Moving to Special School

[PurpleRosess]

I've been just about coping in mainstream for nearly 2 years now , FT with my own DC and it's too much. School are not keen on PT ers however have seen a vacancy advertised at a specialist school for chn with PMLD for 3 days p/week. Other than the experience of SEN chn in mainstream who I feel I let down badly as it's so hard differentiating for all their needs in a class of 32 chn with no regular TA support I dont have any specific SEN experience. Has anyone made the leap and are glad they did so? TIA.

I think you need to want to move into Special because that is the job you want to do- not just because it is the only part time job available.

That said, IME very few people in Special(ist) Education would move back to mainstream even if you doubled their pay.

Lots of special school teachers stated in mainstream and made the leap but you have to really want to do it. I agree with what @reefedsail says. I work in special and have for nearly twenty years and I love my job. However it was a near vertical learning curve in my first couple of terms and I will be forever grateful to the teachers and TAs who generously shared their skills with me. Before special I taught mainly early years for nine years in mainstream and always had a strong interest in SEN and that helped me a lot.
PMLD is very, very different; a specialist area even within a special school, lots of extra skills to be learned. And I'm sure you're not doing it for this reason but the hours required in special schools are just as long as for mainstream. I worked three days a week in my last school as my children were younger and on my two days off I would usually be prepping for a day and a half. And 3/5 salary meant we had to really watch our spending as a family.

When I left my last mainstream school the Ed Psych I'd worked with there said "either you'll love it and you'll never come back to mainstream or you'll be back within a year" and I think that's pretty true.
You'll never know unless you try OP....

Thank you both. Lots to think about. I agree I need to check I'm doing it for the right reasons but the way I'm feeling at the moment its either give this a go or go back to the job I was doing pre teaching as I feel the situation in mainstream at the moment just isnt sustainable. I'm not saying I want an easy ride at all , I'm a hard worker & give my job 100% but I have lost the love for it and the pressure of ensuring all the chn in my class achieve ridiculous standards set with zero support is breaking me

Do it, OP. Why not give it a try? Worst case is you don't like it. For what it's worth, I love working in a special school and could never go back to mainstream.

Thank you why, been drafting an application today so can only see how it goes. If anyone has any more insights/ comparisons of what it's like vs mainstream I'd love to get some insight

I have sent you a PM.

I think the Ed psych got it spot on with 'either you'll never leave or you'll be back within a year'

I work with pmld and sld and it's a different world to mainstream -the pace in the classroom can feel very slow to some people and the pupils need lots of repetition in order to be able to predict routines and illicit responses. Steps of progress can be tiny and whole lesson plans can be abandoned if a child is medically unwell or needs personal care. You need to be able to adapt very quickly and also recognise that progress can be incredibly spikey.

The teachers that I have worked with that have found it hardest to adapt have been the ones who have felt that SEN practice was an extension of early years -it's really not. Or those that have felt work load will be less. This often isn't the case -workload is different but not less. Observation is often video based so we spend a lot of time reviewing videos, editing them and storing them with annotations so they can be found. Each child is planned for individually. You have to liaise with multiple professionals and class teachers take a huge role with EHCP process. You also manage a team within the classroom -in my class of 8 pupils I have 6 support staff all with different skills and experience. I am responsible for their target setting and annual reviews.

I adore my job and couldn't pay me enough to go back to mainstream but SEN has always been my passion and it was a conscious decision to focus my development in that direction.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do

Thsnk you world. I must admit I've been googling and the more I learn about it the more I think I'd like to give it a shot. I'm slightly worried about some of the physical care aspects as I have mo medical training at all and managing the TAs to a certain extent as I have only been in teaching for a couple of years but I love the idea of overseeing the children's development as a whole, meeting with other professionals and learning more about the strategies & therapies we could use.

I made the jump but I really wanted to do it and the right job popped up just at the right time. I've not done pmld though. Sen has its own challenges and frustrations; when I was full time I certainly worked harder than when in mainstream, but I wouldn't go back.

I have taught primary mainstream for 21 years and have a new job from September in an SEMH special primary. I was feeling like I needed a change, have always loved dealing with children with SEMH difficulties and there was the job advert! I applied and cannot wait to get started. As a pp said I'll either love it or hate it! I was convinced for definite when I looked round prior to applying and could see myself working there for sure. Good luck!