Communication of pupil-level strategies is a fundamental part of the SENDCO role and is an essential part of a whole-school approach. So what is the way forward, in terms of individualised strategies, so that all children can thrive?
Tag Archives: Inclusion
SENDCOs and SLT – is it really that simple?
It’s a popular refrain that SENDCOs should be on SLT. So, in order to ensure effective leadership of SEND, should schools be placing their SENDCO on SLT? I wonder if that’s not only over-simplistic as a solution – it may even be that we’re asking the wrong question in the first place.
The flex: reasonable adjustment in the classroom for pupils with SEND
When it comes to getting classroom teaching right for pupils with SEND, it isn’t always about funding. It isn’t always about having years and years of specialist SEND training. It’s about the flex.
SEND provision: Intelligent trial and error?
The SENDCO role in a mainstream school is invaluable, especially when supporting pupils with complex needs. External specialists can be equally as invaluable.
Are there times though when the presence of a specialist – the SENDCO, an Educational Psychologist – can delay teachers and TAs from making good decisions for pupils? In relation to the use of specialists within SEND, care must be taken to ensure colleagues are supported but not disempowered.
The SEND and AP Improvement Plan: 3 things that could feel different for SENDCOs
I don’t know a SENDCO who thinks the SEND system is helping them to work efficiently, focus on the right things and consistently have impact. I don’t know many parents who speak glowingly of their experience of getting an EHCP. I don’t know any Local Authorities who aren’t consumed and overwhelmed by workload.
So something needs to change. But what is going to change for schools? What does the SEN and AP Improvement Plan tell us change is going to look like, and how might that change the SENDCO role?
Hidden at the whole-class level
SEND has an identity crisis. Or at the very least, good teaching practice for pupils with SEND has an identity crisis. This relates to the requirement for ‘additional to and different from’.
A signpost for SENDCOs
I’m about to publish my tenth SEND and SENDCO-related blog on another website, which I hope people here might find useful. I’ve therefore created one blogpost here, with links to the first 9.
The summer term SENDCO
Consider these 8 areas as potential priorities for the summer term, which broadly fit into 2 categories: doing the summer term well and preparing to do next year well
Why everyone should want to be a SENDCO
All teachers should want to be a SENDCO. Whether for the professional development it brings, for the difference it can make to pupils who otherwise might struggle, or just to step up to a whole-school role, ambitious colleagues should view it as an essential step on their own route to leadership.
SENDCOs: 12 questions you’ll want to think about before OFSTED arrive
Try out your answers to some of these with your line manager or a supportive colleague, so you can be as prepared as possible for the OFSTED call.
SEND Matters 