Department for Education written question – answered at on 21 February 2018.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to improve career progression opportunities for special educational needs coordinators and SEND specialists; and whether he plans to include those roles in his Department's consultation, Strengthening qualified teacher status and career progression, published on 15 December 2017.
Special educational needs Co-ordinators (SENCO)s play an essential role in schools, supporting teaching staff to meet the needs of pupils with Special educational needs (SEN) and ensuring that schools have a clear and effective approach to inclusive education. All maintained mainstream nurseries, schools and academies (including free schools) are required to have a named SENCO who is a qualified teacher. To support their development, SENCOs must undertake the National Award in SEN Coordination award within three years of taking up role. The SENCO has an important role to play with the headteacher and governing body, in determining the strategic development of SEN policy and provision in the school. They will be most effective in that role if they are part of the school leadership team.
As part of the consultation to strengthen Qualified Teacher Status, we have proposed introducing an early career content framework for all newly qualified teachers, and have suggested that SEND could be a key element of this framework. The consultation is currently open and we will use the responses to help understand how to best support those interested in becoming SEND specialists. We aim to publish a response by summer 2018.
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