‘It's the best job in the world, but one of the hardest, loneliest, most misunderstood roles in a school.’ Understanding the complexity of the SENCO role post‐SEND reform

Abstract

In schools, the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) could be considered a key policy implementer of special educational needs and inclusive policy. Issues related to time, status and the effective facilitation of the SENCO role have been reported on extensively, yet literature has predominantly focused on the role prior to the introduction of the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) reforms in 2014. This paper reports on research which explored the SENCO role post‐reform. The research aimed to understand how widely the role varied across differing educational settings and phases, whilst also exploring the breadth and depth of the role, post‐SEND reform. The research design was mixed methods and had two phases: online focus groups (n = 15), followed by a national online survey (n = 1903). The findings suggest that the facilitation of the SENCO role remains problematic post‐reform. Constraints include the time to undertake responsibilities, the increasing breadth of the role and how the role is understood by others. This combined with increased external bureaucracy, budgetary constraints and a lack of consistency nationally has led to a situation where only approximately one‐third of SENCOs intend to remain in the role in five years’ time.

Barriers faced when eliciting the voice of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities for their Education, Health and Care Plans and Annual Reviews

“…This study provides valuable insight into the experiences of SEND professionals on the barriers they experience when eliciting the voice of children and young people with SEND. The findings contribute to our understanding of the high levels of moral stress (Hellawell, 2015) and various demands within the roles of SEND professionals (Curran & Boddison, 2021), along with the lack of participation experienced by children and young people with SEND (Barnard‐Dadds & Conn, 2018), highlighting the need to re‐examine the EHCP assessment and review process. To address the barriers to participation, policy makers need to examine further the barriers faced by SEND professionals when considering statutory timelines and duties and provide collaborative solutions to overcome the barriers to participation.…”

“…Participants reported barriers to ensuring a person‐centred approach due to high caseloads and lack of time to meaningfully elicit voice. Despite professional rhetoric about the importance of consulting with children, in practice this proves to be problematic and may not be at the forefront, given the statutory deadlines and standards professionals are required to meet (Cremin et al, 2011; Curran & Boddison, 2021). This does not necessarily reflect an unwillingness to change practice, but rather reflects the uncertainty professionals face about how resources can be allocated appropriately to achieve time‐bound person‐centred meetings.…”

“…Similarly, teaching staff experience high levels of burnout due to fast‐paced environments, high expectations, and mental and emotional tiredness (Akin, 2019), particularly when working in specialist schools (Jennett et al, 2003). SENCos report having insufficient time to meet the multiple demands of the role, resulting in feelings of frustration and isolation (Curran & Boddison, 2021).…”

The Work of Special Education Teachers in the Tiered Support System: The Finnish Case

“…Are these implicit tasks noticed when the workload of the SETs is considered? Is their role de facto moving towards that of SENCOs, who have consultative and managerial mandate concerning issues of students with special needs (Curran & Boddison, 2021)? If so, the lack of defined status can hinder their effectiveness and cause role confusion (Fitzgerald & Radford, 2017;Göransson et al, 2015).…”

“…Besides instruction and consultative tasks, SETs often have managerial tasks (Mitchell et al, 2012), which include handling the matters of students with special educational needs and pedagogical documentation. In some countries, these tasks have been allocated for specific professionals, like Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCOs) in Sweden (Göransson et al, 2015;Sandström et al, 2019) and in the UK and Ireland (Curran & Boddison, 2021;Fitzgerald & Radford, 2017). General education teachers in Finland also rely on SETs in tiered support processes (Eklund et al, 2020), but the consultative and managerial role remains undefined (Sundqvist et al, 2014).…”