Challenge: Calderdale Council’s SEND resources were fragmented—and hidden on individual Specialist Inclusion Team (SIT) hard drives. This left frontline educators without access to critical tools, causing inefficiency, inconsistency, and gaps in support for children and young people.
Action: To address this, Calderdale partnered with pop studio to redesign their approach. Initial desk research revealed that other local authorities relied on static PDFs, Word documents, or hard-to-navigate websites. Calderdale aimed higher: a structured, user-friendly directory that empowered SENCOs and teachers to self-serve essential strategies, reducing their reliance on direct support from the Specialist Inclusion Team.
A category-based taxonomy was developed to organize resources intuitively, aligning with whole-school universal actions, teachers’ standards, and the four broad areas of need. The team collaborated an online audit tool to support schools over five to seven years, ensuring long-term planning and progressive improvement. Recognizing SENCOs’ concerns about privacy, the audit is kept confidential within schools, with action plans being shared with SIT to maintain trust and credibility. A commenting system was also introduced, enabling cluster leads to collaborate directly with SENCOs on action plans.
Co-Production in Practice: The app was iteratively refined through close collaboration with SENCOs, testing and retesting features until the final product was clean, intuitive, and fit for purpose. Workshops and discussions on the SIT and council SEND and Inclusion strategy ensured alignment and clarity, while SENCOs’ feedback shaped the tool’s development.
Impact: The launch event—attended by 200+ SENCOs and headteachers—marked the start of Calderdale’s inclusive education journey. Educators responded with overwhelmingly positive feedback, praising the app’s simplicity and relevance. The directory and audit tool provided:
- Immediate access to stage-specific resources (Early Years to Post 16).
- Private, school-led audits with targeted SIT support.
- A dynamic platform for ongoing collaboration and improvement.
One of the proudest moments of my professional journey so far... I've had the privilege of working on something that truly matters.
Laura Humble, Specialist Inclusion Team Manager
Future Steps: Calderdale will continue to evolve the platform based on user feedback, ensuring it remains a living resource that adapts to the changing needs of schools and their communities.
Key Takeaway: By embedding co-production at every stage, Calderdale transformed fragmented resources into a unified, educator-driven system—empowering schools to deliver consistent, evidence informed, high-quality inclusion.