet complex and changing SEND needs”
“This evaluation shows that Whole Education does have solutions to many of the challenges that the sector is currently facing.”
