ABSTRACT
Thorough preparation for inclusion is the most important factor for success, both to prepare for greater diversity in your school and to include a welcome for pupils with SEND. The time from a first impression through to the child arriving on the first day of a new school year is the window of opportunity. Use this opportunity to find out as much as possible about the child and what the school can do to make the placement a success. The preparation, liaison and training undertaken will be of enormous value for the future development of the school, and will ‘clear the ramp’– as in the Michael Giangreco illustration in Chapter 1 – for other pupils with a more diverse range of needs and talents. Times of change and transition are potentially stressful periods for all children. For children with SEND stress is often significant. Not all children will have difficulties with transitions, and so some may not need additional support. The trouble is that we don’t know beforehand which children will find it hard, or which situation will spark off anxiety – and we should anticipate and plan for transitions however a child may have reacted in the past.
