Debate contribution: Special Educational Needs Coordinators

Debate contribution by Mrs Michelle Guy on 28 April 2026.

MLA

Mrs Michelle Guy

Party at the time

Alliance Party

Date

28 April 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Special Educational Needs Coordinators

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5510224

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I beg to move

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I am pleased to propose the motion to give a voice to a workforce in our schools that is at the front line of our SEN crisis, our special educational needs coordinators (SENCOs). My colleagues across the House and I have listened to SENCOs in our constituencies, in the Education Committee and across Northern Ireland. They have come to us often in desperation at the level of workload, the lack of support, the outworking of reforms and the fact that their concerns about those reforms are ignored. Ultimately, they feel that, too often, they are unable to deliver for the children for whom they advocate. That creates an unbearable personal toll for many SENCOs, resulting in the job that they love impacting on their personal lives and their health. One SENCO in my constituency has had to go on blood pressure medication because of the stress that they are now under. That pressure is a consequence of a broken system. When you speak to a SENCO, you end up asking yourself how one person can do that job, especially when you consider that they often have to teach as well. The answer is simple: they sacrifice. They sacrifice their free time. Many are now also sacrificing their health. It appears to me that they find themselves at the centre of our broken system. Their first priority and focus is, of course, the children whom they are trying to support. However, they are also the key support for other school staff, who are, increasingly, teaching children with additional needs in their classrooms. They are working with parents and families who are fighting for their children. They are trying to understand, navigate and implement constant changes from the Education Authority (EA) and Department and manage the expectations of families and school staff following those changes. They are reporting to boards of governors or having to go through the statutory appeals process, working with health colleagues and other therapeutic support teams. Because they are at the centre of special educational needs, you would imagine that they are the key to any major changes, such as local impact teams (LITs) or the statutory assessment changes, yet we seem to find ourselves in the troubling position where those holding the system together feel completely ignored. I am not here to blame individuals in the Department or the EA, but I need them to listen. I know that officials and the Minister are genuinely trying to improve the situation, but, if things continue as they are, more SENCOs will leave their roles, no one will step up to fill the positions, and the system will fall further into crisis. Officials coming to the Committee or the Minister standing up in the Chamber quoting favourable voices to contradict the swell of testimony that we as representatives hear is insulting to us all. It suggests a desire to control the narrative rather than solve the problems. There is also the lingering concern that changes have been designed to make things look better. That concern is simply not going away. It is not the stuff of conspiracy; it is based on lived experience. Here is a verbatim example from a SENCO, who is representing the experiences of a SENCO cluster group:

"EA LIT support has been challenging - 2 of my pupils who were accepted for pathway 2 (Literacy support) were assessed in February with the promise of signposting to resources/strategies to support their learning. I only received these 2 weeks ago and all I have actually been given is a pack of about 20 photocopied worksheets for each child. Nothing else. There is no plan for the EA to review these children after a period of time. This is not helpful at all, in fact, I would go so far as to say this is a total waste of time. Both cases have now been marked as 'closed' on our RFI portal - I am sure feeding in to EA statistics that these children have had support."

SENCOs all understand the constraints that the system operates within, but they do not understand why you will not listen to them. They want the transformation of the system to work, but to work in reality, not on the basis of numerical metrics that measure the flow of cases. The only real measure is delivering effective interventions for children. The disconnect that exists between what we as MLAs and Committee members hear weekly from SENCOs and what we hear from the Department and the EA is counterproductive. The reality of the situation needs to be understood not just with regard to data and box ticking but through the experience of SENCOs on the ground. We need the EA and SENCOs saying the same thing, even if that means reflecting the problems. Paperwork, statementing and educational psychologist referrals are recurring themes that illustrate that disconnect. Here is one example from a SENCO that typifies those issues:

"to access support from my educational psychologist, I need to go through this process: a phone call to discuss the child's needs to see if they are appropriate for consultation. If yes, then I need to fill in a consultation form that goes to the psychologist (via the EA Psychology Office). Once it has been approved by the Psychologist, I then need to complete an RFI. It feels like doubling (or more) of the paperwork that needs completed and leaves me bound to my desk once again."

Another SENCO cluster from the north-west summarises the broader picture well:

"I strongly feel the voice of SENCOs is not being truly reflected or heard by the assembly... SENCOs are facing an impossible role of multiple aspects of support".

She goes on:

"All the while we continue with the other duties we are assigned to, as the role is not viewed to be stand alone. Alongside completing the paperwork and referrals that are required to access supports for our pupils. The increased bureaucratic demands of the role have become unsustainable following the recent changes in SEND Transformation."

That last line is really important. They are not attributing overwhelm to the number of children; they are attributing it to the increased bureaucracy resulting from the transformation programme. On statementing, SENCOs with 15 or 20 years of experience have a level of judgement and expertise that should be trusted. That would allow processes to move more quickly and appropriate support for the child to be introduced in a timely way. However, there are growing concerns that statements are being denied, when the need to proceed with one is clear. I have a clear example of that from my casework in Lagan Valley. A SENCO with around 20 years' experience, who has never had a statement refused for a child, had one refused this year for the first time. They went through the appeals process, and I requested a review of the decision by the EA. On the same date, the SENCO received a letter outlining that the statement process would go ahead. I received a contradictory letter from the EA explaining why the original decision to refuse the statement was the right one. How are SENCOs meant to navigate that? The motion calls for the Minister to undertake a workload review. That could be a short process that resets communication between our SENCOs and those leading the transformation programme corporately. Coming into today, there was hope that the Minister's workforce announcement this morning would provide something specific and meaningful for SENCOs. I even teased it with some of the group with whom I had been in touch, but, ultimately, it reflected how they already feel: ignored, marginalised and misunderstood.

The SENCO role is very specific. It deals with specific processes and pressures related to the SEN system. SENCOs are clear about what needs to change. Paperwork needs to be reduced and systems streamlined so that they can spend more time with children, staff and families. The complexity of the role needs to be acknowledged through pay and the provision of non-teaching roles. The professionalism of SENCOs needs to be recognised, and they need to be trusted in the system. The support system needs to be properly invested in and implemented consistently. What the Minister announced today does not even attempt to address those things. Generic whole-school admin support is not nearly tailored enough to help. Before I wrap up, I will address the SDLP amendment, although I know that it will not be moved, which is welcome. I have no issue with the amendment, especially in light of the Children's Law Centre's intervention last week. The volume and pace of the reforms coming at schools are overwhelming. That will be illustrated in the debate, but it risks doing more harm than good. Today is about SENCOs and their specific needs, so I appreciate the SDLP working with us to ensure that that remains the focus today. With a year to go in the mandate, I hope that this is an area where cross-party support and focus can bring about improvements for those vital workers, who dedicate their professional careers to supporting children, families and teachers. We all owe them a huge debt of thanks for holding together a system in crisis.

1,549 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not qualifying

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:30 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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