Christopher Roberston of the SENCo Forum Advisory Group has reviewed Developing Your Expertise as a SENCo edited by Helen Knowler, Hazel Richards and Stephanie Brewster which we published on 3rd October 2023. Our thanks to him for his time and attention.
This is a succinct, thoughtful, and rigorous guide to the role of the special educational needs coordinator (SENCo). It has been carefully edited and its contributors have successfully blended practice focused discussion and advice for aspiring, new to role and experienced SENCos working in a range of settings with critical research-based analysis that reveals the complexities of the role.
The book is very well structured and clearly lends itself to being a course reader for SENCOs, aspiring SENCos and other SEN professionals undertaking professional development courses. I can envisage it being used to enrich the programme content of the new National Professional Qualification (NPQ) SENCos when this is introduced in England in 2024, by both course providers and participants.
Importantly, the editors and chapter authors have firmly grounded the book’s content in the real world of SENCos, the multi-faceted nature of their professional practice and the dilemmas and challenges associated with SEN leadership. At the same time, they have contextualised and analysed this practice in detail, drawing on a wide range of research and utilising this effectively, to provide powerful theoretical insights into this practice and how it can be both understood and developed for the benefit of children, young people, and families.
Overall, this is a comprehensive and coherently argued text, well-edited and likely to stand the test of time. This is no small feat, given the unpredictable nature of SEN policy in England, and a credit to its authors.
Christopher Robertson
Chair, the SENCo-Forum Advisory Group
Visiting Professor, Special Educational Needs and Disability, College of Arts, Humanities and Education University of Derby
Lecturer in Special and Inclusive Education (1999 – 2015) and Programme lead, National Award for SEN Coordination, University of Birmingham (2009-2015)
The Critical Blog 