Creating a 'vulnerability-first' approach to supporting pupils

For years, schools have tended to think about vulnerable pupils as a distinct group sitting alongside the wider school population.

There are “the vulnerable children”, and then there is everyone else. But what happens when that distinction no longer reflects how things are in reality?

At Benjamin Adlard Primary School in Gainsborough, over 70 per cent of pupils are eligible for pupil premium, and 40 per cent are identified as having special educational needs or disabilities, with 8 per cent having an education, health and care plan.

Nearly every child joining our school in Reception this September is arriving with at least one recognised vulnerability.

For some school leaders, that statistic might sound alarming, but for us, it’s simply the reality of the community we serve.

An approach that works for all

At Benjamin Adlard, vulnerability is not an exception; it’s the context in which we work every day, and it was this reality that prompted us three years ago to rethink how we organised support for our children.

Rather than creating ever more separate systems for different groups of children, we wanted an approach that recognised a simple truth: every child deserves excellent teaching, but some children require more layers of support in order to access it.

We came up with a four-tier model built around universal provision, adaptive teaching, targeted interventions and specialist support.

The starting point is high-quality teaching and strong relationships, because every child should experience a broad and ambitious curriculum delivered by adults who know them well. That universal offer remains the foundation of everything we do.

From there, support becomes increasingly tailored according to need. Some pupils require adaptive teaching to help them access learning.

Others benefit from targeted interventions that address academic gaps, emotional wellbeing or difficulties with self-regulation. A smaller number need highly specialised provision.

The key point is that these are not separate systems; they are interconnected layers of support that allow us to respond flexibly to children’s needs.

Vulnerability tracker

Alongside the four-tier support framework, we wanted to create a clearer picture of pupil vulnerability across the school, and in September 2024 we introduced a vulnerability tracker, which enables us to identify pupils who may face additional barriers to learning.

These include children with SEND, those eligible for pupil premium, pupils who are or have been known to children’s services, looked-after children and those who have experienced significant mobility.

We review the tracker regularly and share it with staff so that everyone understands the context behind the children sitting in front of them.

It’s not about labelling pupils or about lowering the expectations we have of them. It is about making sure that staff understand the challenges some children carry with them before they walk through the classroom door.

We also regularly undertake detailed case studies of pupils who experience multiple vulnerabilities. These conversations help us reflect on whether our provision is truly meeting their needs and whether further adjustments are required.

What we’ve learned is that acknowledging and tracking our pupils’ vulnerabilities benefits everyone. The phrase often used in education is “if you get it right for the most vulnerable, you get it right for all children”. In our experience, that’s true.

Strategies that help children feel safe, connected and understood improve the learning environment for every pupil.

Staff who understand barriers to learning are better equipped to respond effectively in the classroom, and a curriculum that is genuinely accessible to vulnerable pupils becomes more accessible to all.

Rising attainment

We were delighted to have our successful approach to inclusion recognised in our latest Ofsted report, following an inspection in March.

Inspectors rated us as at a “strong standard” in six of the seven new categories, saying that inclusion is at the heart of the school and praising us for our “laser-sharp focus” on making sure that every child has access to a strong education.

When the report says that pupils feel “incredibly happy and proud to attend” our school and that the classrooms “fizz with pupils’ enthusiasm and thirst for knowledge”, it endorses everything we have done at Benjamin Adlard.

With our provisional key stage 2 Sats results for this year up 15 percentage points on the previous year, from 52 per cent to 67 per cent - and well above the national average - we know we are making a significant difference to children’s lives.

Policymakers are increasingly calling for mainstream schools to become more inclusive; indeed, the government’s recent schools White Paper says all schools will have to meet a wider range of needs and that many more children with SEND will be successfully educated in mainstream settings.

In our experience, inclusion begins with knowing children well enough to understand the barriers they face. When schools build systems around that principle, support for vulnerable pupils becomes support for all pupils.

We would suggest that schools begin with one simple question: do we truly understand the children in front of us?

When schools build their provision around that understanding, vulnerability stops being something that sits at the margins of school life and becomes the lens through which inclusion is made real.

Luke Lovelidge, headteacher at Benjamin Adlard Primary School in Gainsborough, part of Anthem Schools Trust