“My sons needs would be met if the teachers knew how to handle his meltdowns”

”My daughter masks in school, but the teachers just think she’s shy”

”The SENCO has never heard of Dyscalculia“

”My child is well behaved so his Special Needs are usually missed”

These are just a few of the comments I have heard from parents who are at their wits end when it comes to their child/children with special needs. 

During my own Teacher Training course where I trained to be a Secondary English Teacher, I spent just 1 day learning about Special Needs. The course lasted 1 year. This meant that I was able to teach Shakespeare, Poetry, explain what metaphors were, mark English exam papers, but I was no clearer in understanding the young person at the front of my classroom who was autistic, and they were no clearer in understanding who Romeo and Juliet were.

There are thousands of fantastic teachers across the UK who we praise and love for the work they do with our children. However, I have found through my own research, that over 66% of them do not feel that they have had adequate training in SEND. There are many reasons for this, but the people that are mostly affected by this are the children. I have come across the most wonderful teachers of History, Art and the likes who may be able to get a neurotypical child through their GCSE’s with their subject knowledge, but often leave the child with learning difficulties to the teaching assistant. 

I believe that if a compulsory SEND module was added to all teacher training courses from 2024, we will be birthing a generation of well equipped teachers for our SEN students. This module needs to be a non-negotiable pass in order for the trainee teacher to be accredited with a PGCE, QTS/QTLS or ECT.

The Code of Practice says that every teacher is a teacher of SEN. It is not just the role of the SENCO or support staff to understand our children. 

We need to see changes from the very top in order for this to happen! The teachers want to know more about SEND, they want their teacher training days to be used on issues that will help shape the children they are responsible for. They want their CPD to include tips and strategies for SEN and they want to feel confident in their classrooms.

Please share my petition and thank you for reading. 

CB x

(SEND consultant/advisor, Ex-SENCO, Ex-Teacher)