How to Run In-House SEND and Dyslexia Training for Your Staff

School budgets are tighter than ever, yet the number of pupils who need additional learning support continues to grow. Finding the funding for expensive external consultants to train your teaching staff is a constant challenge.

You do not need a large budget to deliver high-quality, evidence-based professional development. You can run excellent neurodiversity and literacy training in-house using free, official resources from the Department for Education (DfE).

This guide shows you how to use these official materials to lead practical, impactful workshops for your teachers and teaching assistants.

The Free DfE Training Materials

The Department for Education has released comprehensive, structured packages designed specifically for school leaders and SENCOs to deliver in-house. These are not dry policy documents. They are practical, ready-to-use training resources.

There are two main sets of guidance you should download to get started:

1. SEND training for schools: guide to materials: This guide helps facilitators set up and run structured training sessions within mainstream schools.
2. SEND training for schools: what is inclusive teaching?: This pack contains the actual training resources, presentation slides, and practical activities focused on classroom strategies that support all pupils.

By using these official frameworks, you can ensure your staff receive training aligned with national best practices without spending a penny on external trainers.

Step-by-Step: How to Facilitate Your In-House Workshop

Running professional development can feel daunting when you are already managing a busy school. Here is a simple, step-by-step approach to delivering a successful session.

1. Preparation is Key

Before the session, download the resources from the DfE guides. Read through the facilitator notes. They are designed to do the heavy lifting for you, providing talking points and guiding questions.

Keep the session short. A focused 45-minute workshop during an INSET day or a staff meeting is much more effective than a long, exhausting evening session.

2. Focus on Concrete Classroom Strategies

Avoid heavy theory. Your teachers and teaching assistants want practical strategies they can use during their next lesson.

Use the "What is inclusive teaching?" materials to focus on high-impact, low-effort adjustments. These include:

• Giving clear, multi-step instructions both verbally and visually.
• Using scaffolded writing frames.
• Allowing extra processing time before asking a pupil to answer a question.

For more ideas on how to translate these concepts into daily routines, see our guide on New SEND Teacher Training: Practical Classroom Tips for Monday.

3. Encourage Peer Collaboration

Do not just lecture your staff. Use the discussion prompts provided in the DfE materials.

Pair experienced teachers with early-career teachers. Ask them to discuss a specific pupil who is struggling with reading or focus. Let them share what accommodations are already working in their classrooms.

Measuring the Impact on Classroom Practice

Training is only successful if it changes daily practice. To ensure your session has a lasting impact, put a simple follow-up system in place.

Conduct Informal Learning Walks

In the weeks following the training, conduct brief, supportive learning walks. Do not look for perfection. Look for small, inclusive changes, such as visual timetables on display or teachers using structured check-ins with struggling readers.

Gather Staff Feedback

Ask your staff what worked and what they need more help with. You can use their feedback to plan your next short session. Continuous, bite-sized professional development is always more effective than a single, one-off event.

Look at Pupil Engagement

Talk to your pupils, especially those with SEND. Ask them if they feel more supported by the new classroom routines. A sense of belonging is highly connected to academic progress, particularly for neurodivergent learners. You can read more about this connection in our article on why school belonging matters for your dyslexic teen's grades.

Simple Tools to Support Your Staff

In-house training is most effective when backed by simple, reliable classroom tools. While teachers work on inclusive quality-first teaching, technology can provide independent support for pupils who struggle with literacy.

This is where our app, Lexy, can help. Lexy is an iOS and Mac app built on structured, multisensory literacy principles. It provides independent phonics practice and reading fluency support for pupils. It is not a diagnosis or a replacement for your specialist staff, but it is an excellent, affordable tool to help busy teachers manage diverse classroom needs.

You can learn more about how we support classrooms on our Lexy for schools page, which includes a free tier for up to five students.

By combining the free, high-quality training materials from the DfE with practical classroom tools, you can build a highly supportive, inclusive environment for all your pupils without stretching your school budget.