to be saddened that nobody wants to apply for this teaching job?

[DisAstrophe]

Dc's school advertised for a Special Needs teacher but hasn't been able to recruit.

Dc attends a special needs "provision" (new word for unit!) at a mainstream primary. It is a great school - outstanding according to OFSTED. The Head is fantastic and the whole school has a great ethos of inclusion (whether the kid is G&T, has ESOL/SEN etc).

A fab school in a good residential area should surely attract loads of teachers?

Perhaps it is because there is lots of paperwork involved but I do feel sad that so few mainstream teachers want to specialise in SEN.

[DisAstrophe]

Orm tell your dh to be on the look out for the advert!

[CwtchesAndCuddles]

I'm a governor of a special school for severe learning difficulties - we always have lots of applications from teachers to fill vacancies in the primary age group but currently can't get cover for an older class with more challenging behaviour. A few supply teachers have been in, worked a day or two and gone saying don't call me again!

Everyone wants to work with the cute little kids, not so many with the challenging teens. It is a huge problem.

[teacherandguideleader]

I want to teach secondary SEN - particularly on the challenging behaviour side. However, when I applied for jobs I didn't get through to interview as I didn't have enough experience of working in that kind of environment. They weren't willing to train me up. Instead I got a job in mainstream supporting the most difficult pupils - I love it and much prefer spending my time with those children than the really bright ones.

[Peacocklady]

I'm sure people want to apply for it, I'm an SEN teacher and it's so much better than mainstream IME. It must be that they don't have the right experience or confidence, rather than them thinking they wouldn't like it. What kind of SEN is it?

[ReluctantMother]

I gave up working in SEN in Greater London in order to work in the mainstream up north as I just couldn't afford to live in the south east anymore once I had a child.

[CitrusyOne]

I'd LOVE a job like that. It's what I want my next move to be, but London's not an option.

[HollyBerryBush]

Odd because SEN i s a good route to promotion.

Is it part of an academy chain?

[DisAstrophe]

Not an academy. A mix of learning disabilities.

[DisAstrophe]

Not an academy. A mix of learning disabilities.

[Peacocklady]

By the way it's not necessary to have an extra qualification or loads of experience to get a job, in fact the governors and heads sometimes like someone with mainstream experience who is up to date with initiatives and assessment etc. A friend of mine got an SEN job and she had only done a couple of days supply in a special school and it wasn't for lack of applicants.

[YorkshireDeb]

peacocklady I have no doubt that your friend got the job - but unless her job is in a special school (I think they have different rules) the school bent some rules to give it to her. It IS necessary to have a masters qualification now unless you have several years experience. The masters qualification is hard (and apparently not that useful) & I know a lot of people who dropped out of it after finding teaching a class full time, attempting to get to grips with sen role & paperwork involved AND studying for a masters degree completely unmanageable. Yet another stupid, unworkable decision the government has pushed through which is clearly now leading to a shortage of sen teachers. X