Empowering SEND Learners with HOW2: Practical Strategies for Inclusive Teaching

At WLC, I work with young people aged 16 – 25 on the Preparation for Independent Living and Work Skills course, supporting students with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). My goal is to help them build the essential skills, confidence, and independence they need to navigate life and employment.

To give my students the best possible learning experience, I’m constantly looking for ways to refine my teaching approach and explore new strategies. HOW2 has been an invaluable tool for supporting differentiation, enabling me to tailor techniques to the diverse needs of SEND learners.

By offering clear, structured, and adaptable teaching strategies, HOW2 allows me to experiment, refine, and embed effective teaching practices. It has been an essential resource for quickly learning new techniques, adapting them to my teaching environment, and continuously improving them through practice.

HOW2 helps me differentiate instruction to support SEND learners by providing strategies that enhance communication, address sensory needs, and assist with executive function challenges, ultimately improving learner engagement.

But HOW2 is more than just a tool for trying out new techniques — it has also fostered collaboration. By making best practices easier to share, clearer, and more structured, it has become a truly valuable resource.

Additionally, it enables me to track my progress and observe how techniques evolve from initial trials to fully embedded routines.

A key area of focus for me has been Entry and Exit routines, which are especially critical for SEND students in creating structured, predictable learning environments. These routines;

✅ Reduce anxiety by setting clear expectations

✅ Help students transition smoothly between activities

✅ Support sensory regulation by providing a structured start and end to lessons

✅ Encourage communication and independence

One of the things I really like about HOW2 is how the techniques are presented in a clear, structured way that makes adaptation easy. Because of this, I was inspired to record Entry and Exit routine videos, with support staff acting as learners, to demonstrate how these techniques could be used in an Inclusive Learning (IL) setting.

I wanted to show how these routines can be adapted to suit different learners and teaching environments, making them relevant beyond SEND classrooms. Uploading them to HOW2 meant I could share practical, real-life examples of these strategies in action.

Since sharing these routines on HOW2, colleagues have adopted and adapted them with great success, reinforcing how small, structured changes can create a more inclusive learning environment.

HOW2 has also encouraged collaboration across teams, supporting:

💡 Consistent, high-quality teaching across SEND and mainstream classrooms

💡 Mentorship opportunities for trainee teachers and new staff

💡 A more structured approach to sharing best practices

💡 Reduced planning stress by making evidence-based strategies readily available

Key Features That Support Teaching and Collaboration

One feature I really like is the nudge function, which makes it easy to collaborate with staff across the college. It allows me to recommend strategies to colleagues who might benefit from them, helping to share targeted teaching techniques simply and effectively.

I also love using the status feature, which helps me track my own progress with different teaching strategies:

• Considering It – Ideas I’m interested in working on later

• Working On It – Strategies I’m actively trying out

• Embedded It – Techniques that are now fully part of my day-to-day practice

As a mentor, I support trainee teachers by observing their lessons, providing forward-focused feedback, and assisting with lesson planning to meet individual learner needs. HOW2 has been a brilliant tool for sharing evidence-based teaching and learning strategies in a clear, structured, and practical way.

The library of techniques on the HOW2 Platform is particularly useful because it combines visuals and text, making it easy for teachers to pick up new strategies and apply them with confidence.

🚀 Explore the library – There’s a vast range of strategies adaptable for SEND learners.

🚀 Use the status feature – A great tool for reflecting on and tracking progress.

🚀 Try, adapt, and refine – Personalise techniques for your students’ needs.

🚀 Share with colleagues – Collaboration enhances impact across the college.

HOW2 has transformed how I approach SEND teaching, allowing me to tailor, refine, and share effective strategies that support structure, engagement, and independence.

By providing clear, adaptable, and evidence-based techniques, it has empowered both staff and students — leading to a more inclusive, consistent, and effective teaching environment.

If you haven’t explored HOW2 yet, I highly recommend it — it’s a game-changer for SEND teaching.