Ensuring Inclusivity and Equal Opportunities for Students: An Interview With a SENCO and Assistant Principal
07 Feb, 20251-2 minutes
In this blog, you will learn:
- About the role of a SENCO, Assistant Principal for Inclusion and National Lead Practitioner.
- How to ensure staff are inclusive and supportive of all students with SEND.
- Where the latest SEND jobs are and how to apply for them.
Working a dual role can be challenging in any industry and in the SEND sector it’s important to always aspire for inclusion and provide support for those who need it. An Assistant Principal for Inclusion fulfils the duties of a Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) and is responsible for ensuring all students have equal access to education.
In this exclusive interview we spoke with Zara Obeng, a SENCO, Assistant Principal for Inclusion and National Lead Practitioner, to discover how she leads the way in changing how staff view SEND and inclusion.
We spoke with Zara about the challenges facing SENCOs and how to better understand and identify the four areas of SEND need, to ensure all pupils feel included and accepted with opportunities to thrive.
What are your primary responsibilities as an Assistant Principal for Inclusion and a National Lead Practitioner for Secondary SEND?
Where to begin! I am responsible for ensuring pupils with SEND at Oasis Academy Oldham (OAO) and within Oasis Community Learning (OCL) have the best opportunities to reach their potential in line with their non-SEND peers.
I deliver training and help implement the ‘Oasis Way’, which is our approach to SEND that aspires for true inclusion at the heart of the community.
We aspire to support Oasis practitioners at all levels to achieve genuine inclusion wherever possible, rather than exclusion, segregation or provision in separate classrooms, to reflect our mission and values. This means that we need to offer equity, rather than equality, adjusting our academy offer to meet children where they are at and provide enhanced support for those who need it, within all stages of our graduated response.
What inspired you to pursue a career in education, particularly within the field of SEND?
From a young age I always wanted to be a PE Teacher as I loved playing sports. I even used to go back to my secondary school and volunteer to support PE lessons. This was the catalyst for me pursuing a career in education.
From the very beginning one of my strengths was getting through to the hardest to reach pupils. I was always given these classes to teach and always had a lot of pupils who came to me when they were dysregulated and needed support. My mum was also a SENCO and I saw how hard she fought to support her pupils. This inspired me to follow in her footsteps.
Can you share some of the opportunities you have experienced in your career?
I have been extremely lucky that in my last two schools I have had amazing line managers that have supported me with my vision for SEND.
The biggest opportunity I have been given is from my former Principal, who let me lead the way in changing how staff view SEND and Inclusion. It is no longer an add-on but what we live and breathe everyday. She believed in my ability to implement change and encouraged me to apply for the National Lead Practitioner role.
Through the excellent guidance and support from my line manager, I have had the opportunity to grow my own knowledge and professional development to help support other academies and staff with.
What obstacles have you faced in your career and how did you overcome them?
Unfortunately, with the good comes the bad, and being a SENCO is all encompassing. It can be an extremely lonely role in a secondary school especially if there isn’t any SEND provision in place or if you have a small team. There is so much admin that at times you feel like you are buried underneath a mountain of paperwork and can see no escape.
Implementing change is made even more difficult if the SENCO is not part of the Senior Leadership Team. You can have your line manager discuss your proposals on your behalf, but they may not know all the statutory requirements that you need. They may not fully understand your vision and how you want to ensure it is implemented successfully. This can make you feel like you are fighting a continuous losing battle.
What’s the most valuable lesson that you’ve learned in your career?
I have had many different roles in my career including being a Director of Applied Learning (vocational subjects), a Specialist Teacher for ASC/SLCN, a Head of Year and Inclusion Lead SENCO before my current role. I have learnt a lot through all these roles, and they have all played a part in the leader I am today.
The most valuable lesson I have learnt is that not everyone thinks like me, not everyone understands what being truly inclusive looks like and why it is important to ensure that all pupils, including those with SEND, can thrive. You can’t make the necessary changes yourself; you need a team of like-minded people who can bring the whole staff body with you.
