As an NQT, I learnt my craft, with a year two class in Stepney in the East End of London. There were a number of non readers, pupils who had newly arrived from Bangladesh with little or no spoken English and several pupils with Statements of SEN (now EHCP).

For those of you who know me personally, read my blogs or have listened to me present, you may have heard me say that applying to work in Tower Hamlets as a NQT, was one of the best decisions I ever made. The impact of this teaching experience on my career is unmeasurable and unquantifiable, and without doubt has enabled me to be the educationalist I am today.

I had completed my teaching training in Nottingham, and what a difference over a hundred miles makes. I moved to London to experience the ‘bright lights’ of city living, and having secured my teaching position, I had the opportunity to live in a Housing Association property in Bow, which wasn’t really what I had in mind, but it was cheap and there was a DLR station close by ( I would be giving my age away, if I said, it only ran on week days, and was replaced by a bus at the weekend)

When I took ownership of my classroom for the first time, it was like being asked to produce a Tiramisu in the technical challenge of the Bake off. I know what a Tiramisu looks like. I know what it tastes like. I have an idea of what some of the ingredients are. I could probably make some of the component parts.

For example, I know the measurements required for the construction of a  sponge cake, and it is all about the ratios of butter, sugar, flour and eggs, so could get so far, but then I would need to turn back to the recipe book for the oven setting and length of time it should be baked for. As this always takes time, energy and forward planning, and domestic tasks are not a strength of mine, if I want a sponge cake, I would most likely visit Waitrose, M&S or Tesco, and almost certainly if I wanted a Tiramisu I would buy one ( I have attempted a Tiramisu, once, and it was not that successful!)

As a NQT in a school, depending on the current training route undertaken, some of the key components for making a traditional Tiramisu may be missing, especially when supporting pupils who may be experiencing difficulties. As there is a language to cake baking, there is the creamed method, the folding method, the kneading method, there is a language for SEND; ASD, SALT, Multisensory teaching, EHCP etc.

During the technical challenge of the BakeOff, the bakers are given limited instructions and expected to understand caramelize, flute and fold. Consequently new teachers have their own technical challenge when they are given a class list and/or a provision map. Both of which could contain a range of terms, which could be unfamiliar if they have only been taught to make the equivalent of a Tiramisu and not the Jamie Oliver version with ‘bashed up coffee beans’ or one with a honeycomb topping.

For me, when assembling my ingredients for my first class, I had a superb mentor, who met with me regularly and helped me to plan for the different needs in my classroom, but also I needed to work closely with the school SENCO. She had the skills to be able to make the different versions of Tiramisu which were needed and she and was able to guide an NQT to master the original recipe. She was able to provide support on annual reviews, parental meetings, individual target setting, managing provision, supporting teaching assistants and general advice & guidance.

After my first year I knew I wanted to be like the SENCO. She was an inspiration and one of life’s angels. She was tireless and relentless in her support for pupils with SEND, as well as families living in challenging circumstances,  she could support families to find refuge, she could keep families together by finding respite opportunities,  and she would provide clothing for pupils who needed it, as well as  providing a breakfast club so pupils did not start the day hungry. She understood the need for ‘pupil premium’, well before it was a term used by the DFE.

Since my NQT year, SEND leadership has changed. There is no longer an expectation that one person alone in the school, knows everything about SEND, Inclusion, Safeguarding and Child Protection and that they should also know how to teach all children with a range of identified SEND difficulties.

For a current NQT, a package of support can be developed whereby a SENCO leads a programme to support an NQT to join the community of all teachers who are teachers of SEND. This would include talking to all teachers in the school about individual target setting, managing provision and teaching assistants, as well as visits a range of specialist centres of provision, such as Special Schools and PRUs.

I attended the The Key state of Education presentation last week, and a member of the audience said that of the NQTs joining the profession this year, 1/8 will go on to become Senior leaders in Schools. When I was an NQT, I did not anticipate that I would become a senior leader  who is able to lead SEND policy and practice, and mentor future senior leaders, but as my experiences  have enabled me to do so, I hope that I can continue to support all levels of the profession, by providing the correct ingredients for the task and if you ever want to share cake with me, let me know… I do like Tiramisu!