personal statement senco job

SENCO job description (Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator)

SENCOs work within educational settings supporting children, families, and school staff to ensure that students with special educational needs can access education and achieve their potential.

Ultimately, they are responsible for implementing a school’s special education needs strategy and providing specialist support to colleagues.

SENCOs play a key role in coordinating a range of professionals both within the school setting and outside, to assess needs and ensure appropriate support is put in place for children who require it.

This detailed guide includes a full SENCO job description and everything else you need to know about SENCOs, including salaries, skills, qualifications, typical employers and more.

Guide contents

SENCO job description

How much do sencos earn, what does a senco do.

• Requirements, skills and qualifications

Who employs SENCOs?

• Which junior jobs progress to SENCO roles?

Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) |St Mary’s School

About St Mary’s

We are a non-selective 11 – 18 school welcoming students from a wide variety of backgrounds.  St Mary’s achieved an “Outstanding” in our latest Ofsted report and we pride ourselves on offering excellent pastoral care alongside first class teaching.

About the role

We are looking for a SENCO to coordinate SEN provision, maintaining our commitment to inclusivity and enabling every child to reach their potential.  Managing a small department of 4 support staff and working alongside the school leadership team in an advisory capacity, you will ensure that we meet our legal requirements on SEN support and documentation – reporting to the Head teacher.

Responsibilities

• Designing and delivering the school’s Special Educational Needs strategy
• Resourcing and coaching teachers to support students with additional needs
• Liaising with external professionals such as speech and language therapists, social workers or educational psychologists
• Managing the implementation of education, health and care plans (EHC)
• Planning a programme of SEN continuous professional development for all staff
• Communicating with parents/carers and responding to complaints or queries
• Monitoring and evaluating the progress of SEN children and making recommendations
• Responsible for organising and chairing SEN annual review meetings
• Coordinating alternative exams arrangements and provisions for SEN children

Location & commitments

• Permanent full-time position
• Hours are typically 08.30am until 3.30pm – term time only
• You may need to complete administration and reports outside of these times
• There may be an occasional requirement to work evenings or weekend to attend parents’ evenings
• St Mary’s school is located near Plymouth in South Devon

Candidate requirements

• Must have obtained qualified teacher status (QTS)
• Must hold or be prepared to work towards post graduate level National Award for Special Educational Needs (NASENCO), which takes on average 3 years part time study whilst working
• Experience of supporting special educational needs children aged 11 – 18
• Knowledge of the latest government guidance on statements and Educational Healthcare Plans
• Communication, coordination and organisation are required skills
• Experience of managing a small team is advantageous but not essential

Contact us to apply

If you are looking to join a busy, forward thinking school and are keen to support our students to reach their full potential, send your CV to Assistant Headteacher Mary Wood, by email:  [email protected]

CV templates 

In the UK, SENCOs earn an average salary of £38,966

SENCO salaries in the UK

• Low: £36,693
• Average: £38,966
• High: £42,373

Source: Reed

SENCO salaries will vary hugely depending on;

• The type of employer – e.g. does the SENCO work for a local authority based within a social services team? Is the SENCO employed directly by a school?  Is it a mainstream school, a specialist school or a privately funded school?
• The level of qualification held – e.g. SENCOs who already hold Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) and the National Award for Special Education Needs Coordination (NASENCO) earn more than candidates still in training
• SEN specialisms – e.g. does the SENCO have additional qualifications or skills that they bring to the role such as a qualification for working with students with hearing impairment, vision impairment or multi-sensory impairment? Or do they have extensive experience working with children on the autistic spectrum?
• General salary factors – such as location and range of candidate experience

For example, an experienced SENCO in a large secondary school, whose role involves being part of the senior management team and managing an on-site Visually Impaired (VI) Resource Base, may expect to earn more than a new SENCO working in a small local school where the number of children with SEN is relatively low.

Bear in mind that these are average figures taken from job advert samples, and they do not include extra benefits such as access to local authority pension schemes, continuous professional development courses or research opportunities.

