Blog: Inclusion in motion: movement-rich approaches that strengthen SEND provision
You’re navigating rising levels of need, stretched services, and a renewed emphasis on inclusive practice across the whole day.
In this context, short, structured movement remains a reliable lever for regulation, engagement, and readiness to learn. The Chief Medical Officers’ guidance on daily activity for children and young people with SEND is well known; the operational question is how to embed it in busy classrooms, across varied profiles, without adding burden
What’s working on the ground
Schools reporting sustained gains tend to standardise a small set of lift-and-use components that any member of the teaching staff can deliver, anywhere on site
- Sensory circuits at key transition points support regulation and settling.
- Outdoor learning & OAA tasks (playgrounds, fields) with built-in personalisation, differentiation and inclusion—so movement runs through the day, not just the PE slot.
- Visual supports and small-step progressions to reduce cognitive load and make progress visible.
These elements create predictable rhythms pupils can rely on, while building staff confidence and consistency.
Insight: Sandfield Park School, Liverpool
A specialist setting with diverse and complex needs installed a mapped orienteering course and integrated outdoor learning tasks across phases. Staff describe the resources as “a fantastic versatile resource … adapted for all curriculum areas with all age groups.” Impact has extended beyond PE—communication and teamwork in lessons, navigation skills within Duke of Edinburgh provision, and pupil-led scavenger hunts, lifting activity across the week. Over time, the approach has become part of the whole-school curriculum, not a bolt-on.
Options that broaden participation (and are straightforward to evidence)
School orienteering & outdoor learning (OAA)
Through multi-year consultations with SEND heads and classroom practitioners, Enrich has refined resources and support where permanent site mapping plus cross-curricular lesson banks turn the school grounds into a reliable learning asset. Staff report increased confidence to deliver adapted activity, a broader offer for diverse learners, and more pupils regularly active—outcomes that align with Primary PE & Sport Premium indicators on staff development, breadth of experience and regular activity. In specialist settings (and mainstream resource bases), leaders tell us the combination of mapped routes, visual supports and small-step progressions makes delivery predictable and scalable across phases. Sandfield Park’s experience is one example of how this becomes part of the whole-school curriculum.
Safari Adventure (sensory event day)
Co-designed with SEND practitioners, this fully adaptable, sensory-rich outdoor experience is tailored to varied profiles and regulation needs. Schools typically use it to build confidence, coordination and social interaction. Each day is planned with your team so pacing, sensory load and communication supports are right for your cohorts—an approach shaped by ongoing feedback and collaboration with SEND specialists across the UK.
Built with you: what we’ve developed this year
Over the past year, Enrich has sat down with SEND leaders and teachers across partner schools to review what lands well and where extra support is needed. Together, we’ve:
- Refined lesson sequences that work in specialist and mainstream settings.
- Co-designed adaptable, sensory-aware activities that can be scaled up or down.
- Added new resources to the Enrich Education School Digital Hub, including:
- Sensory circuit activities—short, structured routines to support self-regulation and readiness to learn.
- Expanded visual supports—clear, simple prompts to reduce cognitive load.
These updates are becoming part of daily practice across our SEND schools—supporting schools to access the benefits of outdoor, active learning.
In closing
If you’re exploring movement-rich, low-burden ways to strengthen SEND provision, we’d value a conversation. The Enrich team can share what peers have implemented, what they adapted, and how we have worked with them to support further—then map a proportionate start point for your context.
Start the discussion: a 15-minute call with the Enrich team to review your current approach and identify quick wins for this term.
