Introduction

This somewhat lengthy title is usually abbreviated to SENCO. Not only is the title weighty; the job description is too! The list of duties can be daunting to the work-shy or the disorganized teacher. In my experience SENCOs are some of the most energetic, enthusiastic and caring teachers around. The job requires a teacher to be well organised, approachable, patient and persistent. Many SENCOs learn 'on the job' so do not begin their duties feeling particularly knowledgeable; one of the advantages of the position is the swift learning curve. Within mainstream schools there are now children with such a range of difficulties that there is always something new to learn about and adapt to.

The Position of the SENCO within school

Since the publication of the Warnock report in 1978 it has been generally accepted that 20% of the school population will, at some stage of their time at school, experience special educational needs of one sort or another. With this in mind it is logical that the SENCO is included in school management. It is also good practice for each curriculum policy document to address special educational needs, indicating ways in which that subject should or could be adapted to meet the usual range of ability and disability in that school.

SENCOs are often given incentive points to compensate for their increased responsibilities, but there are many SENCOs, particularly in small schools, who received no financial acknowledgment of the work that they do.

SENCOs and Time

Good time management is essential to ensure a well-run system, but even the best time-manager would need some non-contact time in order to tackle the work load. Many of the tasks involve talking with other people and cannot simply be loaded into the car and taken home. Some headtechers view the SENCO in the same light as other curriculum co-ordinators, but in fact they have a great many more duties. Some Local Education Authorities offer guidelines on the time factor, which obviously needs to vary according to the size of the school and the number on the special needs register.

In practice, many primary SENCOs are headteachers or class teachers. My own feeling is that being a SENCO places such a huge additional burden on a head teacher, who may not be able to give enough time to this additional role. Class teachers can be very effective SENCOs, but will definitely need to be regularly relieved of their classroom duties in order to carry out some of their SENCO duties.

SENCOs: a List of Duties

The SENCO has a number of duties:

• Establishing and updating a special needs register.
• Listening to colleagues with concerns about students.
• Advising colleagues about their concerns and ensuring that these are documented at Stage 1 of the Code of Practice or taken up and acted upon at other stages.
• Monitoring any screening or baseline assessments in order to pick up children who are falling behind.
• Helping class teachers to write Individual Educational Plans at Stage 2 of the Code of Practice and to organise manageable recording systems.
• Reminding staff at termly intervals to evaluate progress and supporting them in writing new Individual Education Plans at Stage 2 of the Code of Practice.
• Co-ordinating provision at Stage 3 of the Code of Practice by calling meetings as necessary and ensuring that all involved parties (class teachers, parents, outside agencies, Learning Support Assistants and the pupil if possible) contribute, if they can, to the Stage 3 Individual Education Plans and reviews.
• Finding ways of informing parents about the targets and arrangements at Stage 2 of the Code of Practice and above, and maintaining some means of communication if parents are willing and able to support the targets.
• Meeting parents who have concerns about their children. Such meetings usually result in some action.
• Keeping a bank of record sheets for use with a range of difficulties, and monitoring record keeping at Stages 2, 3 and 5 of the Code of Practice.
• Instigating a system of storing records alongside school managers. In many schools the records are kept in the classroom, while previous records are archived centrally.
• Timetabling special needs teachers and Learning Support Assistants. This can be a complex juggling act: fitting often scarce resources as to support children in specific subjects, or to withdraw them for individual or small group help.
• Advising the Learning Support Assistants in techniques and materials to enable them to implement Individual Educational Plans and manage the targets set in them. This often includes providing or arranging training in aspects of their role and mentoring them on a regular basis.
• Liaising with the Special Needs Governor. A termly or half termly meeting would ensure that the governor was informed of special needs practice and issues.
• Reviewing the special educational needs policy of the school on an annual basis and updating it as necessary. From this, writing a position statement for the Governors' Annual Meeting.
• Referring a child for Statutory Assessment is usually the responsibility of the SENCO. The SENCO is likely to be heavily involved in collecting the evidence necessary in showing that the child concerned has significant needs and that the school has done all that it could be reasonably expected to do.
• Drawing up the school's educational advice if a referral is accepted.
• When a child obtains a statement, conducting a post-statement planning meeting and helping to form annual objectives and short-term targets.
• Carrying out annual and interim reviews of statemented children. In doing this the SENCO must obey the legal requirements for running the meetings and sending minutes to those concerned. Many schools now have quite a number of statemented children and this review process demands a good deal of time. Administrative support for this is necessary.
• Usually helping pastoral staff to devise, run and monitor any Pastoral Support Programmes.
• On occasions organising for a child to be disapplied form part of the National Curriculum.
• Making arrangements to support children with SEN in SATS tests, for example providing readers in maths SATS.
• Organising examination dispensations at GCSE level, as appropriate.
• Maintaining a file (or even Web site!) of useful information for other staff.
• Monitoring the resources devoted to special educational needs and making cases for funding where necessary. These resources include books, other teaching materials and practical teaching aids including, if funds allow, technological aids such as laptops and dictaphones.
• Initiating in-service training for the whole staff in order to update knowledge and strategies.
• Liasing with feeder schools and schools in the next phase with regard to those with Special Educational Needs is another important aspect of the SENCOs job in order to ensure continuity of care.
• Ensuring that when a pupil leaves the school all their records are passed on to the next school that they attend.
• Advising staff in the school: helping other staff to understand the educational implications of various conditions and the needs of individual children, and helping them to think of ways of adapting the curriculum, teaching or classroom to suit them..
• Keeping up to date. The SENCO should not ignore personal, professional training needs. There is such a range of potential problems and new initiatives that the SENCO needs continual updating . Often SENCOs team with each other in support groups or cluster meetings in order to aid this process.
• Some SENCOs are responsible for promoting the needs of the more-able children in their schools.

