Creating Inclusive Classrooms to Enhance Attendance

Pupils who dread school aren't always worried about the big things. It might be a tie that feels like it's strangling them, being told off again for having no pencil, or sitting where they can't see the board. Add a few together and staying at home starts to look sensible.

Differentiation has come to mean endless worksheets. Here it means small, manageable adjustments, much like what's now called adaptive teaching. You'll look at a lesson in phases, from how pupils come into the room to the last five minutes, often the most overwhelming part. You'll also learn to balance demands: when the work is hard, keep the social demand low, and the other way round.

Much of it comes from a published book on the inclusive classroom, with real examples, like the autistic boy who settled once he began each day choosing his own jacket potato with the cook.