SENCOs...

[RuleWithAWoodenFoot]

... do you feel that you're able to do your job properly? Are the SEND children in your school getting what they are legally entitled to? Are they getting what they need?

What's your biggest issue?

I'm trying to feel better about the role, but at the moment I really can't see any positivity in it at all. I'm just banging my head against walls most of the time.

Not a SENCO but as a teacher I can relate as almost every class has SEN children who need so much support and aren’t getting it.
I feel like if they were all in the same class, you could at least have a TA/1:1.

I’ve started wondering if I should work in a special school as trying to teach mainstream classes with children who are so dysregulated and not getting the education they deserve whilst disrupting the rest of the class’ education is should destroying!

I don't think that specialist provision is properly resourced either at the moment, but at least the staff are more on board with SEN as a concept. It feels that with all the research pointing towards fewer support staff and less intervention, that schools (and trusts) are all about the quality first teaching (using lots of the 'teach like a champion' stuff), and not really considering the needs of some SEN children within their planning or delivery of lessons. While this might work for the majority of children (whether you agree with this or not), it doesn't work for lots of SEN children. If there is no room for deviation from 'plans', then you're asking for further dysregulation.

Are they getting what they need? No of course they're not. The whole system is bonkers though - how can a child still on CVC words possibly make progress when the rest of the class are practising using the past perfect tense or whatever? It's no wonder the gap widens because those who need the most input get the least because class teachers cannot split themselves in half and 10 mins of interventions here and there will never cut it. As a SENCO I just do my best to provide what we can with the resources we have and get the most needy as much funding as I can.

Not meeting children's needs at all. All TA support is directed to statutory needs in EHCPs and even then many children are not getting Section F met in full.

I collect so many parental complaints and see so many posts about it on Facebook. And they are justified!

I work long hours and go home to my own child with SEN. Who, guess what, is not getting her needs met. But I don't go into their school because I know that they are facing the same issues.

I am really feeling so exhausted. I think fundermentally the structure of education needs to change. Much of the reforms that Gove brought in made the curriculum even less accessible to children with diverse needs. Things have definitely got worse again since covid.

I am in a school where SLT genuinely want to be inclusive, which is someting at least, unfortunately that view isn't shared by all of our staff, I had a conversation with the head of MFL yesterday where she essentially said there was no point teaching a particular child, she is not going to make any efforts to improve this child's access to her lessons, I have a member of SLT who won't let my TAs speak at all in her lessons and a whole department where the behaviour is so poor one of my TAs wants to remove a group and teach them seperately. So no, needs not being met. I do have a boy with DS in year 10 who is genuinely thriving. I do have some very lovely and supportive parents. I also have one who has sends me several emails a day, has shouted at me outside school and makes a formal complaint at least once a half term - I am tempted to resign to get away from her, but I guess there may well be another like her whereever I go.

I lost my admin in July, I am understaffed and struggling to recruit LSAs, I have some amazing members of my team but I feel I'm letting them down too as it's so difficult at the moment. On some days I have 4 LSAs between 30 kids with EHCPs.

A friend has just moved to Canada, in the UK her child was in a special school and not doing great, now he is in mainstream and thriving. They don't have GCSEs or the enormous curriculum content we have. Given the enormous cost of the current SEN system I don't understand why reforming the curriculum to make it more inclusive is not a more urgent government priority.