The Bellbird Primary School

Inclusion at The Bellbird Primary School

Every pupil belongs. Every pupil participates. Every pupil can achieve.

At The Bellbird Primary School, we are committed to being a genuinely inclusive mainstream school where every child is known, valued and supported to flourish.

Our approach is underpinned by our CARE values – Curiosity, Ambition, Respect and Empathy. We recognise that children are individuals and that they do not all learn, communicate, regulate or experience school in the same way. Inclusion, therefore, does not mean expecting every child to fit the same model. It means understanding each pupil, identifying the barriers they may experience and thoughtfully adapting our teaching, environment and support so that they can belong, participate, learn and achieve.

Our starting point is always high-quality, adaptive teaching within the classroom, alongside an ambitious and accessible curriculum. We aim to identify needs early and provide appropriate support without unnecessarily waiting for a diagnosis or statutory process. Where children require additional help, we use a graduated Assess-Plan-Do-Review approach, working closely with pupils, parents and carers and, where appropriate, external professionals.

We also recognise that, for some children, the sensory, social or cognitive demands of a busy mainstream classroom can sometimes become overwhelming. Our Starling Room is an important part of our inclusive provision. It provides a calm, nurturing and carefully designed environment, including sensory and regulation resources, where children can have the space and support they need to regulate and prepare themselves successfully for learning. For some pupils this may mean accessing the room briefly at particular points during the day; for others with more sustained needs, it may form a more regular part of their provision.

Importantly, children accessing the Starling Room remain fully part of their class, year group and the wider Bellbird community. Our aim is to enable every pupil to access their classroom, curriculum, friendships and the wider life of the school as fully as possible.

Our approach reflects the Department for Education’s current direction for mainstream schools: developing provision that is inclusive by design, anticipating commonly occurring needs, removing barriers and providing early, evidence-informed support.

You can find out more about our approach through the documents below:

• The Bellbird Primary School Inclusion Strategy 2026-27 – our strategic approach and priorities for developing inclusive provision.
• The Bellbird Primary School Inclusion Policy – how we put inclusive practice into action across the school. View here.
• Department for Education guidance on inclusive mainstream education – the national guidance informing our approach. View here.

At the heart of all of this is a simple principle: rather than asking a child to fit the school, we consider what we can reasonably do to ensure that our school enables that child to flourish.