Negotiating ups salary senco

[Rgsc]

I’ve been offered a position as SENCo, some background. I went through threshold in 2011, left UK on ups1 and went to work in an international school for approx 8 years (2ic) came back and volunteered in an EHCP consultancy and set up my own EYFS provision (outstanding). Would this be enough evidence to negotiate a starting salary for UPS2? I am yet to do my NASENCO training.

I think so. You have the experience and I would showcase it with confidence. It's their loss

Thanks for your reply

Best of luck! it's hard out there in schools now and the demands and responsibilities placed on a SENCO are really high. We all need to fight in education and get what we want ! Especially because when OFSTED come in they want to know all about SEND provision. A huge responsibility and very rewarding but we cannot be underpaid

Do you mean USP2 in addition to a TLR for the Senco role? It seems quite unfair to just pay someone UPS2 for doing a role with such huge responsibility as SENCO. I know the SENCO in our school is on a TLR1c.

I will ask about the tlr as it’s not been mentioned. I’ve been on ups1 since 2011 and wondering if my experiences since would be accepted for request to ups 2

I know at my school, for a candidate to start a role at a higher UPS point than they were on, our Headteacher asks for confirmation from the old school that they would have been considered to move up the payscale before agreeing. But then I can see that might be more difficult if you are coming from an international school. Perhaps your current HT could confirm that you contribute to the school in line with the expectations for UPS2?

I would definitely confirm if there's a TLR for the role however, as it seems very unfair to expect someone to carry out the role of SENCO, which is not an easy role, without extra money for it.

Make sure you get the TLR confirmed. You can't be expected to take on SENCO without a TLR. Some SENCOs are paid on the leadership spine!

Make sure you are familiar with the forthcoming changes, too. NASENCO is being phased out and replaced with a new NPQ for SENCOs. You might want to consider enrolling on the latter.

What are your thoughts on the new nasenco equivalent?

There's no information available at present. They haven't yet awarded the contracts to the lead providers although I expect it will include the usual suspects - Ambition, EDT, Teach First etc. All I can say is that I have had good experiences with the other reformed NPQs and I imagine the NPQ for SENCOs will follow a similar format. If you're starting in January and want to get the qualification done as quickly as possible then NASENCO might suit you better but if you anticipate taking a bit longer then you don't want to find yourself on a lame duck course where resources are being diverted away to the new qualification. NASENCO enrolment will stay open until the end of this academic year. If you're starting in the role this year you will either need to enrol on NASENCO and start before September '24 or enrol on an NPQ that starts by Spring '25.