top SEN blog posts
education, inclusion, special education, special needs, Teaching

10 reasons why NQTs should consider working in specialist provision.

Newly Qualified Teachers – Please Consider Special Schools when you are Job Hunting.

If you have recently qualified and looking for a teaching post I would urge you to consider working in a specialist provision, whether that be a PRU, special school, specialist unit or residential school. The children deserve your energy and passion. Why I hear you ask? Well here are 10 reasons to start off with. Please also have a read of our post Top Tips for NQT’s working in the field of special education.

10 Reasons to apply for an SEN position

It will immerse you in an environment where generalisations and stereotypes will be cast aside and you will get to know each child as an individual.

Inclusion is real. You will become adept at identifying barriers to learning and developing effective strategies for overcoming them for all your students.

A quote about special education You will become adept at removing barriers to learning quote
You will work very closely with specialists like Speech and language therapists to develop and embed personalised targets and communication systems.

Classroom management will become second nature. Seating plans, LSA deployment, positioning of furniture, organisation of resources and layout of classroom will never faze you again.

Collaboration and working/leading a team will become the norm for you. This is a skill that will serve you wherever your career takes you.

Building and leading a team of LSA’s will show you the true meaning of team work in an education setting without having to move into management (CV gold).

The children really are at the center of everything, test scores and box ticking is buried in the need for student centered school ethos.

Lets be honest here – smaller class sizes mean you will know every thing there is to know about every child you teach. Innovation and creativity are essential skills that you will develop and use every day.

You will understand the true meaning of differentiation. Not just in lessons but in discipline, approach, tone and even the words you use with each student.

pecial education NQT learning quote

These are based on my experiences of the strengths of specialist provisions, I’m not suggesting that these don’t exist in mainstream education. I would love to hear your comments and ideas.

 

 

8 thoughts on “10 reasons why NQTs should consider working in specialist provision.”

  1. Those are ten great reasons, Joe. As you say they are skills that are necessary in mainstream also, but they are not always as visible. I was interested in the use of the word “magpie”. I haven’t heard it used in that way before and wonder at its meaning.

  2. I am a Specialist in the -Barrier to Learning Field I have been working with Learners in the most difficult community in my country South Africa and I have a blog and Facebook page “called- Helping South Africa Kids with Barriers to Learning ” if you need help or can assist me in any way please do so our kids are in need of so much and it isn’t available – assistance with sites with free downloads for kids with barriers especially Andriod would be highly appreciated
    Kind Regards Rene Radov

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.