Put special schools on your radar

Simon Knight urges the government and job applicants to give greater consideration to schools for SEND
27th January 2017, 12:02am

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Put special schools on your radar

https://www.tes.com/magazine/archive/put-special-schools-your-radar
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If you were to guess, which sector of education do you think has the greatest proportion of unfilled or temporarily filled posts, currently running at 1.9 per cent? I’ll give you a clue, it is the same sector that, among schools, has the greatest proportion of good or outstanding Ofsted gradings, at 93 per cent. 

The answer is special schools. Despite the recruitment crisis we face, you won’t have seen recruitment to these schools being promoted through government initiatives, nor will you find an equitable amount of information relating to them on the Get Into Teaching website. When it comes to encouraging people to consider becoming teachers, we shine a light on the mainstream but keep those schools serving some of society’s most vulnerable young people floundering in the dark. 

If we are to close the recruitment gap, it is essential that we address that balance and begin to share with prospective teachers - those looking for their first post or those looking to move on to pastures new - the opportunities, rewards and, indeed, challenges of working in special schools. First, we must create a national strategy for special school recruitment. This could take in learning from the recent National College for Teaching and Leadership pilot programmes to shape a vision for high-quality training routes that build in a greater proportion of SEND expertise and experiences while still ensuring that the standards for qualified teacher status are met. This should be supported by a bursary for those wishing to develop SEND subject expertise.

There also needs to be a consideration of how best to make use of the untapped expertise within the teaching assistant workforce. Financial barriers often stop great teaching assistants from becoming great teachers. A route for those with extensive classroom experience in special schools, fully funded, would go some way towards providing an accessible pathway into the profession. I suspect that if we looked at the retention data for those who spent time working as teaching assistants prior to qualification, it would make a compelling case.

We also need to dispel the myths around completing your NQT year in a special school setting. Too often, I have heard of trainees being dissuaded from doing so, having been advised that they should start their career in a mainstream school, yet this is not a requirement.

Special schools themselves need to take some responsibility, ensuring that they are proactive about attracting potential teachers and starting by actively seeking volunteers who are prospective or recent graduates, hosting training placements and helping to support staff to gain degrees. After all, specialist schools can be their own best advertisement.

But the most important thing is for the government to give the sector some air time; to create some parity within its drive to promote the profession. That will help to ensure that all children benefit from the call to get into teaching.

 

Simon Knight is director of education at the National Education Trust

 

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