Section Two of the Ordinarily Available Guidance (OAG) provides practical support for teachers, teaching assistants and other staff working directly with children and young people.

It helps staff to recognise when a child or young person may be finding something difficult and suggests practical strategies that can be used in everyday teaching and support.

The guidance is organised around the four broad areas of need from the SEND Code of Practice. Within each area, you will find:

  • What you might see – signs that a child may be experiencing barriers to learning or participation
  • What you can try – practical strategies to support them

The strategies are designed to be used flexibly and adapted to the individual strengths, needs and interests of the child or young person.

General Information

Each area follows the same simple structure:

What you might see – Signs that a child or young person may be experiencing difficulty.

What you can try – Practical strategies that can be used in the classroom.

This structure helps you to quickly connect what you are noticing with strategies you can try.

This guidance supports staff at the earliest stages of the graduated approach.

If a child or young person appears to be finding something difficult, staff can:

  • look at What you might see to check whether it reflects what they are noticing
  • explore What you can try and select strategies that may help
  • try these approaches in everyday teaching and support
  • keep brief notes about what is helping and what remains challenging
  • share this information with the SENCo if further support may be needed

The aim is to help you to respond early and confidently by trying practical strategies within the classroom.

The strategies in this guidance are designed to support, not replace, high-quality adaptive teaching.

Before using additional strategies, it is important to consider how teaching is already being adapted to support all pupils.

This may include:

  • clear explanations and breaking learning into small steps
  • modelling and checking understanding
  • using visuals, prompts or resources
  • working in different groupings

Strategies can then be used to provide additional support, structure or practice where needed.

The OAG Digital Library includes real examples, ‘Showcases’ from schools and settings across Birmingham showing how inclusive strategies are used in practice.

Showcase Icon - A circle with 'SC' inside

The “SC” icon highlights strategies that link to a Showcase example in the OAG Digital Library, where you can see how this approach is used in practice.

These examples may include short videos, case examples and downloadable resources. They are designed to help staff see what inclusive practice looks like in real classrooms and settings.

There are three versions of the guidance:

  • Early Years
  • School Age
  • Post-16

You should usually use the version that best matches the age and stage of the child or young person.

In some cases, it may be helpful to look across versions, for example:

  • children in Reception who may benefit from approaches in both the Early Years and School Age guidance
  • young people preparing for post-16 who may still benefit from strategies in the School Age guidance

You should use your professional judgement to select what will best support the child or young person.