What I wish I knew - SEND with Nicky and Rachael

In this podcast I am talking to 2 SENCOs.

Nicky Vangalis qualified in 2008, teaching first of all in Basildon and then returning home to Southend in 2012. While EAL lead she took every opportunity to increase her knowledge of SEND and became school SENCO in 2018. She has achieved many other things, including being EAL and MFL lecture for the Thames SCITT and writing various articles for The EAL Journal.

Rachael Marlow had a big decision to make. Houses of Parliament or school? School every time was Rachael's decision as children are much more interesting than MPs. After a quick trip to Costa Rica for 3 months, Rachael returned to England and started her SCITT training. She spent 5 years as a class teacher, then became a SENCo, an Assistant Head and Early Years Leader before deciding to focus full time on SEN in her school in Rayleigh.

In this podcast we talk about …

• The challenge posed not by children losing a year of academic learning but by losing a year of emotional development and how some children have missed key developmental stages so they need support in this more than anything else.
• Dealing with the anxiety that has been created by the last 18 months and accepting that it is a very different year this year to other years, so teachers must be gentle with themselves.
• How the difficulty posed by Ofsted inspections is the main thing that makes being a teacher unpleasant, but there is little point being anxious about it because, whatever anyone says, they are not terribly important in your career, so just do your best.
• How you must make time for yourself and set this time aside every week (even write it on the calendar) so you have a proper balance between work and the rest of your life. Exhausted teachers cannot teach to their best.
• The small actions, comments and behaviours from children that show they value you and care about you as much as you care about them.
• The importance of making sure the mic of the sound field for hearing impaired children is switched off when you are not in class, otherwise children can hear everything you are doing!
• SEND support gives all children the chance to achieve and succeed whatever their needs are. Avoid judging them and aim to form great relationships to get the best from them.
• How SENCOs are like dogs with a bone or a pitball fighting for their children.
• In SEND never worry about not knowing everything, as what works for one child may not work for another, but don’t let this dishearten you. Just steadily increase your knowledge of what works by talking to others.
• Creating small steps on individual learning plans or one plans are what is needed so children can achieve them in the set time. Be ambitious but not too ambitious.
• Always tell parents you will do the best for their SEND children and that you are on their side fighting to get the best for them.