Twilight Talk: Inclusion for all: 10-point blueprint for reform

Webcasts
03 Oct 2025

Twilight Talks

Too many children are missing out on the benefits of school, through absence, exclusion or unmet special educational needs. Last year alone, 34 million days of learning were lost. Half of all children suspended from school have special educational needs or live in poverty. This isn’t just a “SEND crisis”, it’s an education crisis.

Join Cristín O’Brien, Senior Policy Advisor at The Difference, as she discusses the Who is Losing Learning Coalition's 10-point plan for reform and why getting the definition of inclusion right is delivering effective reforms of our education system.

Cristín will outline a new, operational definition of inclusion, developed with young people, families, schools, and charities, that sees inclusion not as a separate task for a SENCo or a special setting, but as the responsibility of all staff, for all children:

The session will highlight:

The continuum of lost learning, the interconnected nature of the challenges of attendance, exclusion, poverty and unmet special educational needs and how understanding these connections unlocks windows of opportunity.

Challenging misconceptions about what truly makes a school inclusive.

The power of measurement in scaling inclusive practice nationally.

The Difference Report: Who is losing learning March 25
https://the-difference.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/FINAL-Who-is-Losing-Learning-Solutions-Report.pdf

The Difference Charity Website: The Difference Education Charity
https://the-difference.com/

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Suitable for: A parent/carer, Administration Staff, Administrator, Assistant Head Teacher, Assistant Headteacher, Consultant, Deputy Head Teacher, Early Years Practitioner, Education psychologist, Governor, Head Teacher, Inclusion Manager/Leader, Newly Qualified Teacher, SENCO, Senior Leader, Student, Support staff, Teacher, Teaching Assistant, Tutor, Young person, Other

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Meet your trainer - Cristin O'Brien

Cristín O’Brien began her career as a Community Worker and Social Worker, serving the Irish Traveller community, before returning to education and moving into policy. She first worked at Ofsted as a Policy Officer on the Unregistered Schools Team, and has since led on policy work at The Difference, the school leadership charity committed to reducing lost learning through whole-school inclusion.

At The Difference, Cristín played a pivotal role in the Who is Losing Learning Campaign, co-authoring both reports that have shaped the national debate on inclusion and lost learning. Most recently, she co-authored “What Works: Four Tenets of Effective Internal Alternative Provision”, setting out practical insights for schools on developing effective IAP. 

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