Special educational needs advisory teachers (3-16 years)

Specialist teachers apply their knowledge of child development and education to promote children’s learning, social development, emotional well-being and to support schools and nurseries to make the curriculum available to all learners.

Special educational needs (SEN) advisory teachers are postgraduate, qualified teachers with additional experience of Special Educational Needs.

They provide an advisory service to support the teaching and learning of pupils in schools, as well as providing professional development to staff. It is a ‘traded service’, and schools can use their delegated SEN funding to purchase hours to access support.

Who is supported?

SEN Advisory Teachers work in consultation with significant adults in the child or young person’s (CYP) life. Relevant information will be collated as part of the referral process. Most of their work is directly with CYP aged 3 to 16 seeking solutions to concerns and difficulties. Following requests from schools, and permission from parents, they work within education settings.

What can you expect?

Work with CYP may involve one, some or all the following:

• working directly with individuals to promote learning
• observation of CYP in their learning environment as well as individual assessments. These will vary according to the nature of the request for involvement and the presenting difficulties.
• working through consultation with other significant adults to plan positive change for individual children or young people whose learning, or development is causing concern
• advising schools, settings and parents/ carers on interventions and strategies including ways to evaluate their effectiveness
• gaining the views of children and young people.

Work with schools may involve:

• contributing to professional development (training) of teachers and other educational support staff including training on evidence-based and research-informed interventions. This could take the form of SEND surgeries for all staff.
• working with special educational needs and disabilities co-ordinators (SENDCOs)/ Inclusion Managers to develop good practice based on the SEND Code of Practice and to audit current school SEND practice
• working with schools to help develop policies or evaluate practice to promote learning
• liaising, coordinating information and working with other agencies involved with children and their families/ carers
• supporting SENDCOs to gather information contributing to Statutory Assessment of Special Educational Needs under Children & Families Act, 2014.

How to get involvement from the service/ who can request involvement?

SENDCOs can request involvement for children in their school or setting via a SENS referral form. Parents/ carers must give their informed consent. The referral form also provides the opportunity for parents/ carers to raise any concerns about their child.

Parents and carers who feel their child may need service involvement should speak with the school’s SENDCO.

What can you do if a school does not feel your child needs service involvement?

Your child’s SENDCo may have put in place appropriate levels of intervention and support so that needs are met from within school resources. If your child’s school does not think involvement of the service is required, you could:

• ask the school’s SENDCO if there are any other Special Educational Needs Support (SENS) Services that your child could access
• search the Local Offer for other SEND Support Services, click on the pink ‘specific areas of need’ tiles or the ‘if you have concerns’ pathway.

Get in touch with the Special Educational Needs Information, Advice and Support Service (SENDIAS). This team will be able talk with you about your concerns and can help you find information and support.

For further information about the Traded SEN Advisory Teacher service please view:

• Traded Learning Support Local Offer
• School Support Site

Or contact: