Inclusive Schools II is designed to support upscaling of Inclusive Schools I, that was designed to give schools the tools and guidance to introduce the concept of inclusive education and develop a pathway towards implementing it, with the involvement of all stakeholders. It will do this by focusing on the CPD element of Inclusive Schools I and evaluating and disseminating its outcomes. By enabling school leaders and teachers to deepen their knowledge, understanding and skills around inclusive education over a sustained period of time, they will have increased confidence to lead the wider implementation of inclusive education in their schools using the toolkit produced in Inclusive Schools I.

The immediate target groups of the project are: • 130 School leaders • 120 Teachers • 500 Students/newly qualified teachers Indirect target groups of the project are: • Learners from diverse backgrounds • Families of learners from diverse backgrounds • Higher education institutions responsible for initial teacher training • Policymakers and public authorities staff (EU institutions, ministries, local authorities) • Institutions and organisations with an educational focus at local and European levels.

The project will scale up the good practice established in the methodology of EU-funded Inclusive Schools 2019-2021 project, in order to further: • increase the number of school leaders and teachers trained in inclusive education policy and practice; • deepen these educators’ knowledge and understanding of inclusive education policy, practice and culture; • enhance the skills of teachers and school leaders working inclusively in schools; • strengthen leadership of inclusive education in schools; • facilitate enhanced cooperation within the school community (parents, students, school staff) and with a wider spectrum of education stakeholders; • increase the confidence and motivation of school leaders to lead the implementation of inclusive education, and of teachers to implement inclusive pedagogies; • influence policy change at school, local, regional and national levels; • increase the positive momentum of change initiated by Inclusive Schools I.

The vision of the Inclusive Schools II project is to significantly increase the knowledge and skills of school leaders, teachers and student teachers to work inclusively with the increasing range of diverse learners in their schools. The project will achieve its aims and objectives by developing three training strands: a face-to-face course specifically for school leaders; a face-to-face course for serving teachers; and a Mass Open Online Course (MOOC) for students and newly qualified teachers. The project will include a thorough quality assurance framework and external evaluation process, as well as a detailed exploitation plan to open dialogue about inclusive education between the school communities involved, other schools, local officials and policy-makers at national level. The project will identify role models who exemplify good practice to act as influencers of change locally and nationally. Inclusive Schools II is co-funded by the EU through the Erasmus Plus programme and led by the British Council (UK) in partnership with 5 organisations and institutions across Europe.