A trust-wide approach to adaptive teaching with Widgit Online

Guest blog by Specialist Inclusion Teacher Gemma Tully and Inclusion Lead Practitioner Caroline Kearney on how Westcountry Schools Trust (WeST) use Widgit Online to support inclusive and adaptive learning.

Widgit in schools
Widgit in schools
Widgit in schools
Widgit in schools
Widgit in schools

Westcountry Schools Trust (WeST) is committed to fostering an inclusive learning environment across its schools. Recognising the importance of dual coding in education, the trust sought an effective tool to support adaptive teaching, ensure consistency, and improve accessibility for all pupils. Gemma Tully, Specialist Inclusion Teacher, and Caroline Kearney, Inclusion Lead Practitioner, share how Widgit Online became the WeST’s trusted solution, and how it has since transformed their approach to inclusive education.

How did your trust first hear about Widgit Online, and what initially prompted you to adopt it?

Many of our schools had previously used InPrint, so moving to Widgit Online was a natural progression. When we established a central inclusion team as part of the WeST School Improvement Team, we quickly identified Widgit as our preferred dual-coding tool. We then supported schools that had not yet adopted it to understand the benefits. Widgit Online was our top choice due to its extensive range of symbols, user-friendly format, adaptable templates, dual-language features, and ease of use.

What were the primary challenges you aimed to address with Widgit Online? How has it helped?

We wanted to use Widgit to support our adaptive teaching across the trust and ensure consistency for our pupils. Widgit helped us improve our universal offer for our pupils by ensuring all classrooms have some basics in place to reduce cognitive load and improve accessibility. These basics include visual timetables, dual coding, accessible displays, consistent labelling and communication tools.

We also wanted to ensure that our targeted offer for pupils who require further support is robust and impactful. Widgit has helped us create bespoke communication tools through the Core Board templates and flashcards, whilst giving us ideas through pre-made packs, such as the Autism Support Pack.

Example Symbols
Example Symbols

How did you implement Widgit Online across your trust?

Many schools already had individual subscriptions. We shared the benefits with the other schools so that they could understand why it was such an effective tool. The price reduction for MAT subscriptions was also an effective persuasion tool!

In what ways are schools within your trust using Widgit Online in the classroom and beyond?

We are proud to say that all schools in our trust now use Widgit, and this includes nursery settings all the way to post-16 settings.

We use Widgit in a variety of ways, but all with the similar intent to ensure teaching is accessible to pupils. Adaptive teaching scaffolds are just one way we use the software, ranging from sentence stems and key vocab boards to flashcards, ensuring Widgit is used across all our teaching slides.

We also use Widgit to support specific pupils in highly individualised ways. This may be through personalised timetables, social stories or communication tools.

The Trust Inclusion Team also use Widgit across all their training slides for adults to model effective use and to ensure the content is accessible to adult learners.

What kind of training or support did teachers need to become comfortable using Widgit Online?

Most teachers found Widgit Online intuitive and easy to use. However, to support those new to the platform, our Trust Inclusion Team developed narrated training slides. These provide step-by-step guidance on the different features of Widgit, offering practical examples of resources that can be created.

What are the biggest benefits of Widgit Online for your trust?

Ease of use: Any staff member can quickly create high-quality, accessible resources.

Consistency: A unified approach to accessibility ensures that all pupils receive the same level of support.

Bespoke learning support: It allows us to create bespoke learning scaffolds without needing to change the outcome or expectations we have for those pupils.

Enhanced communication support: Widgit aids communication for students who require additional assistance.

Would you recommend Widgit Online to other trusts or schools? What advice would you give for successful implementation?

Absolutely! Our advice to other schools and trusts would be:

  • Show teachers how simple and effective Widgit Online is by sharing resources that are working really well.
  • Use Widgit’s free training alongside your own.
  • Make use of the shared folders and the pre-made packs to reduce your workload.
  • Give central teams access to Widgit Online so that all are aware and are using it.
  • Integrate Widgit Symbols into staff training. We use Widgit Online to dual-code our training presentations for staff; this models the effective use of symbols while ensuring material remains accessible for every staff member to access.


By integrating Widgit Online across all schools, WeST has successfully enhanced its inclusive teaching approach. The trust’s commitment to accessibility and consistency has provided students with the support they need to thrive, making learning more engaging and effective for all.

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