career in SEN

[MonsterasRock]

Hi, reposting from the staffroom for more traffic

I want to reboot my teaching career. I haven't worked FT in schools since 2006. Since COVID I've been running my own business (not education related). My own children are now in secondary so I want to use my qualifications to start a late life career. I'm thinking maybe the SEN area would work for me.

What appeals is working in small groups. I feel like I want to do something rewarding for others and put my qualifications to good use. I get the impression there are jobs locally in this sector. As I've no recent teaching experience and no SEN training or experience at all, I thought about trying supply agencies in the first instance. I've had a reply from a local agency and they don't seem too bothered about the lack of references.

Any careers advice, opinions, anything really? Would applying for TA roles be a good way in? I'll find any input from more experienced people all very helpful.

Hoping to make 2025 the year I get out of the home and get a salary!

SEN in schools has changed massively since 2006, in terms of both the types of SEN we are catering for and the strategies we are expected to use/know about.

I would look at any free courses you can access, especially in relation to autism.

Volunteering in a school that has an alternative provision would also be useful.

Why not retrain in something like Speech and Language Therapy or ED Psych, or training into being a SEND diagnostician

If you have absolutely no proper experience with SEN to make it a real career focus seems a bit daft. If I were you I'd do the following:

• find my local SEND related youth groups and ask to volunteer.
• Learn BSL and Makaton
• At the very least do some Understanding Autism courses which are often run by councils or there is a free version on the OU Free to Learn platform.
• Learn about specific conditions

Do you want to teach in special ed? The classes are smaller (mine is 8) and you obviously work with small groups- I am usually 1:1 while another child works on something independently next to me.

Many special school are crying out for staff as many people find it isn’t for them. It is physically demanding, the chances of being hurt by a child can be much higher than in mainstream (depending on the area of SEN you go into). I joined sensible SENCO and worked my way through the videos included in the membership. I learned about the engagement model, attention autism and other things which helped at interview.

Im now working in SLD which I love. Very different, I’ve learned so much!

I work in FE. My employer is ALWAYS looking for good quality learning support assistants (LSA) for students with SEN, both in mainstream and in supported learning. If LSAs have the skills or qualifications this is also a route into teaching. Maybe try your local college directly.

Wow so many interesting ideas. Thank you one and all. This route was inspired initially by seeing a wonderful alternative provision school locally and thought that it could be my thing. I have already contacted the school with my CV but a good idea to follow up with an offer to volunteer. I shall look for special schools in the area and check out what they are looking for. I have some personal experience in the family of ASD and had a few sen workshops as part of my ITT so I know basic things. I know enough to know I need lots more training. Ed psych has called to me in the past (I'm passionate about good mental health) but I understand there are years of training which at my age (48) feels too long. I really want a salary and pension.

I think I'd find a job as a TA in a SS or AP to check it's for you, then if it works out and feels good, after a term or so start applying for teaching positions.

There is a shortage of TAs in the sector so it shouldn't be difficult to find a job.

Just 'Working with groups' all the time isn't something that really happens any more in my mainstream primary. We have very few class TAs and the ones we do have are basically cover teachers-paid an extra pound an hour to teach a class when there's teacher absence. They might take the odd group/intervention but their role is predominantly (cheap) supply.

Otherwise we have LSAs who work solely 1:1 with very high need children (mostly non-verbal, in nappies, needing hoisting or PEG feeding)-quite a 'care' type role.

These are usually very poorly paid jobs unfortunately-not much more than minimum wage.

SEN schools near us are always advertising for teachers and TAs, which might be worth exploring (though it does appear that they don't seem to retain staff well!).

TAs are not well paid.

Mostly the job is either 1:1 support or small groups/covering whole classes.

There are a lot if different types of SEN out there.

In secondary there are small groups to run but this certainly used to be the case that they were run by the more experienced TAs.

I think the best way to get decent pay would be to specialise. I would look at maybe getting a qualification in dyslexia teaching or look at sign language and working perhaps with children who have a hearing impairment.

I think the OP is talking about working in a special school or alternative provision school, not mainstream SEN support.

You won’t get much of a salary or pension as an LSA. I’d aim for a profession such as EP, SaLT or OT. A few years of extra training will be worth it in the end.

I'd start by being a TA in a special school. You'll get good training (hopefully - ours did) and learn Makaton along the way (much easier to learn if you're using it every day). You'll get a feel for what teaching in the sector is all about, and for the needs of the children and how to manage behaviour.

Some of our TAs went on to train to teach (at least you won't need to get over that hurdle) and then either worked at our school, at other special schools, or in mainstream, but offering that specialism.

Ah right, can you clarify, @MonsterasRock ?

'Working with groups' in a specialist provision is going to be working as a class teacher.

I have a friend who left mainstream and went into special and said the smaller class size was great, but coordinating the extra adults (I think she had 5 adults in the classroom at all times) was the most tricky bit!