Breaking down the job description jargon, here are the typical tasks and responsibilities that SENCOs will carry out in average work week:

• Observing students – Facilitating assessments to identify what type and level of support is required (for example arranging testing for dyslexia )
• Designing SEN strategy – Creating, reviewing and updating the strategy document to ensure a school meets its legal requirements for supporting SEN children
• Coordinating reviews – Managing a calendar of annual reviews, ensuring appropriate paperwork is sent to all stakeholders in advance of meetings
• Liaising with external professionals – Coordinating specialist support for students (for example referrals to speech therapists)
• Delivering training – Providing input for teaching colleagues to ensure the team are up to date on latest policy changes and support strategies (for example leading a workshop about Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ( ADHD ) at a teacher training day)
• Supporting parents – advising parents in relation to Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plans, and Statements of Special Educational Needs
• Coordinating exam arrangements – Managing personalised requirements for SEN students and being accountable for their delivery (for example calculating and monitoring extra time for students with dyslexia)
• Reporting – Providing formal progress updates to senior staff, parents and local authorities
• People management – Managing internal support staff, providing direction, guidance and coaching
• Managing budgets – negotiating best deals on external support or equipment to ensure students’ needs are met without exceeding the SEN budget

What do SENCOs need?

SENCOs need a range of skills, experience, knowledge and qualifications in order to carry out the job effectively.

Exact requirements will depend on the seniority of each job, as well as the setting, but generally speaking… here’s what’s needed:

Early career SENCO jobs will usually require the candidate to be a qualified teacher and be able to demonstrate interest in and experience of special educational needs.  However, some schools may be willing to support a teaching assistan t with relevant SEN experience to progress to QTS and then the SENCO qualification NASENCO

Senior SENCO roles will normally require candidates to have previous experience at management level, delivering SEN strategies successfully and managing a wide range of stakeholder interests.  E.g.  if a school was hiring a SENCO to manage a staff team supporting a large cohort of students with complex special educational needs, they would prefer a candidate with a background in people management.

SENCO skills

SENCOs need a combination of skills to enable students to reach their potential and the school to meet its legal requirements, these include the following:

• Communication: Written and verbal communication with students, school staff, parents and external professionals
• Leadership: Managing small teams of school support staff and contracted specialists
• Monitoring and evaluation: Regularly reviewing support put in place and adapting provision in response to developments and changes
• Negotiation: Dealing with expectations of multiple stakeholders and persuading others to make compromises to achieve the best outcome for the student
• Problem solving: Finding creative solutions to budgetary or resource constraints to ensure appropriate support can be provided

And the more industry specific “hard skills” include:

• Specialist SEN knowledge: Knowledge of the different types of special educational needs (for example Autism, Asperger’s, Visual or Hearing Impairment) and effective support strategies (for example flashcards or different coloured paper)
• Referral mechanisms: Knowledge of the wider network of professionals to whom a student can be referred (for example physiotherapists or behaviour support services) and the correct referral process
• Legal frameworks: Knowledge of the latest SEN government guidance for schools
• Education: SENCOs will require some experience or knowledge of educational settings and their practices and processes.

SENCO qualifications

Qualifications are now essential to work as a SENCO, although historically many SENCOs trained on the job.

There is a required route into working as a SENCO as well as additional qualifications that are recognised across the profession and will help candidates to access roles with more responsibility or better opportunities for progression.

Qualified Teacher Status

All new SENCOs must have Qualified Teacher Status (QTS)

In order to become a teacher, individuals must gain qualified teacher status.  The most popular routes include:

• A three-year dedicated teaching degree such as a Bachelor of Education which will also include teaching placements within schools
• A non-teaching degree (minimum 2:2) followed by a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) – which is a one-year degree teaching students the theory and structure of classroom teaching, combined with teacher placements within schools

School-level qualifications

Teachers are required to have a grade C or above in their maths and English GCSEs.

Teachers are required to pass a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check to ensure they have a clean criminal record and are safe to work with children.

National Award for Special Educational Needs (NASENCO)

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland SENCOs must  complete a postgraduate level National Award for Special Educational Needs ( NASENCO ).  It is common for SENCOs to study for this additional qualification on a part time basis whilst in the role, and it provides thorough guidance in SEN provision and legislation.

Mandatory qualifications for specialist teachers

To work in some specialist roles, additional qualifications may be required, for example mandatory qualifications for specialist teachers of pupils with hearing impairment, vision impairment or multi-sensory impairment.

What is expected of SENCOs?

In mainstream schools and colleges a SENCO will usually be expected to commit to the following:

• Term time hours – (39 weeks a year) in school with a standard day starting around 8.30am and finishing at 4pm, with administration work often completed outside of these hours. SENCOs typically work 40-45 hours a week.  Part time roles are often available
• Restricted holidays – as SENCOs tend to work term time only, it is unlikely that requests for holiday will be granted during the school term
• Occasional evening or weekend work (for example to be available at parents’ evenings or school open days)
• Location – Education settings including schools, colleges and alternative providers. SENCOs may travel to attend external meetings with outside agencies or to carry out home visits where appropriate
• Occasion travel for training courses

SENCO benefits

As SENCOs tend to work for schools, they will usually receive a standard package, including:

• School holidays – although there is always an element of planning and admin work to be completed outside core hours, SENCOs benefit from school holidays and an average of 65 days away from the workplace compared to the usual 25 days for the average UK employee
• Pension – SENCOs can often access good local authority schemes with a high level of employer contributions
• Teaching and learning responsibility payments – SENCOs receive additional pay for taking on extra responsibilities

Due to the need to meet legal requirements for support to SEN students, SENCO skills are in high demand across all educational settings.

