The clubs lead a mix of activities that bring this mission to life. Students meet regularly to explore topics around inclusion and challenge the negative stereotypes that often isolate children with disabilities and other special educational needs. They take their message beyond the school too, organising awareness campaigns that reach their families and communities. 

Through poems, sketches, dances, and songs, students express what inclusion means to them, often competing in friendly contests that celebrate talent and give rewards to top performers. The clubs also provide practical support – club members actively assist their classmates with disabilities, whether by helping with mobility or offering other forms of day‑to‑day support. 

These clubs are more than extracurricular groups. They are driving change in children’s attitudes and perceptions around disability, nurturing a generation that sees diversity as strength and inclusion as a shared responsibility. Children with disabilities or other special educational needs feel a sense of belonging at school, and their families are more encouraged to send them to school with the knowledge that their child will be welcomed and supported.

RISE will also encourage schools to establish the clubs in cluster schools (the schools surrounding model schools), and the plan is for the clubs to continue beyond RISE – leaving a legacy where inclusion is woven into the fabric of every school community.

The RISE project is funded by the Scottish Government, in collaboration with Link Education, School to School Zambia and Chance for Childhood.