Starting Strong in SEND

Why start your career in SEND?

In a climate where more and more teachers are expected to manage additional needs in the classroom, this article explores why and how the NIoT ECT programme meets not only the needs of those in a mainstream setting, but additionally teachers who have answered the call of working in specialist education settings.

There are currently over 1.7 million children in England receiving some form of SEND support, with more than 483,000 (5.3% of all enrolled students) with an EHCP. This number is growing daily and is double the levels recorded 10 years ago. While mainstream colleagues are developing expertise to manage increased prevalence of SEN in their classrooms, those working in specialist settings, where the complex needs of learners are intensified further, are challenged on a daily basis to balance the removal of barriers to learning with the pressure of delivering an outcome focused curriculum. And some of us love a challenge!!

The focus on SEND in the recent White Paper (published 23 February 2026) recognises schools as ‘incredible agents for change’, highlighting two key ambitions: ensuring higher standards for all and halving the disadvantage gap by the end of Key Stage 4 - including targeting issues with attendance. Government acknowledgement and support, alongside increased investment in professional development and training in SEND, shows a recognition of the importance of the work completed by professionals working in SEND every day.

A SEND specific ECT experience

For any Early Career Teacher (ECT), it is important to gain experience and develop mastery while applying the knowledge gained through the ITT. The new combined framework lends itself to building on the foundations learned in training and applying them within the induction period.

However, learning for SEND ECTs often needs to occur in a non-linear fashion, taking into account priorities relating to barriers to learning, cohorts and curriculums. Flexible and contextualised guidance is therefore even more vital. Not only are SEND ECTs learning to navigate the classroom, developing skills in:

• Behaviour management and relational practice
• Adaptive teaching and individualised learning opportunities
• Becoming a reflective practitioner
• Flexing theory to hook learners

Additionally, they are required to become experts in removing barriers to learning, understand a range of complex diagnosis and the impact they have on individuals, work with a range of multidisciplinary professionals (integrating their advice into the classroom environment) and manage a team of staff, many of whom often have years of experience in SEND. Mentors who recognise this and are able to guide and support this are crucial and their training and support offer needs to reflect this too.

Cohorts of SEND students can be significantly different, while appearing under the one umbrella title. As a SEND practitioner with over 20 years, I appreciate the flexibility required of teachers in the classroom. My years of experience have enabled me to adapt and be responsive to learners; it is this background that facilitators like myself expose when delivering, using real-life examples and experience to supplement the core materials. Whilst still more novice, our SEND ECTs need guidance and experience to be shaped and shared with them in a manner that enables them to apply knowledge across vastly broad domains.

How can the NIoT ECT offer support those entering into a career in SEND provisions?

Well, it has been written by experienced teacher educators who have designed a programme that delivers the updated ITTECF with contextualised expert advice. Key contributors such as Alex Quigley (blogger & author, providing literacy expertise) and Mohammed Abdallah (writer & speaker, regional director of Reach Foundation, shaping inclusive practice) ensure that SEND ECTs are guided to develop their approaches to meet the needs of their students.

Reuben Moore, the Executive Director of Programmes at the NIoT, has articulated this vision, a focus on balancing ECT and student need:

"We have designed a programme that we believe is incredibly respectful of the time of ECTs and their mentors. Our flexible and feasible programme reduces unnecessary workload, while still maintaining high-quality content and delivery."

NIoT utilises a model of deliberate practice designed to build teaching habits through structured, manageable improvements. This approach is based on a specific model of ‘practice with purpose’, by Deans for Impact, which focuses on five key principles, building towards mastery.

At the start of each half term, ECTs complete a diagnostic tool, discuss the outcomes with their mentor and then have the ability to a self-study module for that half term which is most appropriate. Additionally, schools have the flexibility to reorder modules to match a school’s development plan. This encourages a model of bespoke learning that balances the individual needs of SEND ECTs alongside any wider school priorities.

NIoT have carefully selected facilitators from a range of mainstream and SEND settings; they have ensured a breadth of expertise to support teachers through their first two years in their careers.

Having delivered webinars on the programme, it is clear that NIoT recognises the value of these experts and encourages them to interpret the subtle nuances in the materials and relate the scenarios to ECTs’ own experiences in the classroom.

During these sessions, delivery partners share and unpick an area of practice, demonstrating explicitly the impact it can have on practice and therefore students and their outcomes. During the second half of the session, ECTs have time to work collaboratively in specifically chosen smaller peer groups, enabling the contextualisation of materials, ensuring the opportunity to maximise on the relevance of the materials.

The core principles of the session can be applied across various domains so that all attendees can relate to the materials and develop their practice as a result of the CPD focus.

To support ECTs and mentors NIoT have developed the ‘Prism’ platform where instructional coaching and mentoring is logged. This provides a level of structure to the programme, whilst promoting school autonomy through writing targets which are bespoke to the ECTs individual needs. Personally, working in a SEND setting, this level of support, allowing for contextualisation to our setting, is ideal. It enables us to develop staff in a tailormade fashion to meet the demands of the school.