Inclusive education is a commitment to ensuring a high-quality, culturally and linguistically responsive and equitable education to support the well-being and achievement of every student. All students should feel that they belong in an inclusive school—accepted, safe, and valued—so they can best learn and succeed. Successful inclusive education requires:

• safe, caring schools that welcome parents/guardians, families, and include the broader community as key partners in education. Parents/guardians are particularly important in identifying the strengths, interests, and challenges of their children and in working with teachers and others in the school to determine the best way to support all students.

• teaching and supports, based on evidence, that promote students’ physical, social-emotional, and behavioural well-being and achievement.

• promoting the independence of every student and developing their resilience as they progress through school.

• a focus on equity by supporting success for students who are historically marginalized and racialized (African Nova Scotian and Mi’kmaw students) or who come from other groups that have been traditionally under-represented and under-served, including, but not limited to, students with special needs and those struggling with poverty

• stimulating and accessible learning opportunities to keep every student engaged, challenged, and inspired.

• ensuring that every student sees themselves reflected throughout their schools, learning resources, and within their learning experiences.

• everyone, including partners in the departments of Health and Wellness, Community Services, and Justice, working together to support students’ strengths and help address their challenges in a culturally and linguistically responsive, accepting, respectful, and supportive manner that honours all students’ cultural identities and values their experiences and world views.

The Inclusive Education Policy reflects the importance of the well-being of all students and the impact it has on their achievements.

Inclusive schools are equitable, and culturally, linguistically, and socially responsive. They have structures, processes, and practices that are student-centered, appropriate, and collaborative.

The Inclusive Education Policy objective is to ensure every student has access to an equitable and high-quality education that is culturally and linguistically responsive, accepting, and respectful in supporting and valuing their learning and diverse abilities. To meet this objective, the policy provides clear, consistent direction with respect to inclusive education and equitable practices in public schools.

This policy will be supported by policies, guidelines, and procedures to assist in its implementation.

The Inclusive Education Policy provides a framework which will apply to all other policies, procedures, strategies, and initiatives.

The guiding principles provide an overview of what education will look like when inclusive education practices are working well in classrooms and schools. They describe what all partners in education will achieve.

• Every student can learn with enough time, practice and equitable and responsive teaching.

• Every student, including those with special needs, should receive full-day instruction every day, with flexibility based on the student’s individual strengths and challenges.

• Every student should be taught within a common learning environment (e.g., a classroom) with students of similar age within the community school, with flexibility that is based on, and responsive to, the student’s individual strengths and challenges.

• Inclusive education values, draws upon, and includes student voices and choices to assist students in achieving their goals.

• Every student deserves to belong (affirmed, validated, and nurtured), be safe, and feel welcomed in all aspects of their daily experience.

• Inclusive education is a commitment to honour and respect each student’s cultural and linguistic identities and knowledge systems.

• Inclusive education practices use evidence of students’ strengths and challenges to determine a system of supports and monitor the effectiveness of those supports.

• All partners are committed and empowered to work collectively to identify and eliminate barriers that interfere with students’ well-being and achievement.

• As part of the Student Success Planning process, every school will use evidence, including disaggregated data, to monitor and evaluate how students are doing and will respond with appropriate, timely supports. These identified supports will be supported by the Teaching Support Team at each school.

• Classroom teachers are responsible for teaching all students. Teaching and interventions are expected to happen most often in a common learning environment, such as the classroom. Classroom teachers cannot do this alone.

• Learning support teachers are experienced and skilled teachers who provide direct, collaborative support to classroom teachers and students. Examples include learning centre and resource teachers, mathematics mentors and coaches, and literacy specialists. Learning support teachers support classroom teachers by developing and implementing strategies to promote students’ well-being and achievement. They may also work directly with individual or small groups of students.

• Every school will establish a Teaching Support Team that will meet frequently to address immediate issues facing teachers and quickly identify resources, people, and strategies that can help those teachers more effectively support their students. The team, in collaboration with the classroom teacher, will monitor and evaluate the success of these supports and interventions. Principals or vice principals will lead the teams, which will also include learning support teachers. Teachers will attend if discussions involve their classroom, students, or teaching practices.

• Schools will establish Student Planning Teams, as needed, to support the identified learning strengths and challenges and/or ongoing well-being and achievement of individual students. The Teaching Support Team and Student Planning Teams will ensure that plans are flexible in terms of how and where programming and supports are delivered to best support well-being and achievement. Teams will be created in ways that make the most sense within the school.

• Teaching practices as outlined in the Public School Program (PSP), including culturally and linguistically responsive teaching practices, are foundational and necessary to support students, and therefore, will be implemented in every school and every classroom.

• Every school will support student well-being and achievement through a Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS).

• Every employee will be accountable for adherence to the principles of inclusive education.