Inclusion

What does Inclusion mean to you? As the image demonstrates, we often find ourselves wondering if Inclusion is just for those that can be easily included.

Inclusion is about all of us, not some of them.

We have recently been trying to define what Inclusion means to all our Trust community. After working parties with Headteachers, Trust members, SENDCos in all our schools, we came up with.

‘Inclusion is a feeling. It is determined by perception and achieved by understanding. We are committed to and value each and every individual within the NSAT Community and beyond.’

We believe Inclusion is an emotion. It is a feeling. Why? Because we believe that at the heart of the word ‘Inclusion’ is how included we feel in a given situation. As an example; Most of us have been in a situation where we’ve been waiting to be picked for a task or team. Being included might make you feel elated, excited or quite anxious. Being excluded might give different emotional responses. It is different for everyone, and we don’t always know what someone else is feeling and the emotions within them. That’s why we feel it is determined by others perceptions and we need to understand that we cannot assume that we know how someone may feel in any given situation. Everyone is different, and to be immersed, to be included, we must feel a part of something.