About Ordinarily Available Inclusive Practice (OAIP)
Ordinarily Available Inclusive Practice (OAIP) is the foundation of the graduated response. It describes the support and provision that every education setting should provide for all children and young people.
Ordinarily Available Inclusive Practice:
- Sets out the provision every setting should deliver
- Relies on high-quality teaching, inclusive practice and reasonable adjustments where needed
- Does not require a diagnosis or additional funding
High-quality teaching is the first response to need and has the greatest impact on improving outcomes.
What Ordinarily Available Inclusive Practice should achieve
Effective Ordinarily Available Inclusive Practice helps to:
- Create consistent inclusive practice across Somerset
- Reduce variation between settings
- Identify needs earlier
- Improve participation, progress and outcomes
- Promote attendance, engagement and inclusion, reducing the risk of suspension and exclusion
- Strengthen partnerships with families
Inclusive practice in action
Somerset’s Graduated Response identifies eight key practices that promote strong OAIP. These are:
- Everyone belongs and relationships are strong
- Classrooms are calm, consistent and predictable
- High-quality interactions are prioritised through rich talk
- The curriculum is coherent, rich and designed for all
- Teaching is explicit, scaffolded and responsive
- Learning tasks are designed to engage active thinking
- Adjustments remove barriers without lowering ambition
- Leaders notice patterns, work with families and act early
For detailed examples of inclusive practice, see the Inclusive Practice Framework guidance.