SEN & lack of training for teachers / prospective teachers etc - Should they consider volunteering as a means to access support and training?

[LifeIsFreeStyle]

Hi, It really is my first ever AIBU, so please go easy on me. Not intending the thread as inflammatory - just a genuine question.

There has been lots of debate recently about attitudes and capabilities of schools / school staff towards SEN kids and statements. One aspect of this seems to be a frustration from both parents and teachers at the lack of teacher training available on SEN and disabilities, ASC in particular.

So my question is really, AIBU to suggest that a period of voluntary work with disability organisations might provide the insight and training that will help everyone in the long-run? And by everyone, yes, I do mean everyone including classmates and support staff.

Indeed, Blissx- but if we're talking about a model of best practice, sod the cost Seriously, it would be an investment in our future.

Besides which, a lot of money could be saved through some children being effectively educated in mainstream schools as opposed to being placed in SN schools at great cost.

Training should be improved if needs be, but should be part of INSET days and courses, not yet another voluntary activity to add to all the other things teachers must do in their own time.

"Instead, schools should contain experts who have studied a range of conditions in depth, are aware of research and strategies and fine-tune these in accordance with the needs the child presents with."

Tethersend - my last school had 5 teachers. A very significant number of children - more than 5 in every class I taught - were on the SEN register [Ofsted came in with a huge query on this - and then decided that we were in fact understating our SEN numbers...]. The conditions underlying the SEN ranged from genetic syndromes, through partial sightedness / hearing loss, foetal alcohol syndrome, Asperger's, PDA (pathalogical demand avoidance), other ASD, dyslexia, dyscalculia, dyspraxia, global developmental delay, ADHD, Speech and Language difficulties etc etc.

Faced with that mismatch between need and resource (bear in mind that between the 5 of us we also had to cover all the usual subject co-ordination, safeguarding etc etc responsibilities) do you really think that smaller primaries couyld ever function as you suggest.

What we did do was draw very heavily on LEA resources (now being disbanded due to academisation elsewhere in the county) for the expertise that we needed.

"Faced with that mismatch between need and resource (bear in mind that between the 5 of us we also had to cover all the usual subject co-ordination, safeguarding etc etc responsibilities) do you really think that smaller primaries couyld ever function as you suggest."

Yes, I do: the in-school specialist teacher would have studied for two years (as outlined in my utopian vision above) and had placements in a range of settings. They would, and this is key, have no other teaching responsibilities, save targeted support for children where appropriate. They would also be linked to a network of other SEN teachers from neighbouring schools who would have different specialisms who could be 'seconded' where necessary.

I think it would work very well.

Tethers,

I now work in a school where the SENCo has no class teacher responsibilities - and this works brillianbtly. The overhead is more easily borne in a school of 12 classes.

In a school with 4 or 5 classes (3 when I started there) the overhead of a non-teaching SEN expert is not sustainable.

Nice utopia, though.

With current funding, it would be impossible- but my argument is that money needs to be pumped in to schools in order to radically change the system we have. I don't think any amount of tweaking or working within current budgetary constraints will effect any meaningful change to the education of children with SEN at all.

Just thinking aloud here - my last school was small and had LOTS of SEN. The school down the road from it was equally small and had vanishingly small numbers, way below the national average.

In your utopia, would the dedicated SEN person at each school have exactly the same role and hours, even if one of them is working with 10x the number of children, to the extent that in the other school the SEN person would essontially spend years twiddling their thumbs waiting for a child with SEN to walk through the door?

Surely it is more efficient to provide this resource at LEA level (as was the case previously, and in our case extremely effecively) or at least cluster level?

"In your utopia, would the dedicated SEN person at each school have exactly the same role and hours, even if one of them is working with 10x the number of children, to the extent that in the other school the SEN person would essontially spend years twiddling their thumbs waiting for a child with SEN to walk through the door?"

In a word, yes. In practice, this would combat schools getting a reputation for being 'good with SEN', and would not allow them to be poor either.

The network of local schools would mean that the SEN teachers can be seconded if necessary.

I feel very strongly that they should be in school- I am an advisory teacher working for the LEA, and get very frustrated at not being able to be in schools more. I think it is important that the expertise lies within schools, not the LEA, and SEN are not viewed as something the school has to ask for help with.

I am also doubtful that the amount of training received by many LEA advisory teachers is sufficient.

I'm a pgce mentor and all the trainees in the last 2/3 years have had to have experience as a ta before consideration. Courses are very competitive these days

I think the rise of TeachFirst and the appointment of unqualified teachers in academies and free schools perhaps offsets that nationally though maddy.

Plus, experience as a TA is no substitute for in depth SEN teacher training.

Maybe an alternative would be to have an Educational Psychologist per number of children, maybe 1000, based full time in schools.

That would mean my school would have one in school full time (which would feel about right!). Or, a group of 5 schools of 200 would get a day a week each.

My 2 days a week of Ed Psych time are my most valuable resource.

Just thinking aloud here - my last school was small and had LOTS of SEN. The school down the road from it was equally small and had vanishingly small numbers, way below the national average.

Parents talk teacher. I'd guess your school had a good rep for SEN in that case - parents will work very hard to get their kids in to schools where they won't be the only SEN kid in the class.

Or school down the road could have been rubbish at picking SENs up...

Wilson,

High levels of SEN were partly a feature of the specific catchment on which the school drew - and while some parents with SEN children did seek us out, many parents worked very hard to get their children into the 'other' school because of the catchment / demographic and how it was perceived (VERY non-MN school!)

It was reversing as I left, to be fair - we had a very positive Ofsted, other school crashed into Special Measures [I have seldom seen such a damning report]. Those parents who had avoided us started transferring their children to us in droves - and it was about to reach the point where our 'traditional' demographic were forced out because very high adult illiteracy in the community (about 25% of parents in the school overall were functionally illiterate) meant that forms etc were not always returned on time. No problem when we were undersubscribed, but an issue once we became much more popular.

Inclusionist, that sounds a much more realistic model. In an area where average school size was sub-100, a day per fortnight of Ed Psych or similar SEN specialist resource 'feels' about right.

There is a brilliant online resource for teachers. It is SEN training and is very detailed. www.advanced-training.org.uk
It was created after the Lamb report. I did this training because I felt very deskilled in this area. (I have been a teacher for ten years).