At Last – A Respected Special Educational Needs (SEN) Diploma Course that can be Studied in Your Own Home

A Day in the Life of a Special Educational Needs Teaching Assistant – Update Article

Obviously every day is very different and depends on the varying learning difficulties that the children in my care have and what the curriculum is for that day. No day is typical but I will try to give you an outline.

Firstly it would be good to define what is meant by Special Educational Needs.

Special Educational Needs – A Definition

A pupil is defined as having Special Educational Needs (SEN) if he or she has a learning difficulty which requires special educational provision to be made for him or her. All pupils with SEN must have those needs addressed, via a broad and balanced education. In most cases, it is the pupil's mainstream school that will make this provision. (teachernet)

Then let's move on to the variety of circumstances and conditions that call for Special Educational Needs but please remember that each child is different, each child has the right to be included, each child matters. There are no typical children so please treat these “labels” as a very general and approximate way of describing what may cause a child to have educational special needs.

Most of my children come from severely disadvantaged homes leaving them with big behavioural, emotional and communication issues. But there are many other conditions that cause children and young people to have special educational needs; autism and Asperger syndrome, cerebral palsy, partial hearing and sight, Down's syndrome, oppositional defiant disorder, stammers.

So I hope you can now appreciate why there is no such thing as a typical day for a special educational needs support assistant but here goes.

The first job of the special educational needs support assistant is to check my children's individual schedules to make sure they have all they need for that day's planned activities. This will include books, paper, equipment and any other materials that will be necessary for the activity.

Each child has a Velcro board onto which we stick pictures or symbols in the order in which the activities are to be completed. As a task is finished, together we remove the symbol from the board. This not only keeps us both up to date but is a source of great encouragement, it's a bit like the feeling we all get when crossing through our jobs on a “to do” list.

Wherever possible SEN children share the same classroom as their peers because the whole aim is to integrate them and provide a genuine atmosphere of inclusion.

This includes registration, so they toddle off to register with all the others in their class. As for sharing other lessons this is where I come in. As the special educational needs support assistant, that's what I do – support the teacher who will have accounted for their different ways and rates of learning and planned their lessons based around the National Curriculum but advising on books, materials and classroom siting.

Some children need help with the three “R's” Reading, Writing and Arithmetic or comprehension in general. Others have had no idea how to behave because of parental neglect or their actual disability. A SEN child is often poor at “organising” themselves and their activities but the major requirement that I come across is that of improving their communication skills.

The daily organisation of the curriculum for Special Educational Needs Children

Mornings – These consist of the more academic activities – maths, writing, reading – often working in conjunction with the teacher sharing alternate days with the pupils.

Afternoons – These are more relaxing activities – art, music, drama etc. This time can be most rewarding as each child learns to express himself or herself with a painting or playing some sort of musical instrument. Drama can be fun for everyone.

Home Time – The SEN children finish their day at the same time as the rest of the school and are often collected in individual taxis with an escort. So a one to one handover is needed to make sure the escort gets the child to see them home by taxi.

The day may also have included:

Going to the head teacher – If children especially those with social problems have been very disruptive they may have to go to the head along with me. The Head will use their position to impress on the child that certain behaviour is not acceptable and will not be tolerated in the school. Some children are used to this frequent format and are ready with their resigned apology when asked for.

Passing on information – The Special Educational Needs Support Assistant is working with children closely throughout the day and notices things that may or may not be important but do not have access to files so do not know the children's background. However, a new bruise, a child being extremely tired or eating ravenously at lunchtime could all be important factors – missing jigsaw pieces that needed to be passed on to the head.

By now I hope you have a taste for the rewarding work of a Special Educational Needs Teaching Assistant, you should have the picture. Can you see yourself in that picture?

If so, enrol now, get the training, get the diploma – and then really start learning along with your children that have special educational needs. Learn to make a difference in these children's and young people's lives because every single one of them matters.