Getting Inclusion Right – What Ofsted Really Means by Inclusion

Episode Summary:

In this episode of The Leadership Lens, host Rachael Snowdon-Poole — serving Headteacher in a recently Outstanding school and Director of Performance & Standards across 20 primaries — unpacks one of Ofsted’s sharpest priorities under the renewed Education Inspection Framework: Inclusion.

Rachael explores how inclusion has evolved far beyond SEND and access arrangements, and now sits at the very heart of inspection activity — woven through curriculum design, teaching, leadership, culture, and outcomes. You’ll hear how Ofsted’s renewed view of inclusion challenges schools to move beyond compliance towards a culture where every pupil is valued, barriers are removed, and systems work for the most vulnerable.

Drawing on the School Inspection Toolkit, Whole School SEND recommendations, and lived practice from her own school, Rachael explains: How inclusion is now evaluated through three core questions.

What Ofsted means by “barriers” — and how leaders can evidence their removal.

How inclusion links to curriculum ambition, pastoral care, and behaviour culture.

The new descriptors for Secure, Strong, and Exemplary inclusion — and what it looks like to move between them.

Practical examples of how one school tracks vulnerability, uses pastoral capacity intelligently, and builds belonging.

This episode challenges leaders to ask: “If our curriculum was designed entirely around the needs of our most vulnerable pupils — what would we do differently?”

Because when we get it right for our most vulnerable, we get it right for everyone.

🎧 Listen Free on: Spotify Apple Podcasts Amazon Music or directly via the 👉 Free Members Hub ⭐

Go Premium for Exclusive CPD Resources:

When you join the Premium Membership, you’ll receive the complete Getting Inclusion Right CPD Presentation and Script Pack — everything you need to deliver this training in your own school.

Your pack includes:

📊 A fully editable PowerPoint presentation: Getting Inclusion Right – What Ofsted Really Means by Inclusion.

🗂️ A Facilitator Script perfectly aligned to the slides, so you can confidently lead staff training, INSET sessions, or leadership CPD.

🧭 A Leadership Summary PDF outlining the Ofsted toolkit questions, Secure–Strong–Exemplary framework, and five practical recommendations from Whole School SEND.

👉 Access the Premium Hub here: https://the-leadership-lens.mykajabi.com/premium-membership

💬 The Leadership Lens is the podcast that turns research, policy and inspection updates into practical leadership tools you can use tomorrow — so you can lead with clarity, confidence, and calm.

Episode Title: From Novice to Expert: Building Knowledge Across the Primary Curriculum Description:
How do children really learn to think critically? In this episode, Rachael explains how knowledge builds across the curriculum — from Year 1 through to Year 6 — using three cognitive domains: basic, advancing, and deep. With examples from history, geography, French, and art, she shows how pupils move from naming and describing → to explaining and comparing → to reasoning, justifying, and enquiring. By the end, you’ll see how our curriculum deliberately takes children from novices to experts, equipping them not just with knowledge, but the ability to use it. To access ready-made curriculum maps and a guide for leaders on building progression into the curriculum, please sign up to our premium members' hub here: https://tinyurl.com/3pp3x67s

Written marking takes hours… but does it really change learning?

In this episode of The Leadership Lens, I share how our school moved away from time-consuming marking towards feedback that actually transforms learning.

I created The Leadership Lens to cut through the noise of leadership. With so many frameworks, Ofsted updates, and research papers to keep up with, leading schools can feel overwhelming. This podcast is where I do the heavy lifting — exploring the evidence, trying things out across our Trust, and sharing what works in practice.

This week’s episode unpacks: Why heavy written marking drained hours and didn’t shift misconceptions. The research evidence (EEF, DfE Workload Review, Dylan Wiliam, Claire Hill, Teacher Tapp).

What we did differently: verbal, whole-class feedback, quick “feedback notebooks,” and structured sessions.

How Ofsted responded (with direct quotes from Sean Harford and our own inspection report).

The real impact: 20+ hours of teacher workload saved each week, pupils more confident, and a culture where mistakes mean learning. You’ll leave with practical strategies you can adapt in your own school — and reassurance that Ofsted supports effective, not excessive, approaches.

Premium Exclusive Premium members get:

📄 A PDF of today’s key leadership takeaways (ready to share with SLT/governors). 📊 A PowerPoint you can use to deliver CPD on feedback and no-marking marking in your own school.

🎧 Free: listen on Spotify, Amazon Music, or Apple Podcasts → https://tinyurl.com/muf8cx2s

⭐ Premium: get a PDF summary & ready-to-use PowerPoint for staff training → https://tinyurl.com/3pp3x67s