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- The School Leader’s Guide to SEND
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Description
The School Leader's Guide to SEND is your strategic roadmap for transforming inclusive education in today's challenging educational landscape.
Are you a school leader seeking to transform SEND provision in your school? This essential guide provides practical strategies for developing whole-school inclusive practice. Lynn How draws on her extensive school leadership experience to offer a wealth of cost-effective initiatives and interventions, alongside a clear, strategic approach to improving SEND provision.
From building a holistic understanding of SEND to effectively supporting your SENDCos and learning support teams, this guide helps school leaders:
- make meaningful whole-school reasonable adjustments
- provide equal opportunities for all students
- develop strong, productive relationships with SENDCos and SEND teams
- understand the importance of moving beyond a one-size-fits-all approach.
With a foreword from Ross Morrison McGill, @TeacherToolkit
Table of Contents
Part 1 Knowledge and understanding of SEND
1 Barriers to school leader's SEND knowledge and understanding
2 The foundations of an inclusive school
3 Universal provision
4 Key classroom strategies
5 When to seek specialist support
6 Working with your local authority
7 Supporting general SEND needs
8 An overview of common areas of need in school
Part 2 Whole-school strategies
9 Pulling together: making inclusion work
10 Whole-school mindset: gratitude, kindness and inclusive attitudes
11 Whole-school universal provision
12 Supporting SEMH across the school
13 Improving attendance
14 Nurture provision
15 Systems, processes and assistive technology
16 Formal processes: paperwork, assessment and accountability
Part 3 Building relationships with key staff
17 Strengthening SEND through relationships
18 Building a relationship with your SENDCo
19 Best practice for working with LSAs
20 Supporting your SENDCo to lead
21 Working with parents and governors
Part 4 Inspection, accountability and school improvement
22 The 'O' word: where SEND fits with Ofsted
23 School self-evaluation and improvement
Part 5 Case studies
Final reflections
References
Index
Product details
| Published | 30 Jul 2026 |
|---|---|
| Format | Paperback |
| Edition | 1st |
| Pages | 240 |
| ISBN | 9781801997690 |
| Imprint | Bloomsbury Education |
| Dimensions | 234 x 153 mm |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
About the contributors
Reviews
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This is a book written from the heart – and with deep professional wisdom by Lynn.
As the highly anticipated follow-up to Lynn How's inspirational first book, Starting Out as a Primary SENCo: Finding your first post, the first year and beyond, this latest work feels like both a continuation and a widening of the conversation – from the SENDCo's desk to the whole leadership table!
In The School Leader's Guide to SEND, Lynn reminds us that inclusion is not a policy, a checklist or a bolt on, but a daily act of love, courage and moral purpose. She speaks directly to the hearts of school leadership: doing the right thing for children, especially when the system makes that hard.
What shines through every page for me is Lynn's unwavering belief that every child belongs, and that schools thrive when compassion, clarity and consistency walk hand in hand, sentiments that are close to my own heart. This is grounded, honest and utterly practical. Lynn understands the pressures leaders face (as she has been one), yet refuses to let those pressures lower our ambition for children who need us most.
This book will steady you, challenge you and remind you why you came into education, the greatest job in the world, in the first place. If you want to build a school where inclusion is lived, where SEND is everyone's responsibility and love is translated into action – this is essential reading.Chris Dyson, Interim Chief Executive Officer, Create Partnership Trust, @chrisdysonHT
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A clear, supportive and thorough guide helping school leaders view SEND through the lens of the demanding SENCo role, offering reflective questions, practical resources and guidance for effective SEND provision - essential reading for all leaders and their teams.
Zena Lauer, Deputy Head/SENCo
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All school leaders should read this book! It includes practical strategies to create a genuinely lived inclusive culture and improve your team's understanding of SEND – a hugely valuable wealth of advice and information.
Lucy Kidd, Assistant Headteacher and SENDCo
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This book is not just a book, but a source of real professional development. It is ideal for sharing school wide to directly impact inclusive cultures and highlight the importance of the SENDCo role in leading SEND strategy to impact the delivery of learning for all pupils.
Laura Storey, Lead SENDCo, Associate Leader
























