Just+for+Sencos

toc Page Purpose: Useful material that is specifically aimed at informing and supporting Special Educational Needs Coordinators
 * Senco Page **

SENCo Roles in NZ Schools
In 2012 ERO looked at how Sencos were impacting on effective inclusive practices in NZ schools. Here's a link to the report, but of interest is the list of ways Sencos were involved in their schools. This could be useful for generating a Senco job description. According to ERO's findings, effective SENCOs were involved in:
 * assessing students, identifying needs and developing Individual Education Plans
 * allocating and coordinating the use of staffing
 * liaising with specialists and parents
 * developing programmes and strategies
 * overseeing and supporting teacher aides and providing guidance and support to teachers
 * working with individual students and monitoring their progress
 * attending in-school special needs meetings and cluster meetings.

"Education that fits: Review of international trends in the education of students with special educational needs"
Education Counts has some recent research into international trends around working with special education needs students. The purpose of the research was to outline international trends in the education of students with special educational needs. I have copied a section here that is particularly relevant in my eyes to make the reading less time consuming, but feel free to go to the site and read the whole report.

As you read these think about the following questions:
 * How does your own view of your role relate with these?
 * How is your role actually defined? Is it defined?
 * What are your thoughts about the level of qualification expected in England?
 * How much of these definitions are about teaching and learning and how much are about managing? How does this balance compare to your own job expectations?
 * What questions does this raise for you?

===** Section 14.6 Special Needs Advisers (our SENCO) ** === From 1 September 2009, new regulations from the Department for Children, Schools and Families required all new SENCOs to achieve the national award for SEN coordination. The Training and Development Agency for Schools has developed a framework of nationally approved training for teachers new to the role of SENCO. Training will take approximately a year to complete and SENCOs will have up to three years to achieve the qualification. To achieve the National Award for SEN Coordination the Department for Children Schools and Families requires that teachers should meet all the learning outcomes from a specified list of 13 topics, as follows: For example, #3 specifies that training should enable SENCOs to:
 * // E //**// **ngland**. //Here, a special educational needs teacher working in a mainstream school can become a Special Education Needs Coordinator (SENCO). Applicants for that position usually need two-plus years of post-qualification experience. The SENCO is expected to have a good understanding of the three stages of special educational needs: school action, school action plus, formal assessments and statementing[|31] . The SENCO is usually the head of the special needs department and is responsible for day-to-day provision for pupils with special educational needs. This involves coordinating work with a range of agencies and parents, gathering appropriate information on children with special needs and ensuring individual education plans are in place. A SENCO in mainstream schools will allocate learning support assistants or teaching assistants to support individual students in the classroom and may hold the budget for these resources. A SENCO may also be the deputy head teacher or head teacher.
 * 1) Statutory and regulatory frameworks and relevant developments at national and local level
 * 2) High incidence SEN and disabilities and how they can affect pupils’ participation and learning
 * 3) Using evidence about learning, teaching and assessment in relation to pupils with SEN to inform practice
 * 4) Working strategically with senior colleagues and governors
 * 5) Strategic financial planning, budget management and use of resources in line with best value principles
 * 6) Strategies for improving outcomes for pupils with SEN and/or disabilities
 * 7) Developing, using, monitoring and evaluating systems
 * 8) Using tools for collecting, analysing and using data
 * 9) Deploying staff and managing resources
 * 10) <span style="background-color: #ffffff; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12.499999046325684px; font-size: 12.499999046325684px; vertical-align: baseline; vertical-align: baseline;">Providing professional direction to the work of others
 * 11) <span style="background-color: #ffffff; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12.499999046325684px; font-size: 12.499999046325684px; vertical-align: baseline; vertical-align: baseline;">Leadership and development of staff
 * 12) <span style="background-color: #ffffff; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12.499999046325684px; font-size: 12.499999046325684px; vertical-align: baseline; vertical-align: baseline;">Drawing on external sources of support and expertise
 * 13) <span style="background-color: #ffffff; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12.499999046325684px; font-size: 12.499999046325684px; vertical-align: baseline; vertical-align: baseline;">Consulting, engaging and communicating with colleagues, parents and carers and pupils to enhance pupils’ learning and achievement.
 * Analyse, interpret and evaluate critically, relevant research and inspection evidence about teaching and learning in relation to pupils with SEN and/or disabilities and understand how such evidence can be used to inform personal practice and others’ practice.
 * Identify and develop effective practice in teaching pupils with SEN and/or disabilities, e.g. through small-scale action research based on evaluating methodologies, developing critiques and, where appropriate, developing new hypotheses.
 * Have a critical understanding of teaching, learning and behaviour management strategies and how to select, use and adapt approaches to remove barriers to learning for pupils with SEN and/or disabilities.
 * Have a critical understanding of approaches, strategies and resources for assessment (including national tests and examinations) and how to select, use and adapt them to personalise provision and remove barriers to assessment for pupils with SEN and/or disabilities.

//**<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000080; font-size: 12.499999046325684px; vertical-align: baseline;">Australia. **// <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12.499999046325684px; vertical-align: baseline;">In their recent review of special education in the ACT, Shaddock et al. (2009) proposed the development and trialling of a school-based, Learning Support Coordinator (LSC), a role designed to improve classroom pedagogy with a particular focus on students functioning in the lowest quartile. They cited recent Australian research in support of this role; for example, Shaddock et al. (2007) found that schools in which an experienced special educator managed learning support across the school achieved good outcomes for students with a disability. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12.499999046325684px; vertical-align: baseline;">Shaddock et al. (2009) noted that some school systems in Australia (Western Australia and NSW) were beginning to employ LSCs who have special education knowledge and experience and who have school-wide responsibilities for raising the quality of teaching and learning, with particular focus on students who struggle with the curriculum. In Western Australia, for example, the LSCs’ functions included: <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12.499999046325684px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Western Australian LSCs are appointed from existing staff in schools and receive ongoing training and participate as part of the // Building Inclusive Classrooms //Professional Learning Program. This involves an initial 12 days of fully funded professional learning in their first two years. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12.499999046325684px; vertical-align: baseline;">In recommending the development of LSC positions in the ACT, Shaddock et al. (2009) noted that although LSCs were not widespread there, some schools had organised their services and appointed staff who fulfilled similar roles. They also noted that in WA and NSW the LSCs were ‘disability, and learning difficulties-specific’. Instead, ‘one implication of the ACT’s broader understanding of inclusivity is that if the LSC approach were to be adopted ‘a major aim would be to build pedagogical capacity at the school and classroom level’ (p.116). This would mean LSCs supporting classroom teachers to meet ‘the individual learning needs of any students, for example, students with a disability or learning difficulty; those experiencing temporary difficulties with learning because of personal or family circumstances; and, if necessary, students with gifts and talents who were not performing to potential’ (ibid.).
 * facilitating the work of Learning Support teams;
 * consulting and collaborating with teachers with regard to meeting the educational needs of students with disabilities and learning difficulties;
 * supporting classroom teachers to develop, implement and monitor learning plans for individual and groups of students with disabilities or learning difficulties; and
 * modeling effective teaching and supporting classroom teachers who have students requiring significant teaching and learning adjustments.