Leading on Inclusion

The Role of the SENCO

Mhairi C. Beaton, Geraldene N. Codina, Julie C. Wharton, Mhairi C. Beaton, Geraldene N. Codina, Julie C. Wharton

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9780367420505
• eBook ISBN: 9781000375077
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

This comprehensive resource provides a range of perspectives on inclusion, giving Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators (SENCOs) the opportunity to consider the principles and practice that underpin their leadership role.

Offering a blend of academic and professional knowledge, each chapter explores different aspects of the role of the SENCO and supports areas that will be considered as part of the National Award for SENCOs. A variety of essential topics are covered, from the importance of SEND provision and multi-disciplinary practice, to the role of the SENCO and leadership.

Key features of this book include:

• Contributions by leaders of the National Award for Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators working with trainee SENCOs across the country
• A focus on encouraging SENCOs to think deeply about their own individual practice through engagement with cutting-edge research
• A flexible structure that can be read as a whole, or dipped in and out of as professional learning needs require

This book provides an opportunity for readers to engage with a multiplicity of voices and approaches, allowing them to critically explore their role as leaders of SEND provision in schools. It is an invaluable resource both for students and those already within the role of Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator.

Part I
Why SEND is important

1
Introduction

Mhairi C. Beaton, Geraldene N. Codina and Julie C. Wharton

The origins of this book lie at the heart of the editors’ own practice. All three editors currently lead or have led university courses providing professional learning and accreditation for Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators (SENCOs) within the English policy system. As we worked with our students to develop their knowledge, expertise and practice, we became increasingly aware of a pressing need for a publication that focused on the leadership role of the SENCO. The editors felt there was an urgent need for a book that permitted SENCO students the opportunity to critically explore this key element of their role within schools as leaders of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) provision. The editors felt strongly that the book should enable SENCOs to think deeply about their own individual practice through engagement with recent cutting-edge research. As such, this book is aimed primarily at SENCOs, both those already in post and those seeking accreditation through the Post Graduate Certificate SENCO courses. This book will also be of interest to a wider audience, including qualified and qualifying teachers, members of a school’s senior management team, and those working in different policy contexts who are interested in the inclusion of 0–25-year-olds.

It is widely acknowledged that many elements of SEND provision and inclusive practice remain contested and indeed at times are viewed as controversial. What is not at issue is that teachers must provide effective educational provision for all children and young people in their care; the dilemma arises as to how to do this. For the educational practitioner faced with this task, the multiplicity of professional choices on offer can be daunting and the numerous elements of the role overwhelming. In response to this complexity, this edited book does not seek to provide simplistic answers or a single narrative, for it is argued the best inclusive practice is context specific, nuanced and co-constructed. Through a focus on the leadership role of the SENCO in English schools, this book provides an opportunity for the audience to engage with a multiplicity of voices and approaches, each voice introducing the reader to their own expertise in one key element of the SENCO role. Each contributor to the book has written their chapter from their own perspective on SEND; chapters have therefore an authenticity of practice, which is relevant and personal to each author’s own priorities and standpoints. What is common across all chapters is the contributors’ commitment to inclusion and SEND provision of the highest quality.

The editors therefore see this book as a catalyst for further discussion, relying on the commitment of readers to engage with the ideas expressed by each of the authors. We encourage those reading the chapters to engage critically with them to inform their professional knowledge, understanding, skills, abilities, values and attitudes in relation to the leadership role of SEND in their own individual context. This permits the avoidance of a paper-based reading exercise, instead promoting the professional agency of the reader to engage with academic research, which is translated into ways of working that enhance the participation of all young people. The focus on schools building their own authentic, relevant inclusive values, policies and practices is designed to support schools to achieve the expectations in the Education Inspection Framework (Ofsted, 2019) around inclusion:

Leaders have a clear and ambitious vision for providing high-quality, inclusive education and training to all. This is realised through strong, shared values, policies and practice.

(Ofsted, 2019:11)

The book is designed to be read either as a whole exploring each of the elements of leadership in SEND or for the reader to choose individual chapters as their professional learning need requires. For clarity, the book is divided into three themes.

In the first section, the reader is invited to consider why SEND provision is important – an opportunity to think about the values and attitudes that underpin the practice of leadership of SEND provision and why it is critical to education.

Jonathan Rix explores inclusive relationships that lie at the heart of effective SEND provision. Taking a reflective and deeply personal approach, Jonathan considers the complexity and uncertainty that the practitioner must embrace to create new opportunities for young people in educational settings.

Geraldene N. Codina and Julie C. Wharton look at the language of SEND from past to present. Drawing on the philosophy of Wittgenstein, they argue that language matters and is more than fashion or political correctness. Rather, language gains its meaning from the way in which it is used. Schools, leaders and professionals are invited to consider the language of SEND used in their setting, unpicking its meaning in relation to their own values, expectations, assumptions, responses and practice.

Deborah Robinson examines the SENCO’s role in leading professional learning for inclusion for all staff. Critically examining the epistemological complexity of this task, the chapter discusses the benefits of a lesson study approach for teacher development.

Brian Lamb explores the efficacy of the SEND reforms five years after their introduction. Drawing on the latest available information, the chapter focusses on the options for change, ranging from alterations to policy and guidance, to undertaking a more substantial revision of the legislation. Concerning both SEN Support and Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) reforms, the chapter addresses enhanced support for SENCOs, improved accountability across the system and co-production (including within the Local Offer).

In the second section of this book, the focus is on the leadership role expected of SENCOs in their daily work practices: critically exploring the tasks that are expected to be undertaken by those in the role.

Lynda Kay and Tristan Middleton consider the policy of exclusion from school and its implications for children and young people with SEND. They outline an inclusive approach to reducing school exclusions that provides a strategy for SENCOs to consider.

