Making inclusion part of everyday learning: putting your new funding to work

Your Inclusive Mainstream Fund is an opportunity to strengthen the curriculum you already have. And your Dimensions licence can help you make it happen.

Inclusion is moving up the agenda for the DfE and schools. The challenge is turning national ambition into practical changes that make a genuine difference to children's everyday experiences of learning.

The government's new Inclusive Mainstream Fund provides additional funding to help mainstream schools strengthen inclusive practice, remove barriers to learning and participation, and provide earlier support for children with additional needs.

For 2026–27, £400 million is being allocated to mainstream schools in England, as part of a wider three-year investment. Schools are expected to use this funding alongside their existing budgets to develop inclusive provision that responds to the needs of their pupils.

What does this mean for your school, and how can you make the most of the opportunity?

From funding to meaningful change

The Department for Education's guidance emphasises inclusive provision by design. Rather than relying solely on individual interventions once difficulties emerge, schools are encouraged to consider how their curriculum, teaching approaches and learning environments can reduce barriers from the outset.

This is an important distinction. Inclusion is not simply about providing additional support for some children. It is about designing learning that enables more children to participate, develop their knowledge, build confidence and experience success.

For school leaders, that raises some practical questions:

• Does our curriculum provide meaningful opportunities for every child to participate and succeed?
• Are we giving teachers the resources and flexibility they need to adapt learning to different needs?
• How do we build communication, collaboration, confidence and belonging into everyday classroom experiences?
• Can we demonstrate how our curriculum supports our wider inclusion priorities?

These are not necessarily questions that require a new initiative or another expensive resource. Often, the opportunity lies in making better use of the curriculum and tools already available to your staff.

How Dimensions can help

At Dimensions Curriculum, we believe an ambitious curriculum and inclusive practice should go hand in hand. Children deserve access to rich, engaging learning experiences, with the right support and opportunities to make progress.

Our curriculum is designed to help schools connect knowledge, skills and meaningful experiences through creative, cross-curricular learning. With more than 60 themes, teachers can make connections between subjects, build on children's interests and provide different ways for pupils to explore and demonstrate their understanding.

Here are three ways Dimensions can support your inclusion priorities.

1. More ways into learning

Children do not all engage with learning in the same way. Our resources include films, images, songs, archival recordings, virtual experiences and other carefully selected stimuli to help teachers introduce ideas and bring learning to life.

These provide starting points for discussion, questioning and exploration. Teachers can use them to build understanding, introduce unfamiliar concepts and create opportunities for children to engage before moving into practical, collaborative and creative activities.

2. A curriculum that supports progression

Inclusive teaching is not about lowering expectations. It is about providing appropriate routes towards ambitious learning.

Dimensions supports teachers in developing knowledge and skills progressively, helping them make connections across a theme and build on prior learning. The flexibility of the curriculum allows schools to respond to their pupils and context while maintaining a clear sense of what children should learn.

3. Greater confidence and less preparation time

Finding, creating and adapting high-quality resources takes time. Dimensions brings curriculum planning and supporting materials together, giving teachers practical starting points rather than leaving them to build everything from scratch.

That means more time to focus on what matters: understanding pupils, adapting teaching, supporting participation and responding to learning as it happens. All of which can be done at the touch of a button with our “Magic Adapt”, an inbuilt AI tool that we have trained in pedagogical approaches and SEND practice.

Already a Dimensions customer? It's included.

Here is the good news. You can access the Dimensions curriculum resources included within your existing licence at no additional cost.

You do not need to purchase another package to begin exploring how your current curriculum can support your inclusion priorities. Instead, review the resources you already have and consider where they could help you develop more inclusive learning experiences.

Your funding can then be directed towards the wider priorities identified through your school's needs analysis and inclusion planning, rather than committing to another curriculum purchase.

The right approach will depend on your pupils, your existing provision and the barriers you have identified. Dimensions can be part of that response, alongside other evidence-informed approaches and targeted support where needed.

Looking ahead: our 2028 Curriculum Guarantee

With curriculum reform on the horizon, we know schools are balancing immediate priorities with the need to plan for the future.

Our 2028 Curriculum Guarantee is designed to give you confidence that your curriculum will remain relevant as requirements change. We are committed to supporting schools through the transition, helping you prepare for the revised National Curriculum without having to start again from scratch.

It is another reason to make the most of your Dimensions licence now. The work you do to strengthen curriculum coherence, progression and inclusive practice today can help establish a strong foundation for tomorrow.

Let's make your curriculum work harder for every child

The new funding offers schools an opportunity to think strategically about inclusion, but the real measure of success will be what children experience in the classroom.

Start by reviewing your current Dimensions resources alongside your school's inclusion priorities. Identify where they can help remove barriers, broaden participation and support ambitious learning for all.

If you would like to explore how to get more from your Dimensions curriculum, our team is here to help.

Make the most of what you already have. Build inclusion into everyday learning. And move towards 2028 with confidence.