Large schools and colleges tend to employ SENCOs fulltime, whereas small education providers may use part time staff or consultants.

Typical SENCO employers:

• Early years education providers – including maintained or independent nurseries and pre-schools – provide learning for children who are under the compulsory school starting age, typically ages 3-5
• Schools – the most common SENCO positions are in infant, primary and secondary schools run by local government. There are also a smaller number of privately run schools in the UK which also employ SENCOs
• Colleges – sometimes known as further education establishments, colleges teach A level subjects and a wide range of vocational qualifications to 16-18 year olds and they need highly skilled SENCOs to ensure support across their full range of courses and apprenticeships
• Pupil referral units (PRU) or Alternative Provision Academies (AP) – provide education for those not able to access mainstream school, for example for physical or mental health reasons, or those who have been excluded or are on the waiting list for a school place after moving to a new area

Which jobs progress to SENCO roles?

There are a number of jobs which see employees naturally progress into specialist SENCO roles. These include:

Classroom teachers educate students by developing long term education plans, delivering lessons and monitoring their progress.  They follow the national curriculum set by the government and teach a wide range of subjects and age groups, from primary through to higher education level.  They are also responsible for providing a safe and enjoyable learning environment for their students and supporting them in preparation for compulsory exams.

Higher level teaching assistant

Teaching assistants (TAs) support teachers to enable classrooms to function smoothly, manage behaviour and provide general assistance in the delivery of lessons in primary, secondary and nursery schools.  With a willingness to gain qualified teacher status, a teaching assistant can progress to a SENCO role.

Children and families social work assistant

Social work assistants support social workers across homes, schools and hospitals to provide advice and resources to vulnerable or deprived individuals and families.  They work to safeguard children from harm and endeavour to improve the quality and outcomes of people’s lives through long-term support.  They already have many of the key skills required for a SENCO position and with a willingness to gain qualified teacher status, a Children and families social work assistant could progress to a SENCO role in a school or community setting.

Which senior jobs do SENCOs progress to?

Even though being a SENCO is a rewarding career choice in its own right, it can also be a springboard into more senior and higher paid jobs, such as:

Education and SEN consultant

Some SENCOs go on to establish an independent consultancy business, advising and supporting parents and schools in relation to Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plans, and Statements of Special Educational Needs.

SEN lecturer

SENCOs could consider progression into the field of university lecturing; researching, writing content, delivering lectures and marking assessments for SENCO qualifications.

Inclusion manager

SENCOs may be interested in progressing into a wider Inclusion Manager role, responsible for behaviour management, attendance and safeguarding as well as SEN.

Assistant head teacher

Some SENCOs progress into senior management positions within educational settings, such as Head teacher or Assistant head teacher, overseeing the strategy and overall leadership of an education provider.

SENCO job description – conclusion

The Special Educational Needs Coordinator is a highly skilled job with consistent demand across the UK from a wide range of employers in the education sector.

It pays above the national average salary, offers challenging and rewarding work as well as plenty of opportunities to specialise and progress.

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Special educational needs coordinator (SENCO)

Special educational needs coordinators work to raise educational achievement by leading and coordinating provision for pupils with special educational needs

As a SENCO, you'll be an experienced teacher with a passion for supporting pupils with special educational needs. Working closely with staff, parents and other appropriate professionals, the main purpose of the role is to apply your leadership skills to guide other teachers with delivering a provision to raise education achievements for special educational needs (SEN) pupils.

Your responsibilities will include devising the school strategy to help ensure that every child who is classified as SEN is supported to help them reach their full educational potential. You may also have teaching responsibilities and will be required to design and deliver interventions within and outside the classroom. You may have the opportunity to work either within one school or across multiple schools.

This role is also known as a special educational needs and disabilities coordinator (SENDCO), additional learning needs coordinator (ALNCo), or an additional support coordinator. You might also be interested in the role of a special educational needs teacher . SEN teachers often progress to become a SENCO.