Can you share some of the challenges and opportunities you have faced in your career?
The three biggest challenges that any SENCO faces are funding, dealing with an inadequate local authority and time. Funding allocated to support SEND pupils does not come close to what is needed to truly support them.
As SENCOs we are always coming up with ingenious methods of how to meet needs despite not having the funding to do so. Dealing with a struggling local authority is hard work and usually, the people in these jobs are as passionate about supporting SEND pupils as the SENCOs.
However, due to funding cuts, services have waiting times of over 2 years and there are not enough alternative or specialist provisions to accommodate all the pupils who need them. This means it is a constant battle of attending mediation and tribunals to secure an EHCP for pupils.
Finally, time. There are not enough hours in the day to get everything completed. You are constantly juggling 20 tasks at once; you need to learn how to prioritise and know when to say no. You can’t do everything, and you need to be OK with this. Do what you can and remember that you need to ensure you have a healthy work-life balance.
How have things changed or progressed in the SEND sector since the start of your career?
When I first started teaching, I had no clue who had SEND and who didn’t. All lessons were plug and play. Then came the famous ‘differentiation,’ the guise of separate worksheets for different abilities and the sync class for ‘naughty’ or low attaining pupils. It is a far cry from that now.
Inclusion is at the heart of everything we do. All staff know about the four areas of need; which pupils have SEND, how to adapt lessons to meet need, how to identify pupils with SEND and what they can do to ensure all pupils feel included and accepted.
How do you balance the needs of SEND students with the wider school population to create an inclusive environment for all?
Ensuring inclusion is at the heart of all we do, the wider school population benefits from all the adaptations, interventions and provisions available to our SEND pupils.
Adaptation of lessons supports everyone; our robust and evidence-based interventions are in place to support anyone who needs to access them. We have the Oasis Room which allows pupils who become dysregulated to regulate and return to lessons.
We have the Learning Support Unit (LSU) for pupils to access if they are struggling in lessons or are having interventions and our Personal Pathways provision with two provisions to support pupils with Social, Emotional, and Mental Health (SEMH), Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA) and Anxiety-Based School Avoidance (ABSA).
We also have two Speech and Language Therapists and an Educational Psychologist once a week to assess our pupils and provide recommendations to help support these pupils. Our extensive ECO clubs ensure our pupils have a huge variety of clubs and activities they can enjoy. Our personal development and PSHE curriculum allow our pupils to understand what inclusion and community really means to them.
We have a vast pastoral team with one Head of Year and two Pastoral Leaders for each year group to provide support for our pupils. We also have Place2Be onsite everyday and Positive Steps to support our Key Stage 4 pupils with their post-16 choices.
We recently achieved the Inclusive Quality Mark Award and were recognised as a Centre of Excellence.
How do you collaborate with other staff members, parents, and external organisations to ensure that students with SEND are supported?
We collaborate with staff through numerous different methods. Face to face briefings, CPD, tailored CPD, access to support materials through TEAMs, Bromcom and Provision Map. We ensure staff have access to pupil passports and ILPs.
Our teaching and learning habits have inclusive practices throughout. We have Regional Inset days and national staff meetings, and we have joint planning time in faculties to support each other.
Parents have lots of ways to collaborate with us through email, phone calls, reviews, meetings and we have coffee mornings and events to support parents with children with SEND. We also have additional evenings for transition from Year 6 to Year 7 and Year 11 to Year 12. We are always looking for more ways to collaborate with families to support them in any way we can.
Our Hub team also supports the community with food projects, adult education, school holiday activities, community kitchen, farm and growing projects, advice and support, youth clubs, mentoring and vulnerable family support.
We collaborate with external agencies to ensure that our pupils with SEND have the best support in place and implement any recommendations and strategies they provide. We work with our local SEND team, local Alternative Provision/specialist schools, Educational Psychologists, Speech and Language Therapists, Occupational Therapists and Physiotherapists. As we are a Centre of Excellence, we support other schools and trusts with their SEND provision.
