For Schools and Specialist Provision

The Connection Kit helps schools build a clearer understanding of how children communicate, participate and regulate within their environment.

Designed to sit alongside existing provision, it supports staff to make informed decisions about support, helping children access learning, relationships and school life more successfully.

Suitable for:

• Mainstream schools
• SEN Support
• EHCP provision
• Inclusion and nurture spaces
• Alternative Provision
• Specialist settings

In many schools, support can become:

• inconsistent across staff
• reactive rather than planned
• difficult to sustain throughout the school day
• focused on behaviour rather than understanding

The Connection Kit provides a shared framework that helps staff understand what they are seeing and respond with greater confidence and consistency.

The framework aligns naturally with the:

process used within SEN Support and EHCP provision.

Build a clearer understanding of how a child communicates, participates and regulates.

The framework supports structured observation and profile mapping, helping staff recognise patterns that may otherwise be missed.

Use this understanding to shape support.

This may include:

• adapting classroom practice
• identifying barriers to participation
• selecting targeted strategies
• considering when additional intervention may be required

Apply support within everyday school life.

The Connection Kit helps staff to:

• adapt communication
• create accessible entry points into learning
• respond more effectively in real time
• support participation across the school day

Targeted interventions remain important where needed. The framework strengthens the wider practice around them.

Reflect on what is working and what may need adjusting.

The framework supports:

• clearer observation of progress
• shared language across staff
• more consistent review of engagement and participation

Children do not all access learning, relationships and support in the same way.

Using The Connection Kit, schools can:

• identify participation barriers
• recognise communication patterns
• adapt support more effectively
• improve consistency across staff teams
• create multiple routes into learning and school life

The aim is not to create additional interventions.

The aim is to strengthen the support that already exists.

The Connection Kit can help schools to:

• improve engagement and participation
• strengthen emotional regulation support
• build staff confidence
• create consistency across teams
• strengthen relationships between adults and children
• support a wider range of needs within everyday provision

Most Connection Kit recommendations are generated at cohort level.

This helps schools make practical adjustments that improve participation, engagement and access for larger groups of children without creating multiple individual plans.

However, some children may require a more detailed level of understanding.

For these situations, bespoke individual mapping can be commissioned to explore:

• communication patterns 
• participation barriers 
• regulation needs 
• profile combinations 
• personalised support strategies 

This can be particularly helpful for:

• pupils with complex needs 
• persistent disengagement 
• transition planning 
• SEN Support reviews 
• EHCP provision 

The Connection Kit therefore supports both:

Whole-school and cohort-level development

and

Targeted understanding of individual children where needed.

The Connection Kit combines:

• staff observation
• pupil voice
• setting review

to build a fuller picture of need and progress.

This can help schools evidence:

• increased participation
• improved engagement
• stronger relationships
• greater staff confidence
• more consistent support across teams

The Connection Kit helps schools move beyond fragmented or reactive approaches.

It provides a shared framework that strengthens:

• inclusive practice
• staff confidence
• communication across teams
• participation and engagement
• the ability to meet a wider range of needs within everyday provision

At its heart, The Connection Kit helps schools understand children more clearly, adapt practice more effectively and create more opportunities for participation, belonging and success.