The framework is suitable for staff who are supporting students with SEND and want to extend their skill set or for staff who are new to supporting classrooms and require guidance on where to start. The framework is built on available research regarding teaching and learning, that draws upon practice and reflections from the educators who have used it in recent years. The tools of the framework are flexible, and each educator can build their programme suitable to their context. Moreover, the frequent reflection upon one’s practice as well as the student’s feedback allow for regular modifications to always be striving for the best possible outcomes for students.

My experience with the MARIO Framework.

The MARIO 101 course is a great starting point for understanding the foundation of the framework. Teachers learn how the framework is related to educational research and how to build one’s own programme within one’s context. The course also allows for opportunities to undertake reading around topics which are relevant to one’s context or students’ needs as well as interests. The structure of the course is flexible, and the workload is clearly manageable with a teacher’s regular workload. 

My context does not allow for support classes to take place within the scheduled timetable, and thus I took tools away from the course which allowed me to improve my practice through guided questioning in one-to-one conferences or sessions which take place outside the timetabled day. The course allowed me to reflect upon years of practice in supporting students. It provided me with new tools and documents to support my students and a clear vision on what steps to take next academic year to implement the framework. Engaging with the framework made my work more effective whilst allowing student autonomy within the programme. 

The support provided throughout the course by my mentor was excellent. They often provided further reading, constructive comments on my work, or allowed for personal conversations to inform my practice and progress on the course. I felt that the level of support offered was exactly what was needed. In addition, wonderful conversations among participants of the course allowed me to make connections, exchange resources and ideas, and find support.

What is MARIO’s potential in the classroom?

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MARIO has the potential to change the way students with SEND receive support and are taught. The research upon which MARIO is based is in line with current research about teaching and learning, that is often not applied to the support given to students who experience barriers to learning. Moreover, it provides effective and flexible tools to apply to one’s context and students’ needs. I highly recommend this framework to anyone who works within special educational needs in mainstream schools as the tools inform and support practice as well as puts the ownership on the students—they learn to become independent, effective, reflective learners who can manage the demands of school and life as best as possible. 

Moreover, the framework provides tools for teachers to measure their students’ progress—similar to their other subjects—and thus accountability is an integral part of the programme in addition to student’s regular classes. The programme is not in addition to but alongside their usual lessons, and it focuses on providing students with opportunities to either deepen their understanding or skills to become the best version of themselves and thus excel in and outside the classroom.

Sincerely, Frankie Garbutt

Frankie Garbutt was part of an expert team of special educators that have worked together to make the MARIO Framework accessible to learners of all ages.

We know how frustrating it is to want more success for your students with special needs— knowing that, somehow, there’s got to be a better way to cultivate personalized success for each student. MARIO Founder Philip Bowman saw the same need in his classroom and was inspired to create a research-based and evidence-informed approach based on one-to-one sessions, which led to remarkable advances in his students. 

We invite you to become part of the MARIO Movement and empower your students to achieve new levels of success. You can be a key player in driving innovation and transforming the concept of what special education is capable of. The next course starts on September 21st. We hope to see you there!

Let’s reimagine special education together.

We had started to move staff to the Cloud two years earlier, by migrating 90% of staff files per department to SharePoint sites. We were also encouraging the Senior Leadership Team to use Microsoft Teams at a basic level to collaborate on files and communicate with each other, but there was no use of Microsoft Teams in class lessons. 

As an Academy we had implemented TeamViewer for a small number of our SLT and admin staff to access computers remotely, but this was often unreliable and difficult to use, especially if the physical computer devices had been switched off.

Finding fast paced solutions

One of the biggest challenges we faced was upskilling staff to using Microsoft Teams, as many had not used it before. We also had not yet fully embraced the technology for our pupils. The DfE are offering schools free funding for training and installation of one of two digital education platforms, and after a discussion with our long-standing IT partner, RM, we confirmed that we would operate Microsoft Teams across the school – for staff and pupils.  

RM proved a great support for us at this time – they helped us reset all of our learner’s passwords to something memorable which they would already know, without having to send them to each learner individually in the post. This reduced a lot of the support queries immediately and like many young people, our learners were quick to adopt new technologies. They also had a web page with a number of videos and “Top Tips” that helped them learn more about the software.

As soon as pupils knew what their new passwords were, many were able to get on to Microsoft Teams and begin learning straight away, with little to no guidance. Where a learner did need some support, RM have been there for them, and – when appropriate – have been able to call on their relationships with Microsoft for the more complex issues.

Beacon Hill Academy has also been faced – like many schools – with challenges around ICT access for learners who do not have laptops. The DfE scheme to provide free laptops and 4G routers for disadvantaged learners has helped and we have also been creating work that can be accessed and used via mobile phones, converting voice over PowerPoints into MP4 files and using Microsoft Forms rather than worksheets, to engage with learners. Alongside this we’ve been offering free laptop hire, internet dongles, reward incentives and regular phone calls home to support families with home learning.

Looking to the future

The lockdown period proved challenging for everyone, but the education sector has adapted quickly and efficiently to support learners throughout school closures. We have found that support from parents and carers is key during these tough times and we made every effort to engage with parents and carers in order to help support their children at home. This was successful with many parents reporting they feel more confident using the online software to support their child.

It comes down to having the focus and commitment to move staff and learners who had never used software like Microsoft Teams before to producing all of their remote lessons on this platform. After some initial challenges we saw a significantly increased proportion of learners accessing and engaging with the software week on week.

As we now prepare to re-open our gates to all learners, we are determined to continue to use Microsoft teams within our lessons and across the school. I personally hope that schools up and down the country further embrace technology in their classrooms. Our aim is to ‘develop inspirational schools which instil ambition and desire in young learners, open their minds, widen their horizons and equip them to succeed in a challenging world’ and I think technology is a great tool in helping us – and others – to achieve this.

If you want to find advice and support to get your school online and make the most of digital education platforms, visit The Key today, or if you just want some advice on what to consider, RM have produced a very useful webpage on choosing the right integration partner.