YIP insight · Classroom practice
From reasonable adjustments to responsive practice
A practical way to make adjustments part of thoughtful teaching rather than a separate list of exceptions.
4 min read · Your Inclusion Partner editorial team
Use in context: This practical educational guidance does not replace safeguarding procedures, statutory duties or individual professional advice.
An adjustment is most useful when the people involved understand the barrier it addresses, when it is available consistently and when its impact is reviewed. A list copied between plans can lose that connection. Responsive practice keeps the legal and ethical importance of reasonable adjustments while placing them inside everyday planning and teaching.
Plan from the barrier, not the label
Two pupils with the same identified need may experience a lesson differently. Begin with the demand of the context: holding several spoken steps in mind, beginning from a blank page, tolerating an unpredictable transition or responding in front of peers. Then ask what could change in the environment, task, timing, communication or support.
- Describe the barrier in a specific context.
- Agree the adjustment and who makes it available.
- Tell the pupil how and when it can be used.
- Check consistency before judging impact.
- Review with the pupil and adapt when the evidence is mixed.
Responsive does not mean improvising a different approach every lesson. Predictability matters. The strongest practice combines reliable agreed adjustments with teachers who notice changing context and use professional judgement without making the pupil repeatedly request what has already been agreed.