Responsibilities

As a SENCO, you'll need to:

• be aware of different learning difficulties and disabilities which are classified as SEN, and providing equity to each child depending on their own individual needs
• develop and oversee the implementation of the school's SEN strategy and policy
• carry out four-part cycle assessments of pupils with SEN to identify needs and monitor progress - including observations in the classroom and meeting with teachers and parents
• work with classroom teachers, the school leadership team, parents and relevant external agencies to develop, implement and monitor individual support/learning plans
• build rapports with the pupils to set personalised education, health and care (EHC) plans, which include social and academic targets
• provide termly updates on pupil progress through written reports and visual evidence (videos)
• chair annual reviews to provide relevant agencies with updates on the pupils' progression towards targets
• develop learning resources to help with pupils' development, including sensory and visual to improve fine motor skills
• support teachers to develop and implement effective teaching and behaviour management approaches in the classroom
• make referrals and liaise with professionals outside of the school within local authorities and health care services, including psychologists, speech and language therapists and occupational therapists
• provide advice and training to classroom teachers on supporting pupils with SEN and offer further guidance if needed
• manage and advise on the school budget and resources for SEN provision
• develop and maintain systems for keeping pupil records, ensuring information is accurate and up to date
• analyse school, local and national data and develop appropriate strategies and interventions.
• keep up to date with national and local policies including the code of practice related to SEN and cascade information to colleagues.
• Qualified teachers in England and Wales earn between £30,000 and £41,333. Experienced teachers can then move on to the upper pay scale which ranges from £43,266 to £46,525. Teachers in London receive an additional allowance.
• All teachers with responsibility for SEN pupils receive an additional allowance of between £2,539 and £5,009.
• You'll also receive a Teaching and Learning Responsibility (TLR) payment ranging between £9,272 and £15,690. The exact amount will be determined by the school you work for.
• As part of the senior leadership team, you could earn a higher salary of between £47,185 and £131,056.
• Salaries are similar for qualified teachers in Northern Ireland, ranging from £24,137 to £41,094 on the main and upper pay scale. You'll receive an additional SEN allowance of between £2,240 and £4,424.
• In Scotland, you're likely to be a principal teacher if you have responsibility for SEN strategy and provision. The pay scale for principal teachers ranges from £52,896 to £68,265. There are also additional allowances for working in remote schools.
• Your salary will depend on how much teaching experience you have, and the level of additional responsibility assigned to your role. Another factor is whether you're working in England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.

 Income data from NASUWT - The Teachers' Union . Figures are intended as a guide only.

Working hours

In most state schools, further education colleges and alternative provision settings you'll generally work 39 weeks of the year, with the typical teaching day starting at 8:30am and finishing between 3:30pm and 4pm. This can vary depending on the school and local authority. You may have different hours if working in an independent (privately funded) school. An extended teaching day, teaching on Saturdays and longer vacation periods are common.

In addition, you'll be required to work some evenings for meetings and events such as parents' evenings. Leadership teams are allocated time to complete administrative duties but it's also likely that you'll need to work outside of school hours and term time.

Opportunities for part-time work are available.

What to expect

• The role can be highly rewarding, as you'll have the opportunity to directly contribute to pupils receiving the support they need, to achieve their potential. However, it can be challenging if there are constraints on school resources and the support available from external agencies.
• You may be based in more than one school and may also have a teaching timetable, so you'll need to balance your work as a SENCO alongside your other responsibilities of teaching and preparing for classes.
• There are significant administrative responsibilities of the role as you are required to complete referral forms, write reports and maintain accurate pupil records, which can be time-consuming. You may need to work outside of school hours to complete these tasks.
• You need to be proactive during your studies and early on in your teaching career to gain the SEN knowledge and experience you need to progress to a SENCO role. You may need to ask to attend SEN training and for opportunities to support the SENCO and work with children with SEN. Keeping up to date with policy developments is also important, particularly in areas of growing interest and provision such as mental health.

Qualifications

You must be a qualified teacher to work as a SENCO.

To achieve qualified teacher status (QTS) in England and Wales you'll need to complete an undergraduate degree in any subject and then complete a postgraduate teaching qualification (a PGCE). There are different postgraduate training routes available including school-led and university-led courses.

Alternatively, you could complete an undergraduate degree which provides QTS, such as a BA or BSc in Education. This is a more common route into primary school teaching. Some universities offer programmes that qualify you to teach in secondary schools and include a subject specialism.

For more information on entry requirements and routes into teaching, see teacher training and education .

