I’ve had the pleasure of meeting thousands of SENDCOs; some I know well, others I’ve met fleetingly. My encounters suggest there are a number of ways to approach this role.
The Rescuer
Definition: Looking to solve everyone’s problems for them. Always there whenever there’s a crisis.
Pros: When they’re really needed, The Rescuer won’t shy away – they roll up their sleeves and do what’s required. When there’s a crisis, they’re exactly what you need.
Cons: The rescuer is in danger of taking people’s problems from them, rather than supporting them to deal with them better for themselves. In addition, constantly being in crisis mode can make it harder to address longer-term, strategic priorities.
The Administrator
Definition: Concerned with systems, processes and paperwork that keep things ticking over.
Pros: When it comes to statutory compliance and multi-agency working, The Administrator gets things done, meets deadlines and leaves no email unanswered.
Cons: Excellent administrative work can limit the time a SENDCO spends around school, working with colleagues, pupils and families. How many SENDCOs manage to keep up with paperwork, have zero unread emails and directly influence teaching and learning?
The Friend
Definition: Similar to The Rescuer, this SENDCO is highly visible and is a friendly ear to colleagues, families and pupils. Ever-ready to listen, they’re often seen nodding supportively to whoever might need to offload.
Pros: If parents are to feel they can trust a school, and colleagues are to feel the support of their SENDCO, a listening ear is essential. SENDCOs who make the time to engage generously with stakeholders surely get further than those who don’t.
Cons: If one core aspect of the SENDCO role is to ensure excellent practice takes place across a school for pupils with SEND, being The Friend may not make it easy to hold colleagues to account for their work.
The Strategist
Definition: This SENDCO recognises the importance of setting a long-term goal and sets the strategic direction to help their school achieve it.
Pros: It can be hard to work with focus when the role is so multi-faceted and fast-paced, but The Strategist stays true to the things that might just matter most in the long-term. Where the role can be so complex, a clear vision for the future can be an invaluable compass to the school’s work.
Cons: Where things are multi-faceted and fast-paced, schools need someone who can react to the ‘now’, sometimes irrespective of the longer-term vision.
The Advocate
Definition: This SENDCO always fights a pupil’s corner, helping to champion positivity around pupils with SEND.
Pros: There’s nothing like having someone sticking up for you. Reminding colleagues that pupils with SEND thriving in school is not only essential, but it’s also possible, can take the school a long way.
Cons: Colleagues will need to feel that their difficulties are understood and their concerns listened to. Being actively ‘on the side’ of pupils can risk inferring that others in school might not be.
The Pedagogist
Definition: Endlessly focusing on teaching and learning, The Pedagogist sees everything through the lens of the decisions that teachers make to support their learners in classrooms.
Pros: If great teaching is the greatest single factor broadly within the control of schools, The Pedagogist makes a significant difference to the 6 hours per day that most pupils spend with their teachers.
Cons: Balance is key to a SENDCO’s success. Focusing on T&L is essential, but must be balanced alongside working with families, leading an intervention programme, meeting other statutory duties and much more besides.
And so…
No one is a caricature. SENDCOs might recognise some of these archetypes in themselves, and many others not listed.
SENDCOs asking themselves ‘What kind of a SENDCO am I?’ might be a frivolous pastime or a way to continually improve – or perhaps both. It might be a chance to reflect on where our SEND system forces SENDCOs to work in a particular way, perhaps aligned to one of the 6 archetypes above.
There isn’t one way to be a great SENDCO, but perhaps by leaning into some of these archetypes, and being aware of where they’re still working on others, SENDCOs can keep aspiring to even greater greatness, whatever that looks like to them.
Gary Aubin is author of The Lone SENDCO and co-author of The Parent’s Guide to SEND.
SEND Matters 