5 tips for managing SENCO workload

5 ways to tackle your workload

1.    Delegation

As with any role, there is always a never-ending list of jobs that need to be done. As a SENCO, many of these are admin based. Referrals take time and are just one example of where you can delegate at least part of a task.

When you’re completing a referral for a child, it’s not always you as the SENCO who knows them best. It’s usually going to be the class teacher who has the most knowledge of that pupil, so you are going to want to talk to them before filling in any paperwork. Obviously, teachers  have their own huge workload and we definitely don’t want to add to that unnecessarily. I always try and fill in what I can myself and then ask the teacher to fill in the in-depth details such as assessment levels, presentation in the classroom, strengths and difficulties. You can also do this with them rather than add more paper to their “to do” pile. Always make sure you consult the right people when you’re doing any sort of paperwork on a child – to save time and get the most accurate picture.

2.    Collaboration

As mentioned above, you need to make sure you ask the opinions of the people who know the pupil best. Teachers, support staff and particularly parents will all have valuable opinions and observations of the young person you are working with. Make sure you work together to get the best outcome for the pupil. Another way of collaborating with colleagues is to plan interventions together. I work closely with subject leaders, particularly our amazing English lead who has an extensive knowledge of phonics, reading and writing strategies, and interventions to help support those struggling. Luckily for me, she’s also an former SENCO!

In my school, we have an Inclusion Team comprised of myself, our senior leadership team (SLT), Literacy Coordinator, Numeracy Coordinator, family workers and teaching assistants who deliver interventions/small group support. Not everyone is needed for every meeting or conversation (to minimise workloads of all staff involved) but working together as an Inclusion Team really does make a huge amount of difference, not only to the pupils we’re supporting but to my own workload. If you’re a SENCO working on your own, my advice would be to find those colleagues who can support you and discuss creating an Inclusion Team with your SLT/headteacher.

3.    Prioritising

This sounds like such a simple thing to do – prioritising the most important jobs to do first – but it doesn’t always work out like that, does it?

If you’re anything like me, you’ll start one job but then remember something else that needs addressing to be able to complete it, so you branch off to look at that, then something else, then something else… until you’ve got about twenty tabs open on your computer and a million things circling round in your head. However, if you can prioritise tasks, it makes each day easier to manage and complete.

It can be difficult if you need to prioritise something for one student (to meet a deadline) but you know other students are also waiting to be looked at. The worry and guilt can be immense and you want to do everything all at the same time and as quickly as possible. But, to avoid burnout and to be effective, you need to be able to prioritise and set yourself targets.

Referrals and applications sometimes need to meet a particular date but if I don’t have any specific dates to meet, I try to set a realistic weekly target to achieve a specific amount of paperwork/referrals/phone calls etc. Sometimes pupils might move up that list if they have an appointment coming up which requires an up-to-date report or if a new pupil joins the school and needs support immediately, so whilst its important to have targets, you do need to allow for some flexibility.

4.    Organisation

I’m a bit obsessed with lists and post-it notes and I honestly don’t know how I’d manage my life without them! Being organised helps me to feel calmer and more in control of my day and more easily able to work out what I need to do and when. It’s not only organising my to-do list that helps though. I try hard to keep paperwork in organised files/folders (including digital files/folders) to make things easily accessible.

An organisational system might be just what you need to help make things a little bit easier! I use a programme called Provision Map which allows me to securely store digital files and reports for children so that staff can easily access relevant information. We can create Individual Learning Plans and Pupil Passports on there and easily share these with parents, giving the opportunity for parental communication. The whole system makes it incredibly easy to see what intervention and support an individual has had and needs.

5.    Support

The thing that really helps to manage workload (and generally makes my job so much easier) is support from colleagues and senior leadership.

If your senior leaders are supportive and understand what your role entails, they will be able to allocate the right amount of time for you to be out of class; they’ll make sure you have the opportunity to attend training and to train your own staff in school, to hold meetings and observe pupils, and to purchase the right resources needed for your job and for the pupils.

It makes a world of difference being in a supportive school environment, and I would urge anyone (SENCO or not) to make sure that you find the right place for you.