In Scotland, you can obtain qualified teacher status through a four-year undergraduate degree in education, or by completing an undergraduate degree in another subject followed by the Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE). For more information, see Teaching in Scotland .

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland you'll also need a further postgraduate qualification called the National Award for Special Educational Needs Coordination (NASENCO). If you're an experienced SEN teacher you may be able to get a job as a SENCO without the award, but you'll be required to complete it within three years of taking up your post. For some roles, it can be an advantage or even a requirement to have already completed the award. Most teachers study for the award part time alongside their job. For more details and a list of providers, see the information provided by the National Association of Special Educational Needs (NASEN) .

Search postgraduate qualifications in special educational needs .

To work in some specialist roles, you may also need to undertake other qualifications. For example, an accredited Early Years SENCO award could be an advantage if you would like to work in either a maintained or independent Early Years setting.

You'll need to have:

• a strong commitment to raising educational attainment for children and young people with SEN, including working with pupils directly and supporting other staff
• a willingness and ability to develop specialist knowledge and keep up to date with local and national policy and developments
• influencing and negotiation skills - to ensure the strategy and policy of the school is effective for SEN pupils, this may require further sufficient internal resources and necessary support from external agencies
• leadership skills - to inspire and motivate other teachers, model good practice and embed a whole school commitment to supporting pupils with SEN
• interpersonal skills and teamworking - for building relationships with parents, teachers and external professionals, and working together to achieve the set strategy
• written communication skills - for writing education, health and care (EHC) plans and setting targets, completing termly reports on pupil progress and writing training guides for staff
• organisation and time-management skills - needed for prioritising and balancing a busy and varied workload
• empathy and emotional intelligence, for recognising and responding sensitively to the needs of pupils and parents
• analytical and problem-solving skills - necessary for analysing school, local and national data and developing appropriate strategies and interventions.

Work experience

Experience of teaching and supporting pupils with SEN is essential. If you have obtained experience in different settings and with pupils of different ages, this will also be beneficial. As the SENCO role is a leadership position, any management experience in a school setting would be advantageous.

If you are thinking about progressing into this area as a newly qualified teacher (NQT) you should seek opportunities to develop your skills and experience working with pupils with SEN in your school and other pastoral responsibilities.

Experience of working with or within other organisations that support SEN pupils may also be valuable. For example, you could shadow or volunteer with a health or social care provider, therapist or educational psychologist.

Before you qualify, you could gain experience as a teaching assistant, or in a support or volunteering role with children or young people with SEN. You could also contact local schools that support SEN pupils, both mainstream and specialist, to see if you could visit and observe lessons.

Find out more about the different kinds of  work experience and internships  that are available.

Most SENCOs work within mainstream schools. This includes both local-authority-maintained schools, academies and free schools, and privately funded schools. SENCOs work in early years, primary, secondary, and further education settings. Opportunities may also exist within alternative education provision, such as Pupil Referral Units (PRUs).

This is a role that exists primarily in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, their title is additional support for learning assistant.

Look for vacancies at:

• Local Government Jobs
• Times Educational Supplement jobs
• local authority websites.

Some specialist agencies including Education-Jobs and eteach recruit for teaching positions.

Professional development

To become a SENCO, you'll be required to complete the National Award for Special Educational Needs Coordination (NASENCO) within three years of starting your role. Schools will usually support individuals with obtaining the qualification as a next step for career progression.

You could also progress to a Masters degree, such as an MA in education or inclusion. In many cases, you'd be able to transfer the credits you've already obtained from the NASENCO, depending on when you completed your qualification.

In some parts of the UK you can also progress from the NASENCO to do the Advanced SENCO Award or the SENCO as Leaders Award, which would support your progression to more senior leadership positions within your school or across multiple schools. Nasen also runs a leadership programme which would enable you to complete a National Professional Qualification for Senior Leadership which focuses specifically on special education needs and disability (SEND).

You may also choose to do further specialist courses or qualifications depending on your role or the area of SEND you would like to move into.

These could include:

• The Accredited Early Years SENCO Award (delivered by NASEN)
• Mandatory qualifications for specialist teachers to enable you to teach children with visual, hearing or multi-sensory impairments (delivered by a selection of providers across the UK)
• Youth Mental Health First Aid (delivered by NASEN).

Professional associations like the National Education Union also provide courses and events for all teachers to develop teaching, professional and school leadership skills.

Career prospects

Experience as a SENCO will prepare you to progress to other roles in school leadership. For example, you could become an inclusion manager, with responsibility for SEND but also other areas such as behaviour management, attendance, pupil premium and safeguarding. You could also go on to work as an assistant head teacher and eventually head teacher.

You could also develop your career by moving into a leadership role within a SEN school, or alternative provision setting.

Some SENCOs move into education consultancy and training roles. As an education consultant, you could use your teaching, leadership and specialist SEND experience to support schools and local authorities to develop the curriculum, policy and provision for SEND pupils. You could also teach current and aspiring SENCOs in further or higher education.

You could also use your experience to go on to work for a local authority in a school liaison role, or as a SEND officer overseeing the fulfilment of statutory responsibilities towards SEND pupils.

If you wish to take your career in a related but alternative direction you could undertake further specialist qualifications and train as a therapist or educational psychologist .

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Leadership , SEN

Recruiting the perfect senco for your school.

This article was originally posted in Headteacher Update 8/9/16.

Schools are finding it hard to recruit successful SENCOs. Daniel Sobel believes this is down to the changing requirements of this broad and vital position. He looks at the modern SENCO role and advises on recruiting effectively.

A recent survey by the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) found that only 14 per cent of SENCOs were recruited with ease, while 56 per cent recruited with difficulty and in 30 per cent of the cases, the school failed to recruit.

We have waltzed slap-bang into a national crisis and no-one seems to have woken up to this problem or is doing anything about it.

Since there is such a broad reach for the SENCO role, what sort of person are we looking for, what do we need to prioritise, and what can we get someone else to do?

The traditional SENCO

In the past, the stereotypical SENCO has been seen as the sensitive one, often slightly eccentric (yours truly) and happy to be based in that room under the stairs or down the quiet corridor away from the bustle of normal school happenings.

Students were removed to this special room, those who needed extra attention. That role required patience to work with socially awkward and frustrating students (and their parents), the ability to adapt resources for a broad spectrum of needs, and healthy bouts of resignation to the lengthy paperwork, the outside agencies that were forever lacking and unavailable and, of course, the teachers who would expect them to take all the responsibility for any student with an SEN label.

You could hire that SENCO – it was clear what you needed and there were plenty out there.

The new SENCO

Thanks to Ofsted, the SEND Code of Practice and the Teachers’ Standards, we have seen a significant attitude shift – from keeping those SEN students in that back room to making them a central measure of a successful lesson.

“Rapid and sustained progress of all groups” is interpreted to mean that the students beyond the edges of the average need to be making significant progress in a teacher’s class for it to be considered any good.

When SEN students do not make adequate progress then it can call into question the ability of that teacher, but also your broader school system and its capacity to accurately identify needs.

SEN is no longer something that happens in the room down that quiet corridor, rather it is taking centre stage as a top Ofsted priority. Our SENCO needs to get this to happen – but not from the quiet of their office where they are busy slaving over yet more local authority paperwork and babysitting those same students who have been excluded from class again.

That sensitivity, which was the hallmark of the SENCO, is no longer a top priority. The new SENCO is someone who can think in whole-school leadership terms, has great communication skills with staff and a deft ability to get your school into gear for the Ofsted challenge. That’s a different SENCO altogether – a different job description requiring a different type of person.

What you need from your SENCO

The modern SENCO needs to be outstanding at the following aspects – but even more than that, outstanding at doing all of these concurrently…

• Can not only get all the ridiculous paperwork done quickly but can actually manipulate the system to get what both the school and student need with tenacity, calm and a willingness to go the extra mile at every junction.
• Can handle challenging parents, usefully share the burden, and support the senior leaders. They spend 90 per cent of their time managing the top 10 per cent of students and know how to stop a bad situation spiralling out of control.
• Can provide bite-sized information to teachers about their students on a regular basis, are available as a go-to person for continuous teacher support, and can even help nurture the relationship between teaching assistants and teachers.
• Can read, use and feel at home with whole-school data such as RaiseOnline.
• Can support whole-school planning in senior leadership meetings and contribute to both pastoral and curriculum development.
• Someone you can rely on to ensure you are compliant with the SEND Code of Practice, Ofsted and the latest policies.
• Can deploy resources intelligently and can accurately and dynamically meet needs with high impact and easily measurable provision.
• Can lead on related issues such as looked-after children, narrowing the attainment gap, English as an additional language and so on.
• Can deliver on being in and out of classrooms supporting teachers with their differentiation and personalised learning on a daily basis.

So, can you imagine advertising for such a candidate and managing to invite eight candidates to an interview day – all of whom could potentially do this job for you? I hear you laughing from here. Is it possible that if they are actually good enough to be taking on the duties described in the above list then they may as well be going for a headship? So what can we do?

