How Can Purple Mash Support Schools' Inclusive Mainstream Fund Priorities?

What is the Inclusive Mainstream Fund (IMF)?

The Inclusive Mainstream Fund (IMF) will provide £400 million annually to mainstream schools across England to help strengthen inclusive practice, remove barriers to learning and ensure more pupils can thrive in their local mainstream setting. As part of the programme, schools must publish an inclusion strategy outlining their planned activity and expenditure by 31 December 2026.

As schools develop their inclusion strategies, they can review how existing resources and future investments support their priorities. This blog explores how Purple Mash's accessibility, adaptive teaching and early intervention features can help primary schools remove barriers to learning, strengthen inclusive practice and support their Inclusive Mainstream Fund objectives.

Purple Mash aligns particularly strongly with four of the Department for Education's key principles for inclusive practice:

• High-quality adaptive teaching and a curriculum designed for all learners
• Evidence-based support and early intervention
• Accessible and inclusive learning environments
• Enrichment that all pupils can access

Purple Mash provides high-quality adaptive teaching and a curriculum designed for all learners

Inclusive practice is most effective when support, adaptation and differentiation are embedded within everyday teaching. Purple Mash provides teachers with flexible tools and resources that can be adapted to meet a wide range of learning needs without lowering expectations.

• Set progressive challenges – Teachers can set different levels of the same task, supporting effective differentiation while ensuring all pupils can access learning while remaining appropriately challenged. Writing frames can also be easily adapted to meet the needs of individual learners.
• Teacher-created resources – Teachers can create and upload their own resources as 2Dos, alongside thousands of ready-made activities and resources that can be tailored to suit their class. Find, search and save them here.
• Templates to scaffold learning – There is a plethora of templates and examples to scaffold children’s learning, whether it be a computing lesson, science investigation, geography project or writing task.
• Step-by-step instructions – Many activities include clear instructions that pupils can follow independently, helping them build confidence and develop greater independence.

Evidence-based support and early intervention with Purple Mash

A key aim of the Inclusive Mainstream Fund is to identify and address barriers to learning before they become more significant challenges. Purple Mash provides tools and professional development opportunities that staff can use to review pupils' understanding and respond to emerging needs. These resources support early responses by helping schools use insights to plan timely support.

• Assessment tools – Teachers can review completed work and monitor understanding through a range of activities. For example, automatically marked quizzes feed into the Data Dashboard.
• SEND-focused CPD – Purple Mash provides professional development opportunities, including SEND webinars and videos such as Adapting Writing Activities for Pupils with SEND, helping staff build confidence in adapting teaching, removing barriers to learning and supporting a wide range of learning needs through the effective use of technology
• Earlier intervention – Insights gained through everyday classroom activities can help schools identify gaps in understanding and provide timely support.

Purple Mash's Evidence and Impact Report found that 98% of surveyed teachers and leaders said the platform effectively scaffolds pupils towards confident use of technology.

“It definitely supports SEN and lower ability children because it allows us to add support in there such as voice notes - they can access work that wasn’t possible before.”

Jen McCulloch, Computing Teacher, New Brighton Primary School.

Purple Mash is an accessible and inclusive learning environment

Purple Mash has been designed specifically for primary-aged children, making it easy to navigate and use independently. A range of accessibility and multi-sensory features help remove barriers to learning and support pupils with additional needs.

Visual Adaptations

• Visual design – Large icons and consistent toolbars help children navigate the platform with confidence.
• Backgrounds – Background colours can be adjusted to improve readability and reduce visual stress.
• Zoom functionality – Certain apps allow text and images to be enlarged when needed.
• Alternative fonts – Writing tools include several font options, including the dyslexia-friendly Aravis font.

Audio Adaptations

• Voice notes – Teachers can add voice notes to 2Dos, quizzes and other tools. These can provide additional instructions, feedback and support, including extra guidance and word banks.
• Audiobooks and digital reading resources – The Purple Mash Library includes ebooks and audiobooks, providing alternative ways for pupils to access stories and information and supporting those with additional needs that make independent reading more challenging.

Multi-Sensory Learning

Purple Mash integrates images, videos and audio throughout the platform, enabling pupils to access information in different ways and demonstrate understanding using methods that work best for them.

Using Purple Mash for enrichment that all pupils can access

An inclusive curriculum should provide opportunities for every pupil to participate and succeed. Purple Mash supports this through a range of creative and collaborative activities.

• Collaborative learning – Pupils can work together on projects, share ideas and receive feedback in a safe online environment.
• Multiple ways to demonstrate learning – Writing, audio, animation, coding and multimedia projects allow pupils to showcase understanding in different ways.
• Building communication and confidence – Collaborative activities help develop teamwork, communication skills and confidence while fostering a sense of belonging.
• Learning beyond the classroom – With home access included, pupils can revisit learning, practise skills and work at their own pace.

For more inspiration, explore our blog, Enrichment Benchmarks: How Purple Mash Can Help Schools Build a Broader, Brighter Offer.

By supporting adaptive teaching, accessibility, early intervention and staff development, Purple Mash can help schools strengthen their inclusive offer and support the aims of the Inclusive Mainstream Fund.