Practical whole-school inclusion
Small, repeatable teaching moves can improve access without lowering the subject goal. Use these examples as a starting point and adapt them with learners.
Choose one routine that matches the task. Inclusion means keeping the learning goal ambitious while making instructions, participation and ways to show understanding accessible.
Preview the task goal, its language demand and the first step. Select only the essential words; connect them to an image, example or known idea.
Subject example: Science: show a labelled result table before asking students to compare variables. Humanities: offer a short source context and clarify the command word.
“Today we will explain a cause. First, notice what changed; then connect it to a reason.”
Pair short oral instructions with a visible sequence. Model the first action and ask a learner to explain the next step in their own words.
Subject example: Maths: demonstrate one worked example, then ask pairs to identify the next operation. Practical subjects: show the sequence and safety checks at the point of use.
“Step one is… Watch me begin. Tell your partner what you will do next.”
Give thinking time and a predictable partner structure. Rotate roles so the same confident speakers do not dominate.
Subject example: Science: one learner describes a pattern; the partner asks for evidence. English: rehearse a claim and one supporting quotation before discussion.
“Take thirty seconds to note an idea. Partner A explains; Partner B asks, ‘Which detail supports that?’”
Chunk longer texts around a question. Let learners locate the structure or evidence before expecting a full written answer.
Subject example: Geography: scan a map key before interpreting the map. History: distinguish what the source states from what it suggests.
“First find the sentence or feature that helps answer the question. Then explain what it shows.”
Use a short subject model to show how a sentence performs the task. Offer a frame where it helps, then remove or vary it as learners gain control.
Subject example: Science: “The results show…; this may be because…”. Maths: “I chose ___ because…”. Humanities: “This source is useful for… although…”.
“Which part is the evidence? Which words explain the reasoning? Now write your own example.”
Notice whether a response shows the subject idea, the language needed to express it, or both. Give a next step that names the target.
Subject example: A learner may demonstrate a correct process with a diagram, then practise the English explanation if explanation is also a learning goal.
“Your diagram shows the process accurately. Next, add a sentence explaining why the rate changes.”
Invite bilingual notes, glossaries or discussion when these improve access. Make the English output or transfer goal explicit where it is part of the task.
Subject example: Students compare a key term across languages, then use the English subject term in an explanation and check its meaning with an example.
“Use the language that helps you think. Now show how this idea is expressed in our subject English.”