Role of the SENCo - SENCology

I have written many times before about the importance of reflection as a SENCo – taking the time to look back on things and see how you could improve personally, or increase effectiveness as a department/faculty.

The concept of reflective practice as a critical process in refining and developing individual skills ([for both professional and personal attributes) was first introduced by Donald Schon in 1987. Reflective practice can be seen as a way for beginners in a discipline to recognise similarities between their own individual practices and those of successful practitioners; an essential part of any professional growth. However, reflective practice should involve an individual thoughtfully considering one's own experiences in applying knowledge to practice while being coached by professionals in that discipline (Schon, 1996).

‘Modelling’ and ‘coaching’ now seem to be regularly used buzz-words throughout the professional learning communities in UK schools; however if reflective conversations of a positive nature can be initiated and sustained, other ‘well-touted’ mechanisms can then be used to support common-place, routine processes, as opposed to imposing a system onto an unwilling host.

Whilst there are several well-documented models of ‘reflective practice’, one that resonates strongly with me, working within a large educational setting, is the Gibbs Reflective Cycle. The cycle is fairly straightforward and encourages:

• a clear description of the situation
• an analysis of feelings
• an evaluation of the experience
• an analysis to make sense of the experience
• a conclusion where other options are considered
• a reflection upon the experience to examine what you would do if the situation arose again.

Most of this is just common sense, but with the hectic SENCo schedule and increased pressure to achieve outcomes across all groups of learners, it is often the most simple tactics that are the most effective!

Gibbs' model of reflection (1988)

References

• Gibbs, G. (1988) Learning by Doing: A guide to teaching and learning methods. Further Education Unit, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford.
• Schon, D.A. (1996) Educating the reflective practitioner: Toward a new design for teaching and learning in the professions. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, Inc.

Some days as SENCo can be hectic; trying to fit in scheduled appointments and meetings with things that turn up as the day progresses. Today was certainly one of the more packed!

08:00: A meeting with parent and Year 7 student with needs on the autistic spectrum. He, along with another Year 7 lad, had been caught stealing money from PE. Whilst we understand how some young, vulnerable students ‘get sucked into things’ and ‘are led by others’, this has been taken very seriously. I meet one of the boys and the Senior Learning Coordinator for the other college meets the other. Strong words, clear message about this being a criminal act. Loss of social time for the week and careful monitoring. Possibly a little lenient, but after all the facts were weighted up, it was agreed to provide a more constructive punishment ‘in-house’.

09:00: First review of the day, a Looked After Child (LAC) with some moderate additional needs. Since they are placed at School Action I would not normally meet so formally; however due to options choices still being part of the Year 9 diet at the moment, and due to the fact that the carer had asked to discuss things, we arranged to meet. Straightforward really, just needing to reassure them all that if things were too much in October/November time, we could look at reducing GCSE choices and adding in some additional support time. After all personalisation is the key!

10:00: Annual review of student in Year 9 who was first young man to come to us under the partnership with the specialist school for students on the autistic spectrum. David is a very complex young man, who has made significant advances this year. After spending most of last summer term at the specialist school, this year has been a real success. David wants to do an engineering diploma at the local college, and I have to say my recommendation is one of 100% support. I think he will thrive on the opportunity.

11:00: Spent break supervising the young man isolated during social times that I met at 08:00; having pretty good day in class, but extremely quiet during break, maybe this is a suitable sanction? The other student is escorted to the Senior Learning Coordinator for his break, probably a less enjoyable experience as they were on duty on the back field!

11:15: Phew... a late cancellation of another Year 9 review. Time to chase up Social Services after I had faxed a CAF last week. They’ll give no assessment unless there is an actual perceived threat to the child’s welfare – I’m starting to get cross! I keep cool, note down the name of the person I am speaking too, inform them I am quoting them in documentation and will be sure to stress my concern at their, in my opinion, rash decision. Nothing more I can do here.

Now I have a few staff to catch up with regarding a student’s integration into mainstream lessons from the Nurture Group and e-mails to send.

12:15: Another Year 9 review, School Action Plus lad, moving to School Action after some rapid improvement using the Toe by Toe scheme. His choices are straightforward and I know the family well as the mum is aunty to a member of my staff. It’s always a joy to see so much improvement that levels of support can be modified and success celebrated.

13:10: Lunchtime, so an informal meeting with Andrea, our Nurture Group teacher, and another session supervising the Year 7 student again. Also had a visit from a Year 7 girl who I have known since she was around 6 years old, as her parents used to manage the local pub. They and she are absolutely lovely, conscientious and polite people. She was feeling poorly, so me and two of her mates end up playing draughts; quite enjoyed myself actually, despite one of the girls giving me the run around!

13:55: Take one of the Nurture Group students to their form group for the first time as part of his integration, then have one of my scheduled individual tutorials with a Year 11 student who is struggling to balance school work and high performance sport. This is something I am relishing; twice a week we meet for 20 minutes and chat through the week, the balance of sport and study, and how to develop resilience.

14:15: A re-arranged re-integration meeting for a Year 9 student with ADHD − excluded for a fixed term of 2 days last week for wilfully trying to hit a female member of PE staff with a football. As we were providing ADHD staff training from a specialist nurse that evening she was able to join us too; a useful addition, as she helps us clarify that this act was a wilful one and not as a result of his ADHD. Always good to have expert support.

14:45: Final planning with the specialist nurse for staff training session at 15:30 tonight. A little rushed, as we were going to spend the whole hour planning; however am sure we will get by ok?

15:30: ADHD training session, and a well attended and a lively discussion ensues; always an interesting subject.

17:00: I rush back to the staffroom for a governing body sub-committee meeting. Often far more interesting than full governor meetings as you get to discuss things in more depth. However, after this day the 18:45 finish makes it a long day!

The SENCo role often brings with it controversy. Advocating for the vulnerable, be they students or parents/carers, is usually the arena where this controversy breeds, and occasionally it can be supporting staff where difficulties arise. This week saw me both strongly advocating for a Year 9 student with ADHD, and also defending a member of my staff team against an alleged unprofessional incident. An interesting week indeed!

The solution to the first incident was, in my view, ‘cut-and-dried’; any fixed-term exclusion for this young man needed to be immediate, not the next week. The incident was one of health and safety, however it is vital sanctions are clearly linked to actions and events. Often students cannot recall specific events, especially this young man where social circumstance also clouds his ability to manage. It was not a difficult argument to make, and the headteacher as usual, understood. However, as I write a final decision is yet to be advised.

In amongst all of this, a senior member of staff spoke inappropriately to one of my own staff, who was supporting this young man in a practical subject, and upset her a great deal, to the point of tears. Advocating for the students in one part of the job, but so it supporting your staff. I dealt with this directly and even thought it resulted in a formal meeting with the member of staff and their line manager, it was important to me that I made the point.

It is never easy and I think some people would have handled it differently, perhaps not necessarily confronting the situation front on. However unpleasant, I stand by my decision to support my staff vigorously and passionately. I will always defend them to the end, even if privately I feel there are alternatives.

Having a strong sense of advocacy is essential; for me, and, in my view, for the SENCo role. And I can sleep assured that this particular member of staff will think very carefully before making any rash and unprofessional decisions involving students with whom I work or my staff team.

All ended well in the end, but this erosion of standards is something I am extremely keen to stamp out. And in this instance, that is precisely what I did!