How do you keep up to date with changes in the SEND industry?
We have a great Inclusion team who ensure we are up to date on the latest changes in the SEND industry and have the training required to disseminate the information to our own academies and the academies I support.
We also provide whole trust training to ensure all our staff can support pupils with SEND. I also follow SEND experts on social media and like to read books and journals on the latest developments in SEND.
What changes would you like to see to better support the needs of children and young people with SEND and promote inclusivity?
This is a difficult question to answer. I would like to see funding given to services to ensure early identification is possible and intervention and support is given to the children, family and educational setting. All teaching qualifications should have more emphasis on SEND and how to support the pupils they will be teaching.
More work needs to be done nationwide on how to make a school truly inclusive and ensure schools have the necessary resources for this to happen. The government needs to ensure funding is sufficient to ensure we can meet the needs of all our pupils. Not everyone is academic, and more vocational opportunities, subjects and schools are needed to ensure all pupils can succeed and are prepared for adult life.
What advice would you give to anyone considering a career in SEND provision within a local authority?
Do it! If you are passionate about helping pupils with SEND then I see no greater career choice. It is non-stop, never gets boring and brings you immense joy. You will have difficult days and feel like a failure but the reward of seeing a pupil with SEND succeed is amazing. Try volunteering and see which area and job you would like to specialise in. There are free webinars and courses you can access for more knowledge and support.
What’s next for you? Any future aspirations or upcoming projects?
I absolutely love my job of Assistant Principal for Inclusion and my role as a National Lead Practitioner for SEND. I am also currently Assistant Principal for KS3 Attitude and Behaviour which I am absolutely loving as the two areas are interlinked.
I want to be a Deputy Principal, as I love supporting other academies as well as my own. I am enrolled in the Diploma in Trauma and Mental Health Informed Schools and I am looking forward to implementing what I learn. I don’t know if I will go for headship one day but at this moment in time, I am undecided.
SCG educational psychology report
As specialists in SEND recruitment, we work alongside hundreds of Educational Psychologists throughout the UK and are mindful of the challenges they face in their ever evolving role.
After commissioning our own research from Educational Psychologists in both local authorities and private practice, we published the SCG Educational Psychology Workforce Insights Report 2024.
The report delves into trends within educational psychology, funding and resources, industry challenges, policies and legislation and the future of educational psychology.
Read the SCG Educational Psychology Workforce Insights Report 2024 here.
SEND jobs
If you’re searching for your next local authority SEND job, why not take a look at the latest vacancies, or simply upload your CV to be notified when a relevant position becomes available.
Local authority recruitment services
As specialist local authority SEND recruiters, we support local authorities nationwide with their temporary, interim and permanent staffing needs.
We can supply SEND staff for service redesign, tackling annual review backlogs and SEND/EHC Case workers to amend plans or hold annual review meetings.
If you’re struggling to fill a vacancy, why not get in touch with one of our team to see how we can help?
- South of the UK - Richard Shorrock
- Midlands & North of the UK - Adam Zyda
Share your experience
Every individual brings a unique set of experiences, thoughts, and insights to the table. We believe in giving a voice to a community of professionals to inspire positive change and champion reform in the SEND sector.
If you work in the SEND sector and would like to share your own personal and professional experiences, we’d love to hear from you. Perhaps you have a different perspective, could offer a fresh angle, or want to challenge assumptions.
Simply reach out to our Head of Content, Nicole Sherwood, to discuss a collaboration which makes your voice count.
Who is Spencer Clarke Group?
Established in 2017, we’re a vibrant and progressive recruitment agency based in the heart of the North West.
We continually reimagine the recruitment process to challenge convention and defy expectations; from creating a better recruitment experience to remodelling employee engagement, we thrive off doing things differently and turning heads along the way.
We operate in two sectors:
In eleven specialisms:
Healthcare, Social Care & Nursing
Corporate Functions & Business Support
