A lack of specialist teacher training routes is a situation the sector can no longer tolerate. Not only does it mean special schools can’t get enough teachers, but far too few in mainstream schools have the skills to deal with rising and increasingly complex needs in their settings. So we’re putting that right.
I’ve had plenty of conversations with people desperately keen to teach with us. Many had a deep yearning to work in a specialist setting from the start of their careers, but all faced professional obstacles they couldn’t easily surmount without going down a mainstream ITT route first.
Those interactions encapsulated a long-time problem for special schools: too many people who would be enormous assets for the sector are deflected from their path by having to first train and gain professional experience in a mainstream environment.
My own background was in mainstream education, so I’m familiar with these challenges. The traditional training route hadn’t equipped me to meet the needs of SEND children in my classroom. In fact, it hadn’t really addressed SEND at all, so I was driven to develop my knowledge and expertise myself.
Having done so, I was determined to address the lack of teacher development specifically for the specialist sector. I wanted to give ITT recruits a bridge over the mainstream so their SEND career could begin straightaway.
I started talking to Best Practice Network and they recognised the issues immediately. So together we began developing a bespoke SEND ITT course. Less than two years on, the first trainees on our SEND ITT programme are well on their way to qualifying this summer
We’ve created this programme from the ground up as a SEND ITT course. SEND specialism here is built in, not a bolt-on.
Uniquely, it’s an apprenticeship, which means our trainees can get onto the course with a degree in, say, youth work. They learn, train and earn on the job as they work towards qualification.
SEND specialism here is built in, not a bolt-on
The programme is being delivered by experts and experienced teachers in the sector through our trust. It is equipping trainees with skills, knowledge, understanding and attitudes around the four main areas of SEND.
As well as skilling up a new generation of SEND teachers, the programme is making a difference to mainstream ITT trainees.
We now have learners from Best Practice Network’s mainstream ITT programmes opting into webinars delivered by our coaches and facilitators. These ‘SEND surgeries’ help trainees and mentors from both specialist and mainstream programmes improve their SEND knowledge in a range of areas, including ADHD, SEMH and cognition.
One school leader told us they were relieved the programme was available because they couldn’t risk losing their current staff on a mainstream training route. A senior trust leader was similarly reassured, saying the programme meant staff could remain in their SEND school for much of their training.
We’ve also had positive feedback from our student teachers. There are currently 73 of them working towards QTS and a level 6 teacher apprenticeship qualification by the summer – including six from our trust.
And with a waiting list that already stands at over 60, we’re expecting a bigger cohort when September comes.
In the longer term, The Gallery Trust and Best Practice Network plan to expand our programme. But right now, we’re focused on consolidating what we have achieved so that our trainees can really make a difference to SEND children early on in their careers.
Our ambition was to help passionate, committed people from a range of graduate routes become SEND teachers without first having to shoehorn themselves into a mainstream model and risking never making it to a specialist setting.
We think we’ve made a good start, and the bridge we’ve built over the mainstream is already allowing expertise to travel both ways between the sectors.
The programme’s positive impact on the recruitment and retention of SEND teachers is assured – and the flow of knowledge back to mainstream schools has already begun.
It’s a wonder ITT for SEND was neglected for so long.
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