Leading inclusion has never been more complex. This conference will explore how leaders can navigate statutory responsibilities, financial pressures, organisational structures and competing priorities while maintaining a clear focus on improving outcomes for vulnerable children and young people.
Inclusion leadership is no longer confined to SEND. Today's leaders are expected to understand and influence a complex landscape spanning safeguarding, attendance, behaviour, alternative provision, children known to social care, medical needs, disadvantaged and statutory SEND responsibilities. At the same time, increasing financial pressures and evolving national policy require leaders to make difficult decisions about resources, workforce development and strategic priorities.
This practical masterclass will explore what effective inclusion leadership looks like in practice. Participants will examine where accountability sits within different school and trust structures, how to influence colleagues when direct line management is absent, and how to maintain a strategic focus when operational pressures dominate. Through practical examples and case studies, we will explore common leadership dilemmas including holding senior leaders to account, balancing statutory compliance with available resources, and ensuring inclusion remains a whole-school responsibility rather than the responsibility of one individual or team.
The day will also consider emerging policy developments, funding challenges and the growing expectations placed on inclusion leaders. Delegates will leave with greater confidence in defining the boundaries of their role, understanding where influence can be most effective, and developing sustainable systems that improve outcomes for children while supporting staff and organisational capacity.
By the end of this masterclass, you will understand how to:
Define the strategic role of an inclusion leader within schools and trusts.
Distinguish between responsibility, accountability and influence in inclusion leadership.
Navigate the interrelationship between SEND, safeguarding, attendance, behaviour, disadvantage and medical needs.
Evaluate the impact of current and emerging national policy on inclusion practice.
Develop sustainable inclusion systems that improve outcomes for vulnerable pupils.
Use data, funding and resource allocation to drive strategic decision-making.
Influence senior leaders and governing bodies where direct accountability does not exist.
Manage risk and ensure statutory compliance across multiple inclusion disciplines.
Lead cultural change that embeds inclusion as a whole-school responsibility.
Create an inclusion strategy that is ambitious, measurable and operationally deliverable.
Faciltator
Jude Macdonald
Jude is Director of Inclusion at Diamond Learning Partnership Trust. DLPT has 15 schools across Peterborough, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire. Jude is an experienced Trust Inclusion Lead, and a former special school Headteacher. She has experience of nursery, primary and secondary schools, and ensures academies in her Trust are at the forefront of inclusion practice. Jude is passionate about ensuring the best use of resources, through workforce development, tracking impact and leading systemic change.
Jude runs Wolf Inclusion alongside her Trust role. She delivers school reviews, training and co-production across the country. She is as happy supervising DSLs and being in the classroom supporting teachers to meet the needs of more complex pupils as she is presenting to large groups of educational stakeholders.
