Belonging, collaboration, impact
Welcome to Our Graduated Approach for Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole
We’re delighted to welcome you to a space dedicated to supporting our children and young people across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and celebrating their journey.
The Graduated Approach is at the heart of how we ensure that all children and young people experience an education that is rich, inclusive, and responsive to their individual needs.
This approach is more than a framework - it’s a commitment. A commitment to recognising each learner’s strengths, understanding the challenges they may face, and working together to help them overcome barriers and thrive.
Our goal is simple
We want to help all children and young people thrive by removing barriers and providing the right support at the right time - universal, targeted, or specialist when needed.
Inclusive, responsive, and built around every learner’s potential.
A big thank you to Ronnie, Ellen, Jimmy-Jean and Ava who attend one of our wonderful BCP Council schools and have done a great job in presenting this video.
You do not need a diagnosis to get support
In education, support is based on a child or young person’s needs, not on labels or paperwork. If a child is struggling, finding things harder than their peers, or facing barriers to learning or participation, schools and settings must respond. They can put help in place, adapt teaching, make reasonable adjustments, and involve families - all without waiting for or requiring a formal diagnosis.
This approach means children can get the right support at the right time, early on, so they can thrive, feel included, and make progress. The focus is always on understanding what the child needs to succeed - because every learner deserves the chance to shine.
For most children and young people with SEND, the support they need is already built into their everyday environment.
Through high‑quality teaching and a thoughtfully designed universal offer, learners receive the inclusive guidance, routines, and resources they need right within their classroom.
By providing support that is consistently accessible and ordinarily available, we help reduce barriers proactively ensuring all learners can engage, participate, and achieve.
Some children and young people benefit from an extra layer of personalised support. This targeted offer may involve additional or different strategies delivered within a mainstream setting.
It could include small‑group sessions, tailored interventions, or one‑to‑one support - sometimes within the classroom and sometimes in a quieter space.
This level of support is designed to be flexible, responsive, and focused on helping learners make meaningful progress.
Occasionally, despite high‑quality teaching and targeted interventions, a child or young person may still find it challenging to access learning or make expected progress.
In these situations, a statutory assessment may be the next step to explore their needs in greater depth and ensure that the right long‑term support is in place.
This pathway is only needed for a small number of learners, but it plays an important role in ensuring everyone gets the support they need.
Assess, Plan, Do, Review cycle
Once a child or young person’s needs are identified, support is put in place through the Assess, Plan, Do, Review cycle - the key to the Graduated Approach.
Think of this cycle as an ongoing, flexible way to understand what a learner needs and to adapt support as they grow. It is not a one‑off event; it can be repeated as many times as needed.
Each time the cycle turns, the team around an individual builds a clearer picture of what works, what needs tweaking, and how to help the child or young person move towards positive outcomes.
Reasonable adjustments
Creating reasonable adjustments in schools and settings is not just about meeting legal duties - it’s about unlocking every child’s ability to thrive. When we remove barriers and shape environments to fit learners’ diverse needs, we send a powerful message: every pupil belongs, every pupil matters, and every pupil can succeed.
Reasonable adjustments turn inclusion from an aspiration into everyday practice, helping staff build learning spaces where differences are understood, valued, and celebrated.
The Council for Disabled Children website provides a hub of guidance and training designed to help settings confidently meet their disability duties under the Equality Act 2010. You’ll find a suite of practical, accessible resources, including guides for teachers, governors, trustees, and senior leaders, all promoting a strong whole setting approach to inclusion.
The offer includes 3 comprehensive guides covering day to day decision making, strategic responsibilities, and accessibility planning, alongside a Department for Education commissioned webinar series that walks staff through identifying needs, avoiding discrimination, and embedding inclusive practice across the life of the school.
There is also a range of downloadable materials - from overviews of the Act to detailed handbooks - to support staff in understanding what the law requires and how to make inclusion a lived reality for every learner.