Inclusion
What is an inclusive school?
“Inclusive schools are schools which take a representative cohort of pupils from their community, and support the learning, well-being and safety needs of all of these children so that they belong, achieve & thrive,”
Centre for Young Lives, 2025
Inclusion at Hermitage is about belonging, mattering and meeting the needs of every single member of our school so that they can thrive. We want everyone in our community – pupils, parents, staff & governors – to feel like Hermitage is their school, that their needs are met, they belong & that they have a valuable contribution to make. We are committed to helping our pupils overcome any barriers to learning they may have, including those with special educational needs.
Our principles for effective whole school inclusion:
Inclusion is for all
At Hermitage inclusion is not seen as a separate system or only relevant to certain children. We design our policies, curriculum and professional development from the knowledge that all children have learning, well-being and safeguarding needs. We aim to admit and welcome any child from our local community. Our approach seeks to identify and support barriers to pupils’ learning and achievement early, and uses what we know about our context to pre-empt and address some of the most common barriers we encounter as part of our universal offer.
Inclusion is based in culture
All staff at Hermitage see inclusion as central to what they do and the everyday interactions they have with children. We support staff to foster, maintain and repair strong and trusted relationships with our pupils & this is the foundation from which we build everything else.
Collaboration and partnerships are key
At Hermitage we strive to know and understand our pupils, families, staff and wider community’s strengths and barriers to success. Forging strong partnerships within our school community, as well as with local services, agencies and specialist support is vital in enabling us to address and reduce those barriers.
Inclusion is measurable and rooted in striving for high standards for all
Our approach to inclusion is ever-evolving and regularly reviewed to ensure it incorporates the most recent evidence-based approaches and meets the needs of changing cohorts. We measure how successful we are in terms of pupil experience, achievement and the reduction of lost learning.
How do you support pupils to overcome barriers to learning and achievement?
At Hermitage, we identify barriers to pupils’ success through the lens of learning, well-being and safeguarding. We are then able to provide a range of support for pupils using a tiered approach that is dependent on the nature and severity of the need(s) we have identified.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.
| Learning | Well-being | Safeguarding (incl. attendance) |
Tier 3 Specialist | Pupils with EHCPs | Pupils with diagnosed medical conditions and/or registered disabilities | Pupils at risk of significant harm |
Tier 2 Targeted | Pupils with identified learning needs | Pupils with identified health and well-being needs | Pupils at risk of negative impact to welfare and/or life outcomes |
Tier 1* Universal | All pupils | All pupils | All pupils |
* Tier 1 of our inclusive offer includes strategies that are used universally and reflects our commitment to inclusion for all.
Want to know more?
You can find out more about our approach to inclusion from these linked documents or contact our inclusion team at hpsinclusion@letta.org.uk