The HRologist.
Inclusive Mainstream Funding is coming.
The question is: will your inclusion strategy actually hold in real life?
From 2026/27, schools receiving Inclusive Mainstream Fund funding will need to develop and publish an inclusion strategy statement by 31 December 2026.
But the real challenge isn’t writing another document.It’s building inclusion that holds across classrooms, corridors, transitions, family conversations, behaviour responses, attendance pressure and staff capacity.
Download “Making SENSE of it.” A practical readiness tool for schools and trusts planning IMF-aligned inclusion activity that is publish-ready, inspection-aware and usable under strain.
IMF funding creates an opportunity - but also a leadership pressure point.
Many schools and trusts are already carrying:rising SEND and SEMH need attendance and reintegration pressure behaviour systems under strain staff inconsistency across “hot windows” families who feel unheard, defensive or exhausted
SENCO, pastoral and SLT capacity stretched thin inclusion activity happening in pockets rather than as a coherent system And now the expectation is shifting from:
“What support do you offer?”to:“Can you show how inclusion is being designed, led, implemented and evidenced?”What you'll learn
Inclusion can’t depend on one exceptional person coping.
This is the shift at the heart of the IMF opportunity:Inclusion needs to be leadership-led and designed by system - not carried by one brilliant SENCO, pastoral lead or teacher holding everything together through goodwill.A strong inclusion strategy should help you answer:
What are the real barriers affecting learning, belonging and attendance?
Where does the school day predictably break down?
Are adults responding consistently across settings?
Is early help happening early enough?
Are families part of the bridge, or are they stuck in the conflict loop?
Can leaders show the line from need → decision → action → impact?
That’s what this tool helps you start to map.
What you’ll get inside making SENSE of it gives you a practical readiness scan across six areas:
- Sense-making needUnderstand what is actually driving friction across the school day — not just what is written on paper.
- Adult consistency Check whether pupils experience the same emotional safety cues, boundaries and responses across adults.
- Early helpSpot whether support is happening before escalation, exclusion-level moments or repeated crisis.
- Whole-day belongingLook beyond lessons into arrivals, corridors, lunch, transitions, re-entry and recovery.
- Family partnershipIdentify whether communication is reducing friction or accidentally feeding the loop.
- Strategy and evidenceMap the line from what you noticed, to what you changed, to what you are tracking.
This is for you if you are a:
Headteacher or Principal
SENDCo / INCo
Governor or trustee involved in inclusion oversight
CEO, COO or Director of Education in a MAT
Inclusion, pastoral, safeguarding or attendance lead
School improvement lead supporting inclusion strategy
And you are thinking:
“We need to get ahead of IMF expectations but we need this to be practical, not another shelf document.”
This is probably not for you if…
You only want a generic compliance template
You want inclusion to sit only with the SENCO
You are looking for a one-off training session with no implementation rhythm
You want a polished document but not a usable system
You are not ready to look honestly at where the school day is creating predictable pressure points
This tool is designed for leaders who want inclusion to work in practice, not just read well on a website.
Why SENSE?
SENSE is Naomi Withers’ practical framework for turning emotional safety into usable infrastructure.It is built around a simple working chain: Safety → Regulation → Reflection → Skill → Better outcomes
People learn, participate, repair and reconnect better when the system around them is predictable enough to help them regulate.
That means inclusion work cannot only be policy, intervention or training.It has to show up in:how adults respond under pressure how transitions are planned how families are spoken with how early signs are noticed how staff know what to do next how leaders track whether anything is actually improving
This is where SENSE helps schools move from good intent to installed practice
The evidence spine:
Strong inclusion strategy is not just about saying the right things. It needs to show:
1.
What you noticed about need, barriers and pressure points
2.
What you decided to prioritise
3.
What changed in routines, adult responses, communication or provision
4.
What you tracked to understand impact
What this helps leaders do
Use the tool to identify your highest-leverage design points.
In around 10–20 minutes, you can use the checklist to:
- scan what is already working
- identify where daily friction is showing up
- find the 1–2 areas most likely to reduce escalation
- support SLT / trust-wide discussion
- inform IMF planning conversations
- start building an evidence trail
- prepare for a more coherent inclusion strategy statement
The aim is not to add more work.
The aim is to help you see where better design could reduce avoidable firefighting.
That is the spine this tool starts to build.Simple.
Clear. Inspection-aware. Usable.