Recruiting the right SENCO

• It is a competitive market out there and your first gambit is simply to up the salary. Why should this job be saved from the normal market forces that end up in such practices? If you don’t do it, the other schools will.
• Think more in terms of a senior leader, possibly at the deputy head level. One headteacher told me they had advertised three times for an assistant head SENCO role with no success. I got her to reinvent the position to a at deputy head level – it was filled quickly. This does have implications for getting governors on board and budget but needs must.
• In line with the previous point, think more about someone for their generic leadership skills, their proven capacity to coach teachers in teaching and learning, and whether they can demonstrate any prior sensitivity to SEN or vulnerable students. This takes us off piste from the usual SENCO to someone who is more of a generic whole-school leader. I think SEN specifics can be learnt in the role, whereas it is much harder for someone with a Master’s in SEN to learn the requisite leadership skills.
• The point above will make more sense if you expand the role to more of an INCO (Inclusion Co-ordinator) with responsibility for all areas of inclusion without forgetting the stretch and challenge end as well. Lay out your expectations that this role will involve getting all staff up to scratch with SEN.

Expertise versus leadership

The above steps challenge the common misconception that you need to hire someone who knows the most about, for example, dyslexia. Let me compound that problem even further by saying that the SENCO training course is worse than useless for getting your SENCO up to scratch.

They can read a book about dyslexia and after six months of dealing with a range of needs and reading the specialist advice and education psychologist reports they will know enough. The hardest bits about being a SENCO is managing it all: the paperwork, the meetings, the staff development. It is precisely these things which are not SEN-based per se and cannot be read in a book. They fall under leadership.

I am suggesting that you could invest in a good leader who has a broad responsibility for inclusion with a strong focus on staff development.

The annual reviews

I have written and argued vociferously time and again that many of the traditional SENCO functions can be carried out by higher level teaching assistants (HLTAs) under the guidance of the SENCO.

For example, one of my HLTAs prepared all of the annual review paperwork both pre and post-review and my role was merely to check it and sign it off. We did a paperwork meeting once a week for two hours.

It is a waste of time for your SENCO to spend time on the phone trying to get through to CAMHS when one of the teaching assistants can do that. Timetabling of teaching assistants is another thing that the traditional SENCO did but which is better taken on by an HLTA. The traditional SENCO tasks have changed and many of these can be given to HLTAs.

Concluding thoughts

I hope this gives you some pause for thought about this role. The relevance of this new type of deputy-head-whole-school-leader-SENCO that I describe will vary from setting to setting. There can’t be a one-size-fits-all shape. Your SENCO should be someone who is able to facilitate and promote everyone else delivering SEN, rather than shouldering it all themselves.

The SENCO job description

Summing all this up, the SENCO job description for me is now going to be an even longer one:

• Can read and manipulate data (the reason I think this is your number one quality is because you need to rely on them to feel at home reading and interpreting RaiseOnline, whole-school attainment data, identifying cohorts, etc).
• Can think whole-school and strategically about needs and matching them with interventions.
• Will contribute to your senior leadership team.
• Can manage themselves in meetings.
• Can be efficient with the paperwork.
• Can lead and support classroom teachers.
• Is able to identify need and deal with complicated student situations.

Think less in terms of the traditional specialist teacher. The SENCO should be in and out of classes all-day, every day. You should be thinking about an INCO rather than a SENCO and stretching the role to other areas such as Pupil Premium, ethnic minorities and gifted and talented. It should be a leadership role, preferably a deputy head, and they should have both teaching and learning and pastoral strengths.

Recruit for a deputy or assistant head/principal with experience of whole-school leadership. Go for the leadership and organisational skills. It is easier to develop SEN knowledge skills with a fast learner than leadership skills with someone more inclined to working in an SEN department alone.

The INCO/SENCO has to be able to make their team of unqualified staff into an “SEN army” that is valuable to the school and they simply cannot do this without line management and leadership experience and expertise.

Daniel Sobel

Daniel Sobel founded Inclusion Expert after years working as a SENCO and Assistant Head. During this time he designed numerous effective and simple systems to help teachers and school leaders to manage information and maximise the impact of their interventions. He realised that many teachers were struggling unnecessarily with the demands of Inclusion, that his ideas and systems really worked and that there was an opportunity to make a difference to children across the country by sharing them.

One thought on “ Recruiting the perfect SENCO for your school ”

Mr Sobil is spot on. I agree 100% with his views of the ‘New Senco’ role. School leaders need to change their mind set when they think about inclusion and their school needs. Emphasising on the SENCO qualification is a waste of time if some of the SENCO staff have no credible experience in leadership and even SEN and Inclusion.