Angela Scott problematises constructs of expected childhood development promoted in the early years by viewing milestone ‘norms’ through the lens of inclusive leadership and practice. Highlighting the importance of creating a leadership culture which genuinely celebrates the uniqueness of each child, Angela points to the importance of developing systems and structures that promote coherent communication.

Lisa O’Connor examines a variety of approaches to social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) and the SENCO’s leadership role in the process of co-ordinating a whole-school approach to address learners’ needs.

Dennis Piper outlines further thoughts of meeting the needs of children and young people with the SEMH. In his chapter, Dennis presents the PIPER Model (Personalised Interventions Promoting Emotional Resilience) as a way of supporting children and young people with SEMH in a mainstream setting.

Lorna Hughes considers the ways in which a leadership approach is vital in supporting children and young people with medical needs in school.

Angela Scott discusses the approaches to Person-Centred Planning (PCP) and how the SENCO as a leader might facilitate the participation of learners in this process.

Tracy Edwards and Mhairi C. Beaton consider SENCOs’ role in leading assessment processes in their setting. Critically analysing current policy and practice in assessment, the chapter proposes new and innovative approaches that might enhance learning and teaching.

Louise Arnold and Janet Hoskins focus on the aspirational nature of the 2014 SEN and disability reforms and the extent to which EHCPs support children, young people and their families to achieve the outcomes to which they aspire. Theoretical perspectives and practical strategies for co-production of EHCPs with children and young people and their families are identified, explored and analysed.

Finally, in the last section, the focus shifts to the leadership role within multi-disciplinary practice that all SENCOs must adopt.

Helen Ackers draws on conversations she has had with SENCOs to identify some of the common challenges associated with establishing multi-professional teams. Key issues are analysed and strategies for establishing effective dialogue, trust and partnerships are explored.

Gianna Knowles starts from the premise that parents/carers know their children best, and although schools and parents/carers may have differences of opinion, it is essential that schools and families work in partnership to meet the needs of children and young people with SEND. Including a good practice case study, the chapter focusses on the voice of the child and family, the legal definition of a ‘parent’ and the importance, psychology and sociologies of family, all set within the legislative context of the Children and Families Act 2014.

Becky Edwards and Heather Green focus on SENCOs’ professional response to the lived experiences of parents/carers of children with a label of SEND. Drawing on Chapter 2 in this book, Becky and Heather emphasise the importance of establishing a culture of genuine partnership with parents which seek to challenge tensions concerning power.

Julie C. Wharton thinks about the ways in which SENCOs find themselves working in an inter-agency way with social workers. This chapter considers the SENCO’s role and responsibilities alongside those of the social worker.

Mhairi C. Beaton considers SENCOs’ leadership role in encouraging the voices of young people with SEND to be heard. The chapter explores the benefits of listening to those voices within education and points to professional learning materials that will support practitioners’ development of skills in this area.

Finally, Helen Curran considers the unique role adopted by the SENCO in educational settings. Acknowledging that many of the SENCOs’ colleagues do not understand the role, the chapter examines both the contribution to education that SENCOs make and also the resilience required to fulfil the role.

Reference

• Ofsted (2019) The Education Inspection Framework, Manchester: Ofsted.

2
Inclusive relationships

Creating the space for each other

Jonathan Rix

Do we need to start somewhere special?

In 2015, I was asked to speak at a seminar in Norway about special education and transformative learning. I was troubled. So, I went for a walk and thought about what I was struggling with; then I lay in bed and ruminated; onward across the weeks I found myself thinking about it when others were thinking of something else. I had a number of moments when I seemed to be getting to the root of my problem and then it slipped away. I tried to talk to people about it, but I soon realised that I was just going over old ground; I could hear I was boring them as well as myself, and then I had what seemed like a point of resolution, a transformative moment. It happened when I was driving my son to watch a game of cricket.

Cricket is a strange game. It comes in all different shapes and sizes. It can go on for five days, one day or two hours. You can lose it with the delivery of 10 balls or it can still be a draw after more than 2400 balls. Players stand in different places on the pitch depending upon how someone bowls a ball or hits it, and each place has its own name depending upon which way these batters and bowlers are facing. It is a game with a strange language of its own, a history and culture which beguiles the uninitiated. It is not something which can be explained in a few minutes (or a few hours). It has to be experienced and shared. But how do you begin playing it or watching it or talking about it?

It was this game to which I was taking my son. A young man, who in a world of schooling has always attracted one-to-one support (perhaps eager, perhaps not) and been too easily left to one side; who speaks in a flurry of sounds which leave one scrambling for meaning; who half-listens to explanations with a well-worn expectation of not understanding; who would always choose to engage in an activity for its sensory delights rather than seeking its meaning to others; and whose focus of attention is governed by his own priorities.

Why was I taking him? What was I intending him to gain from this? Would he understand cricket as I did? Or as I thought it ought to be understood? Was it something I wanted to share with him, as I had shared with my father? The possible questions seemed to multiply as I began to ask them.

Clearly, what I was seeking was transformative learning, but I would not be able to achieve this if I approached it in the way my father had taught me about cricket. My boy would not engage in the game in front of him as I had. His approach would be his own. It would be different to mine. My role was to help him make sense of the many small aspects of the whole.

And this was my moment of resolution.

What I was trying to achieve for my son was nothing special, though it was transformative.

Even though I had to do it...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication Page
• Contents
• List of figures and tables
• List of contributors
• Acknowledgements
• Part I Why SEND is important
• Part II The leadership role of the SENCO
• Part III SENCOs’ leadership role in multi-disciplinary practice
• Index