What are a SENCo’s biggest challenges?
One current and one former SENCo describe what it is about the role that’s tested them the most…
Beth Cubberley, SENCo and deputy headteacher at Grove Wood Primary School
I love being an advocate for children with SEN. I love seeing how children can progress with the right strategies in place and how, given the right opportunities, they can thrive. It’s during those moments when I can give a sticker to a pupil for trying so hard that I remember why I do what I do.
However, the biggest challenge I face as a SENCo is the relentless paperwork to ensure that those things can happen. With almost 30 EHCPs in my school, I can mostly be found either chained to my desk drowning under said paperwork, or beneath it trying to avoid writing another One Plan!
I never thought all my training would lead me to this – it’s by far the biggest frustration, and one I can’t see changing unless the government decides to reassess its SEND agenda. Despite working in a large school, there are sometimes days when I don’t actually see a child.
However, there are many Facebook groups, inspirational people on Twitter and members of the DfE SENCo forum that make things more bearable by helping me realise we’re all struggling in the same way.
When things seem impossible, I have to remind myself that the children – the reason I became a SENCo – are far more important than filling in forms. I remember the child that finally learnt to add their number bonds to 10.
The ASD child who made a friend. And all the other children who need the support that we as SENCos can proudly offer them.
Pearl Barnes, SEND consultant, specialist assessor and executive director of SENDISS
I think it’s fair to say the lack of time is probably the most challenging aspect of the SENCo role. When working as a SENCo I’d go from one activity to the next with barely any time to stop and take a breath.
A typical day might start with a breakfast meeting, before I had to rush back to class and organise my first lesson. Break would involve supporting and playing with pupils before my next meeting with a liaison worker or the educational psychologist.
Lunchtime would involve catching up with essential paperwork or phoning an external professional, before organising the handwriting club or social skills group. After school I’d meet with my LSAs and provide training and drop-in sessions for teachers.
My work didn’t stop at home. There were IEPs to review, intervention groups to plan, data to analyse and support materials to develop. I wanted to provide staff with additional information so they could support the children as holistically as possible.
I also wanted to provide advice for parents who often struggled with supporting their children at home.
Despite the constant time pressures, I learnt to be persistent and relentless in pursuing provision for children with SEND. I’d be dogged in my determination to get the right support and specialist help for the children, which invariably involved nagging!
The result, however, was that I managed to forge close links with external professionals, which translated into them offering more time and support than they would have done otherwise.
The pace of change, paperwork and endless meetings invariably suck time away from the grass roots of the role, which is essentially the children. I’d always aim to make time for them and try to create an environment of calm.
To help ensure they felt valued as individuals, I developed the idea of a pottery club where there was no pressure – just time to talk, have fun and relax. Which is possibly the best advice for all of us!