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Senco: model job description, download our model job description and person specification for a special educational needs co-ordinator (senco) and adapt it to suit your school's context., download our model job description and person specification.

We have created a model job description and person specification for a special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCO), for you to download and adapt to reflect the role in your school.

It's based on the responsibilities set out in the SEND Code of Practice and the Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014 , and the requirements in the School Teachers' Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD) .

Make sure your job advert complies with safeguarding guidance and equality law

You're not required to advertise the SENCO position internally or externally, but it's good practice to do so. Find out what you need to include in your job advert  to help you recruit safely.

More support recruiting

Download and adapt our interview questions and tasks for SENCOs or create your own interview pack

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Personal statement for slt/senco application.

Scatterbrainbox · 27/09/2019 13:27

I'm applying for my first SLT role. It's a fairly substantial role in a large school and to address all of the person spec my personal statement currently stands at 6 A4 sides. Way too long??

The last SLT roles I've interviewed for I was told to do 2-25 sides maximum, highlight the key points and leave the rest to discuss at interview. That was the advice given to me by multiple current SLT post holders.

Brill thanks. Editing is underway!!

Yes! 2 A4 sides max!

For recent SLT and HOY positions in my school, the (quite new) HT liked letters that were several pages long! Certainly not the norm though. Those who had only written 2 sides didn't get shortlisted, and were very annoyed about it!

6 sides seems very long to me. I wrote two for my AHT application last year. We were explicitly asked not to write more than that. I know from being on interview panels with her that our Head is not impressed when candidates ignore that and send in longer statements or when they don’t follow the instructions so I made sure that I kept to the prompt questions and didn’t go over 2 sides. If it doesn’t specify a limit then I’d be less worried about it being a bit longer but wouldn’t do 6 sides. You need to leave yourself things to talk about in the interview too.

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SENDCo SENCo SEN Coordinator Application and Interview Bundle -

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17 March 2024

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Resources included (8)

Student Panel Questions - Interview Preparation - Advice and Guidance

SENCo SENDCo Interview Questions and Answers - Interview Support - Interview Preparation

SENDCo SENCo SEN Special Education Support | Example Supporting Application Covering Letter 2

SENDCo SENCo - SEN - Interview Prioritisation Task Guidance Example

School Visit Advice and Tour Questions - Application and Interview Guidance

SENDCo - SEN - SENCO Interview Questions - Set 2

SENDCo - SEN - SENCo Interview Questions - Set 1

SENDCo SENCo SEN Special Education Support | Example Supporting Application Covering Letter

In this bundle you will find 8 resources:

2 x SENCO application letter/covering letters

2 sets of questions which may be asked at a SENCo interview

10 questions with thorough and detailed answers to interview questions (compliment the sets above)

SENCo specific guidance on a prioritisation task in tray, including lots of top tips and an example for practice for a common task on interview

a general document giving guidance on touring and visiting schools (non-specific)

a general document on acing student panels (non-specific)

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Media Monarchy

Moscow metro blasts: another fsb inside job.

“ The first explosion took place on a train after it had stopped in the Lubyanka station in central Moscow , close to the headquarters of Russia’s FSB security service, a spokeswoman for the Russian emergencies ministry told AFP .”

“ The first blast at the Lubyanka metro station killed 22 people and wounded 12 . The second at Park Kulturi station left 12 dead and 7 wounded ,” reported AFP . Russian Federal Security Service chief Alexander Bortnikov has already blamed Chechen rebels for the attack, an explanation slavishly accepted by western media outlets like the BBC who are already running feature articles about the history of terrorism in Russia that completely fail to mention the FSB’s direct role in almost every major attack to have taken place over the last 10 years .

Since the explanation that two female suicide bombers with explosives strapped to their bodies were responsible for the bombing has come directly from the FSB , past history means we can only treat the official story with the utmost suspicion.

The notorious Russian FSB has a documented history of staging false flag events in order to accomplish political agendas .

update: bombs kill 12 in russia’s dagestan region from cnn : Twelve people – nine of them police officers – were killed Wednesday when two bombs exploded in Russia’s southern republic of Dagestan , officials told CNN. Another 23 people, including 11 police officers, were hospitalized with wounds from the bombings, at least one of which was carried out by a suicide bomber, according to a spokesman for the Dagestan police and Vladimir Markin, a spokesman for the Investigative Committee in the Russian prosecutor general’s office. It happened two days after female suicide bombers killed at least 39 people on the Moscow metro .

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