SEN could mean 6 year old Raheem Sterling - kicked out of mainstream but academically able and extraordinarily talented at football. Or selective mutism, or very high physical needs, or dyslexia, or behavioural challenges stemming from FASD, or from abuse, or from ADHD. An autistic child might run rings round the rest of the class at maths and english but hate art, or might draw beautifully but gind spelling tests awful. Etc...

Imagine yourself in a SEN role that you enjoy and are good at. What does it look like? Helping kids with EBSA who can't access school but are capable of getting good A-Levels? Helping minimally verbal kids communicate better?

I'm very appreciative of all your replies. I had initially thought to teach in AP. The local one is 14-18 and students are in 121 or 122 settings. I then thought maybe mainstream but the local secondary has just sacked lots of their TAs. But yes, mainstream with an eye to advance to sendco if that suited. I am not drawn to primary. However, I haven't really settled on any plan as at the moment all options are theoretical. I need to test myself which is why I'm hoping the supply agency will help, both with experience and references. I will however speak with the local ap school for volunteering opportunities

Would applying for TA roles be a good way in? I'll find any input from more experienced people all very helpful

I am not a proffesional, but... At my childrens school there are several TA's who work with the SEN children. One woman in particular worked with my DS 2 years ago and is working with my DD now ( she works in different classes each year ) She is absolutely fantastic, I'm not sure if she has qualifications in SEN or not, I have never asked but she is so understanding and patient,

Aw I actually really like her, she is lovely to my daughter, she bought her a book with mushrooms on the front ( DD's current special interest ) and every single day she comes and updates me on how DD's day has been. My DD can be really funny about who she opens up to but shes really taken to this teacher

Good questions. I'll dwell on them. My initial reaction is that I'm drawn to anxious students or those with selective mutism/ASD. I can imagine finding great satisfaction in tapping into their special things, helping make their teen years go well, perhaps enabling them to achieve in a way MS education couldn't, if that doesn't sound too lofty.
My skills are patience, adaptiveness, clarity/boundaries and creative jumps.

I'll have a deep dive into these. Many thanks for the idea. I hadn't considered OT but could be a good fit as I have a biology background (not health)

When I was working as a TA at Secondary I took home less than £1000 a month.

I was attached to the subject area my degree was in but you could be attached to individual children. If you are aiming for older age groups are you comfortable doing intimate care for older teens male and female as that is likely to be expected if the child needs it?

I didn't particularly enjoy teaching and much preferred being a TA but couldn't afford it long term so moved to a different industry. What I really would have loved and would have been brilliant at is a pastoral role but those roles don't make more than £22k a year and again I couldn't afford it.

As a teacher and battle-weary SEN parent, I'd encourage you to immerse yourself in current SEN literature, learn about what is happening politically in the SEN debate and become familiar with the many online spaces which advocate for inclusivity in education. My heart always sinks a bit when I'm dealing with someone connected with DC's education or care, who makes really basic blunders which reveal unnecessary ignorance and lack of awareness. This is key to achieving good outcomes for children and families whose entire lives are often impacted by a young person's difficulties with accessing education.

Think about why you are not drawn to primary education. Many older learners with SEN will still be working to primary curriculum objectives, and it'll be critical that your pedagogy is really solid at this level in order for you to be able to meet the needs of such learners. If you're just not into working with primary aged children, that's one thing, but you really need to be a competent practitioner able to deliver early building blocks of learning.

As of September 2024, the new NPQ Senco is required for anyone wanting to pursue a career as Senco, superceding the old NASENCO qualification.

I don't wish to be a negative nellie, but I'd say SENCO I'd rarely a career as such, more a position that people fall into for a few years before doing something else. It's a pretty thankless task and a lot of it is admin. Certainly many primaries have a high turn over of SENCOs because the role is so demanding.

My initial reaction is that I'm drawn to anxious students or those with selective mutism/ASD.

I'm not sure you'll find too many jobs just working with groups of pupils like that. They are often in mainstream. If you want to teach/LSA in special-they will be very high need pupils.

I think if you last taught in school in 2006, you will see a real difference in the significance of need in the pupils now.

I would strongly recommend either volunteering, or applying for a TA role in a Special school near you and getting a feel for if it is for you. I don't think thinking maybe the SEN area would work for me is quite enough, without actually having any experience of working with the children currently in specialist provision. They cohort of children in Special schools has changed A LOT in the last 20 years, and (if I've read it right) you didn't work in a special school then.

It might just be your writing style, but What appeals is working in small groups. I feel like I want to do something rewarding for others and put my qualifications to good use. I get the impression there are jobs locally in this sector. As I've no recent teaching experience and no SEN training or experience at all sounds very naïve.

AP is extremely challenging teaching.

There are special schools that specialise in students with autism. Non mainstream schools usually specialise - often either physical disabilities/learning difficulties, autism, or ebsd (emotional social and behavioural difficulties).

Which type is the special school near you?

You could also look into Education Officer roles at Museums and Nature Reserves