Moving from mainstream to sen sebd school?

[Haggisfish]

Thinking about moving to a special school, specialising in boys with social and emotional troubles near bromsgrove. I think it could be hugely rewarding and an utterly sick of the pointless data focus and jumping through hoops in the mainstream. Anyone made the move and can say whether it has been a good move or not? Thanks.

I made a similar move to SEN several years ago. Very scary but the best move I made. Unfortunately also made the move back to mainstream and have lived to regret it. It's not for everyone. I found it emotionally draining but very rewarding and would definitely go back.

I'm back in special after a shortish sojourn back into mainstream.

I love teaching in special schools, but the thinds I still rant and rave and argue about are data, targets and jumping through hoops.

The positives definitively outweigh these negatives, but don't make the move for that reason alone.

Have you got an interview? Good luck.

I work in a PRU and love it. There's way more flexibility than in MS. It's stressful and we get v little respect from our ms schools (maybe different elsewhere) but when it goes right it's brilliant.
bit busy at the mo but will pop back later on and give fuller answer if that's helpful.

Interesting replies-thank you! I want to work somewhere that regards these mental health issues as important and that has strategies in place to help the students, if that makes sense? In ms I feel often these students are regarded as an irritation and no real strategies are developed or implemented. I love building bonds with kids and helping them to be the best version of themselves, and teaching my subject is a bit secondary to that in my head. In some ways, iykwim!

I do worry though that I may struggle with students who are not going to succeed in the way I'm used to, with gcses and jobs etc.

Sounds like good reasons. You need to look carefully at the schools or PRUs though - as always the ethos of some is very different to others and you still may find you can't teach in the way you want. One PRU I applied for had very different ideas about challenging behaviour to me - we wouldn't have been a good match!

My feeling is that, as you say, all these children exist in ms schools. In a pru environment there can be more time for them and you often have greater flexibility to accommodate their needs. For example, I teach a 1:1 once a week that I was having trouble motivating him for so I decided to take him out and do the session in the caf round the corner with a cup of tea. It worked and he made progress.
As other posters have said, you don't escape the relentless push for data/targets etc. In our case though as a smaller unit, there's the time and opportunity to make those targets properly thought through and personal and useful. I didn't have as much time for that in ms.
The teaching of core subjects in a pru has to be 'on a par with' that delivered in ms but does not have to follow it to the letter. The main remit is engagement. So I could wheel out my better older schemes of work and with a bit of tweaking adapt them to fit the environment.
Differentiation is also to the max. I teach one class with a child who could take and pass a GCSE easily alongside a child who's still learning to read. We are a unit with mixed year groups too. Many don't do that.

Also to echo those pps-units differ hugely. The ethos and atmosphere are wildly different between many. Where I work I asked to come for an informal visit before I made an application.

All the best.

If you are the right sort of person for SEMH/ challenging behaviour, and you find a place that is right for you, you will LOVE it.

I absolutely adore my job, and I don't reckon many teachers can say that anymore.

Thanks everyone, really helpful comments. I will ask for informal visit if I get an interview.

I got an interview and am going for an informal visit! Anythjng you think I should ask about that I might not know, iyswim?!