Skip to content ↓

Pear Tree Infant & Nursery Inclusion Strategy

 At Pear Tree Infant & Nursery School, we want every child to feel that they belong, are valued and can achieve.

We want our school to be a place where every child feels welcomed, safe, respected and listened to, regardless of their individual needs, starting point, background or circumstances. We recognise that children may experience different barriers to learning, attendance, communication and participation, including children with special educational needs and disabilities.

       

 

Our approach is rooted in our school vision of developing resilient minds, respectful hearts and ambitious learners. We believe that inclusion is not something additional to what we do. It is at the heart of everyday life at Pear Tree Infant & Nursery school.

    

We use our strong culture of relational practice, Time to Talk and adaptive teaching to understand children as individuals, build positive relationships and ensure that every child has the opportunity to communicate, participate, learn and succeed.

Our approach is underpinned by Derby’s Inclusion Charter and its ten principles: Belonging, Kindness, Child-centred, Collaboration, Culture, Curriculum, Teaching, Support, Environment and Policies. These principles help us translate our commitment to inclusion into the relationships we build, the teaching we provide and the environment we create.

 

What inclusion means at Pear Tree Infant & Nursery School

Our Inclusion Strategy reflects the seven Principles of Inclusion. At Pear Tree Infant & Nursery School, we aim to:

  • provide ambitious and inclusive leadership, where inclusion is everyone's responsibility;
  • know our children well, identify needs and barriers early and respond through timely, evidence-informed support;
  • provide high-quality adaptive teaching and an ambitious, carefully sequenced curriculum, ensuring that all children can access learning and be appropriately supported and challenged;
  • place communication and oracy at the heart of inclusion through our Time to Talk approach, ensuring children have meaningful opportunities to listen, speak, explain, question, reason and learn through talk;
  • create a relational, respectful and emotionally safe culture where children feel a strong sense of belonging and are supported to develop resilience and positive relationships;
  • ensure that the wider life of school is accessible to all, including trips, clubs, enrichment, celebrations, play and lunchtime experiences;
  • work closely with parents and carers as partners, alongside colleagues, governors, external agencies and our wider community;
  • continually review our environment, resources, policies and practice, removing or reducing barriers and improving accessibility; and
  • recognise and celebrate the diversity of our school community, ensuring that children's backgrounds, cultures, languages, experiences and individual identities are respected and represented.

      

Working together

Our approach to inclusion is shaped by the children, families and staff who make up the Pear Tree community.

We listen to children through pupil voice, Time to Talk conversations, Talking Teams and Talking Trios, individual reviews and everyday relational interactions. We seek the views of parents and carers through our Parents as Partners approach, meetings, consultations and individual conversations. Staff contribute through professional dialogue, CPD, monitoring, pupil progress discussions and our ongoing review of provision.

We also work closely with SEND professionals, health and social care colleagues, the local authority and other partner agencies where this helps us better understand and support individual children.

A key message from our community is that relationships matter. Children need to feel known, understood and listened to before they can fully engage and thrive. We therefore place relational practice, communication and belonging at the centre of our inclusive approach.

As we move into our new Pear Tree Infant & Nursery School building, we have an important opportunity to ensure that our environment supports this vision and enables all children to access, participate in and enjoy school life.

We will continue to listen, reflect and work together to ensure that inclusion is lived through our everyday practice, not simply written within our strategy.

Our whole-school inclusion priorities for 2026/27

Based on our evidence, our knowledge of our children and the views of our school community, our key inclusion priorities for 2026/27 are:

  1. Belonging and relational practice, strengthening a culture where every child feels known, valued, safe and connected.
  2. Time to Talk and communication, ensuring every child has regular, purposeful opportunities to develop their language, vocabulary, communication and confidence through high-quality interaction and talk.
  3. Adaptive teaching and ambitious learning, ensuring barriers are removed or reduced without lowering expectations, so that all children can access an ambitious curriculum and experience success.
  4. SEND and early identification, continuing to strengthen early identification, assessment and provision, particularly for children with communication and interaction needs and those requiring more personalised support.
  5. Attendance and engagement, working proactively with children and families to understand barriers to attendance and strengthen children's engagement, belonging and readiness to learn.
  6. Inclusive environments and provision, using our new school environment thoughtfully to ensure that spaces, resources and routines support accessibility, independence, communication, regulation and participation.
  7. Partnership with families and agencies, strengthening our Parents as Partners approach and working collaboratively with families and professionals to secure the best possible outcomes for children.

At Pear Tree Infant & Nursery School, inclusion means making sure every child knows: I belong here, I am listened to, I am valued and I can achieve.

Our inclusion objectives reflect the needs of all children at Pear Tree Infant & Nursery School, while recognising that some children may experience greater barriers to learning, attendance, communication and participation. This includes ensuring that children with SEND, disadvantaged children and those who may be vulnerable or experiencing additional barriers are identified early, understood as individuals and provided with the support they need to thrive.

We are committed to ensuring that every child can access an ambitious, inclusive and carefully sequenced curriculum, with appropriate adaptations and support where required. We will ensure that children are able to participate fully in the wider life of school, including play, enrichment, trips, celebrations and opportunities beyond the classroom.

Our commitment to relational practice and Time to Talk will remain central to this work. We want every child to have a voice, to be listened to and to have meaningful opportunities to communicate, participate and learn alongside others. We will continue to work closely with children, families, staff and partner agencies to understand barriers and identify what will make the greatest difference.

We will regularly review our progress through monitoring, pupil voice, parent and carer feedback, staff reflection, assessment and other available evidence. We will use this information to understand what is working well, where barriers remain and what we need to do next. Progress and priorities will be shared with our Governors as part of our ongoing cycle of school improvement.

Our ambition is simple:

Every child at Pear Tree should feel that they belong, have a voice, can participate, can learn and can thrive.

We want every child to leave Pear Tree with resilient minds, respectful hearts and the ambition to believe in what they can achieve.

 

 

What is the Local Offer?

Derby’s SEND Local Offer is an online, one stop shop for parents and young people to find out about the services and support on offer to children and young people from birth to 25 who have special educational needs and/or Disabilities.

(SEND) in the city. Derby City Council, along with all other local authorities, are required to publish information about services they expect to be available in their area.

Derby City’s Local Offer is available here: www.derby.gov.uk/sendlocaloffer . It tells parents how to access services and support in Derby City and what to expect from these services, including details of Higher Needs Funding and Education and Health Care Plans.   

  • Derby Umbrella Charity
    This is a link to the webpage for Derby Umbrella: a charity offering free support for children, young people, and families with SEND

 

Link to specific policies:

SEND and Inclusiveness Policies

  1. Our Inclusion Strategy 2026-27 pdf