Private Sector

[Matildasmum13]

What are the benefits/ drawbacks of moving into the private sector as SENCO?

Benefits:
Lighter/ simpler workload in terms of having fewer children with severe learning needs/ behaviour issues

Longer holidays

SENCO role often part-time

Drawbacks:
Higher number of children with dyslexia

Parents more reluctant to accept their child has additional needs (other than dyslexia)

Parents who accept that their children have additional needs sometimes expect you to be able to 'cure' them. They place too much importance on results and need constant reassurance that, yes, their child could go to a top university even with dyslexia, dyspraxia, etc

Parents who accept their children as having additional needs expect far more support than they would receive if they were in the state sector but this is difficult as...
Not as many TAs/ LSAs, and smaller budget for resources/ support

SMT not keen on having children ('officially') assessed

SMT not keen on you informing parents of their children's assessment results

Occasionally a lack of understanding on the part of SMT about how additional needs may affect child's ability to produce work to a particular standard

Longer school day

SENCO role often part-time

..from (bitter) experience

Is this in Secondary?

From the things my DH tells me about his 13-18 Public school, issues I can see for his SENCo (Head of Learning Support):

1. She's not on SLT- she needs to be.
2. They only do intervention through withdrawal- there is no additional support in class and barely any differentiation. HoLS can't address this because of point 1.
3. HoLS is isolated because of points 1 and 2
4. Loads of time spent on boring access arrangements.
5. Being seen as second class citizens.
6. Demanding parents, some of whom expect 60mins withdrawal a week to solve a multitude of sins.

Benefits include:
Lack of accountability
Long holidays
Free lunch

I second the no differentiation aspect.
There is little/ no expectation for teachers to differentiate their planning and teaching. SMT regard all pupils to be of high ability. As do many teachers. Some teachers simply do not know how to differentiate. Worksheet-based lessons were the norm in the private schools I've worked in - no understanding of different learning styles.

The private sector, in my experience, is rarely better than state with regards to education. I have found state school teachers to be far more open to inclusion and far more able to meet the needs of all learners. You will find this utterly frustrating and feel unable to make a difference for those who really need it. I wish I could have told parents to save their money and send their kids to the local state school down the road. Even the 'worst' state school in the borough would have coped with a child with SEN better than the three £17K per year private schools I worked in. Couldn't wait to leave...

I've worked in many state schools in my time and three private schools.

Really interesting insights so thank you. This private school is nursery to 13.

Will I loose my teachers pension?

DH has a teachers' pension and has only ever worked in Independent, so not necessarily.

lose

Hi I can't comment as a senco specifically but currently work in private having come from state.

Pros
Smaller groups/classes
Longer holidays
Sen tends to be more the specific learning difficult type then anything Behavioural or Emotional/Social.
More autonomy

Cons
Cpd seems to be non existent
A huge amount of parents want their dc to be diagnosed with an SEN so they get special arrangements for exams.
Cpd seems to be

Oh and in regards to teachers pension depends on the school. I've lost mine but the pension is pretty good.

So good questions to ask/things to spot when I look round this week?

Is it a boarding prep? If so gauge the extra-curricular requirements as they could be pretty huge.

Saturdays
Will you be required to coach a sport/ how much.
Clubs- how many/ when.
Do you/ how often do you have to do lates (day finishes at 7.30pm at DS's prep, but I don't know how often staff do duty)
CPD- would they require you to do L7 SpLD and if so would they pay for it (unless you already have it)

Staff discount- if you have DC that age.

Thank you and forgive my ignorance but what is spLD?

Specific learning difficulty?

I have a Masters in the National award for SEN co-ordination but not any spLDs?

A lot of the Independent SEN jobs I have seen advertised have stipulated the SpLD L7 as this enables you to assess for dyslexia.

I'm pretty surprised that you are a SENCo but you haven't come across SpLD. Are you in the UK? SpLDs (dyslexia/ dyscalculia/ dyspraxia etc) are the main things you will be dealing with in a prep.

Hi Matilda
Weirdly I have just signed in to ask almost the same question- should I leave my academy school to go to a private school - further away from home and less money?
Its so hard to make a choice... sorry I'm no help but you are not alone!!

... I've spent all pm writing a cv and letter and done no planning for tomorrow ;-)

Op - as a child of a dyslexic child in a private school, I am concerned that you don't know what spld is and are considering applying for a SENCO role. Nearly all your role would be focused on Spld ?

typing too fast - should say - as the parent of a dyslexic child...

Roses,
Rest assured that I am very familiar with dyslexia, dyspraxia, dysgraphia etc and have taught children using best practice resources and attended training from the Helen Arkell Centre. I am also ELKLAN trained in speech and language. But my current specialism is ASD, as that, along with EBD is the main SEN group at my school currently. I wasn't however aware of the SpLD qualification.