From Bolt-On to Built-In: Rethinking SEND and Inclusion with Lisa Pinkerton

Artwork for podcast Education On Fire - Sharing creative and inspiring learning in our schools

Episode 504 • 3rd August 2026 • Education On Fire - Sharing creative and inspiring learning in our schools • Mark Taylor

Lisa Pinkerton is Head of Education at Widget, a symbols-based communication software company, and a former deputy headteacher, inclusion lead, and NPQ SENCO course facilitator with 26 years in primary education.

Lisa makes the case for SENCOs sitting on the senior leadership team, not as a bolt-on role but as a strategic voice shaping decisions from the outset. With over 1.7 million pupils in England currently identified as having SEND, she argues inclusion has shifted from a specialist issue to a leadership one, and explains why designing environments for the child who needs the most support tends to benefit every child in the room.

We talk through the shift from a medical to a social model of disability, the "curb-cut effect" as a way of thinking about universal design in classrooms, why visual scaffolds like Widget's symbols work best when they're everyday practice rather than reserved for a few pupils, and why real inclusion means being willing to let a sparkly pink pencil sit next to standard ones. Lisa also shares a powerful story of a pupil whose severe dyslexia had been masked as behavioural difficulty, and how embedding visual support into ordinary classroom life changed his trajectory.

Takeaways:

Inclusion must be embedded within the decision-making processes of educational institutions, not treated as an afterthought.
The integration of symbols and visual aids can significantly enhance communication and comprehension for all students.
Effective educational leadership requires the inclusion lead to have a strategic role within the senior leadership team.
The approach to education should prioritize the individual learning journey of each student, fostering their unique strengths and needs.

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