If you solved a Daily Telegraph cryptic crossword on the 13th January 1942, you could have played a crucial role in supporting the allies in the Second World War.

Individuals, the most famous of which was Alan Turing, were able to complete the Telegraph crossword in 12 minutes, and members of this group went on to become the Bletchley Code Breakers. The Code Breakers were known for ‘cracking the Enigma code’ or more accurately unravelled a German Army Administrative Key and the ‘red key’ used by Luftwaffe liaison officers coordinating air support for army units.

Every year we hold an Annual SENCO Conference to support SENCOs to develop SEN Strategic leadership in school and have become somewhat infamous for our titles, having named one Conference SENC007, and offering workshop sessions such  as ‘enter the Casino Royale to plan how to make effective use of the Pupil Premium’ and ‘Diamonds are forever – how to make the most effective us of teaching assistants’

It seemed fitting therefore that for our SENCO Conference in October 2015, we would adopt the title, ‘Enigma – Cracking the Code’, due to being a year into the SEND Reforms. However It was during the Summer that I began to think that maybe the theme should not really be about ‘Cracking a Code’ but solving a puzzle.

There was no code to crack; SENCOs already knew this code. Schools had adapted their policies in line with the new Code of Practice and followed guidelines on new Statutory responsibilities, such as the publication of a School Information Report on their website. The SEND Reform that was/would be bringing change, was around the SEN Assessment processes adopted locally by the Local Authority.

The new puzzle, and where I believe SENCOs need to focus in School is around every teacher being a teacher of SEN, and the strategic leadership role within improving teaching and learning, for example

Leadership

• The SENCO is a member of the Senior Leadership Team
• The SENCO is up to date with current policy and has disseminated this across the School
• The SENCO closely monitors the effectiveness of Staff who work with pupils with SEND

Improving Teaching & Learning

• Under the guidance of the SENCO, teachers plan pupil’s work, brief Support Staff accordingly and check how pupils are learning
• Teaching is consistently good
• Teaching and Support Staff break work into smaller steps so that pupils can see the progress they are making
• Teachers mark pupil’s work regularly to inform lesson planning and provide constructive feedback they can act upon
• Targets set are checked regularly to ensure they are appropriate for pupil’s needs 

For many SENCOs, these are not new puzzles. Many have been looking for the answers for some time. Like the Telegraph crossword which for most people is impossible to answer without the answers in front of them, many of the answers are available, its knowing where to look and in looking for the answers sharing with school staff so that the needs of pupils with SEND are effectively met.

All Teachers are Teachers of SEN, and many of then do not always realise it. A SENCO can help and support a classroom teacher to solve their own puzzles as well, by advising, mentoring and coaching.

During the Engima Conference we strived to support SENCOs to address these puzzles, David Bartram focused on Strategic leadership and spoke about School to School Support and Auditing current practice, Dr Garry Squires talked about the latest research on Dyslexia and staff from MoreHouse School in Surrey talked about meeting the needs of pupils with Speech and Language difficulties. We also held a range of workshops on meeting pupil’s individual needs, such as ‘building a picture’ which explored ways of gathering evidence which demonstrates support with pupils with Social, Emotional and Mental Health Needs.

SENCOs from the newly appointed to the more experienced, don’t just have to attend Conferences to support their development they can undertake training such as the National SENCO Award and work in clusters with other Schools to keep their knowledge up to date.

A SENCO does not need to have all the answers to all questions about SEND, but should be equipped to know where to find them. A SENCO may not be able to solve a crossword in twelve minutes and there maybe different solutions to the same puzzle, but nothing is a puzzle if you know the answer or at least know where to find it.

NB : If anyone knows this particular clue without looking it up  –  ‘official instruction not to forget the servants’ Let me know..