Learning More about the Role

Many colleges and Local Education Authorities run long courses for SENCOs, many of which lead to accreditation. These courses teach to the National Standards for SEN Coordinators. There are a number of useful publications including 'Procedures, Practice and Guidance for SENCOs' by Hazel Smith which is published by NASEN. They also publish some policy documents on various aspects of SEN teaching including 'The Role of the SEN Co-ordinator', 'Learning Support Assistants' and 'Supporting Parents'. These give a good deal of clear, pragmatic advice. I have also listed many books, Web sites and publications in the resource section of this site.

End Note

As a SENCO you will always be busy and there will be times that are stressful, such as when you rush to the staffroom for a quick coffee to find a colleague complaining about a pupil and seeking a solution to a particular problem; or when you meet parents who might be full of anxiety about their child. However, there will also be many times when you feel rewarded for your efforts when you see the pupils in your care grow in skills, assurance and self-esteem. You really can say that you made a difference.

SENCOs should watch out for the publication of a new Bill, 'Disability in Education', which will strengthen the right of disabled children to be educated in mainstream schools. (Summer 2000)
The DfEE have recently published advice on teaching the more able child during literacy and numeracy lessons.
A new self-esteem service run by Buckholdt associates can be accessed by clicking here. It aims to offer advice to teachers and parents. Their bank of topic includes ways of building self-esteem, shyness and bullying.
A list of books published by NASEN can be found by clicking here. The NASEN site should have an Internet journal by 2001. It will be edited by Lani Fiorian.

Many of the bullet points below are associated with the Code of Practice. You can access this on the DfEE site by clicking here.

In this page you will find cross references to the glossary page in red.

 

• Organising in-service training is usually carried out in conjunction with the specialists services of the Local Education Authority.
  Sometimes referring a child for statutory assessment is done by the headteacher
  Reviewing the special needs policy is usually carried out in conjunction with the Special Needs Governor.
  Not all SENCOs do this, the majority do though.