Building SENCO Capacity: How Whole-School SEND Training Reduces Workload and Improves Outcomes

The Unsustainable SENCO Role

If you're a SENCO, you’re probably familiar in feeling that you’re managing the workload of three full-time staff, with a dozen hats/roles to juggle in any given day.

A recent survey found that 78% of SENCOs feel that other roles and/or tasks routinely pull you away from being able to carry out the SENCO role effectively. Perhaps more striking is that 43% of primary SENCOs and 71% of secondary SENCOs are in excess of an additional nine hours per week on SENCO duties. This is a system at breaking point, with SENCOs like yourself doing everything you can with the limited time you have. This is unsustainable by any metric.

As reported in The Guardian in March 2025, councils across England are now facing a collective £5 billion SEND deficit, with the number of EHCPs having increased by 140% since 2015. For you as a SENCO, this translates to more paperwork, more meetings, more staff requiring support, and more complex needs to address – all while your allocated time remains static or, in some cases, has been reduced due to budget constraints.

"I spend my evenings writing reports and chasing paperwork. I love supporting our SEND pupils, but I'm drowning in admin and firefighting most days" – Primary SENCO, West Midlands

This isn't sustainable – not for schools, not for pupils, and certainly not for you.

 

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The Delegation Dilemma: Why SENCOs Struggle to Share the Load

"I'd love to delegate more. While our staff are amazing, nobody else has the knowledge to do what I need to do." - Secondary SENCO, Birmingham

The traditional model of SEND provision – where expertise is concentrated in one or two individuals within a school – creates bottlenecks which stresses the capacity / time of those individuals.

Common barriers to effective delegation include:

• Knowledge gaps: TAs and Teachers may have received minimal SEND training during initial teacher training and/or professional development opportunities.
• Confidence issues: Staff might be willing but anxious about getting it wrong. We too may worry about this and, short term, it’s quicker for us to do these tasks.
• Time constraints: Limited opportunities to properly train and mentor others

The result is a vicious cycle: SENCOs become overwhelmed, have no time to develop others, and therefore remain overwhelmed.
 

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Breaking the Cycle: Creating a Distributed SEND Leadership Model

"The biggest positive change in our school came when we stopped seeing SEND as 'the SENDCO's job' and started developing pockets of expertise across the whole school with the SENDCO as the expert guide'" - Primary Headteacher, Kent

Whole-school SEND training offers a structured pathway to distribute expertise across your setting without compromising quality. While several approaches exist, STEPS (Link: School-wide Training for Every Pupil's Support) is seen by many schools as a particularly effective solution due to its comprehensive, tiered approach.

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Comparing SEND Training Approaches

Approach	Strengths	Limitations	Best For
STEPS Whole-School Programme	Comprehensive coverage of 12 SEND areas, tiered learning levels, progress tracking, unlimited staff access	Annual subscription cost	Schools seeking systematic whole-school improvement
In-house SENCO-led training	Tailored to specific school context, low direct costs	Heavy SENCO time investment, limited range of SEND coverage	Small schools with experienced SENCOs and limited budget
External single-topic workshops	Deep dive into specific needs	Limited staff reach, no follow-up support	Schools with very specific single-area needs
Local Authority training packages	Often lower cost, local context knowledge	Variable accesibility, limited scope	Schools with strong LA SEND support

While each approach has merits, STEPS offers several distinctive advantages for developing a truly distributed SEND leadership model:

 

Level 1: Universal Awareness (All Staff)

Every staff member, from classroom teachers to lunchtime supervisors, can access foundational training across all key SEND areas. STEPS provides 12 specialist courses with level 1 modules designed specifically for building whole-staff awareness through manageable 15-minute learning segments.

 

Level 2: Enhanced Knowledge (Key Staff in Each Department/Phase)

STEPS enables you to identify SEND champions who receive more in-depth training through Level 2 modules. These staff become your first line of support, being able to support staff around them with routine questions and modelling effective practice.

 

Level 3: Specialist Implementation (SENCO and Specialist Team)

At this level, you and any specialist staff access advanced training modules focused on complex cases and coordination.

"What makes STEPS different is how it creates a consistent language around SEND across the entire school. My staff don't just learn about autism or ADHD in isolation – they understand how these needs connect to our whole-school approach."

 

"Before STEPS, I was constantly firefighting. Now I'm able to focus on strategic development and complex cases. The difference in my workload is night and day."

 

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From Theory to Implementation: Practical Steps with STEPS

Implementing a distributed SEND leadership model requires careful planning and consistent support. Here's how STEPS makes this process manageable:

1. Create Clear Processes and Tools

STEPS provides ready-made resources that enable consistency:

• Observation and assessment templates aligned with the graduated approach
• Intervention tracking tools integrated with the STEPS dashboard
• Facilitated guidance for staff to independently create pupil profiles and intervention guides

These practical resources provide a framework that builds confidence and ensures quality without requiring your constant oversight.
 

2. Invest in Tiered Training

Rather than one-size-fits-all SEND training, STEPS offers:

• Essential Level 1 knowledge modules for all staff (12 different SEND areas)
• Targeted Level 2 training for SEND champions with practical implementation guides
• Specialist Level 3 content for SENCOs and dedicated SEND staff
• Progress tracking to monitor completion and identify knowledge gaps

"I've tried creating my own INSET sessions for years, but could never cover the breadth of needs effectively or I was always under- or over- training different staff. It’s hard to balance and provide the level of individual training needed across school." – Primary SENDCO, Liverpool

With STEPS, SENCOs can assign relevant modules to different staff based on the pupils they work with, while ensuring everyone has that crucial foundation knowledge
 

3. Establish Quality Assurance Without Micromanagement

• Whole school overview through the STEPS progress dashboard to monitor training completion
• Schedule regular but brief check-ins with SEND champions
• Track outcome measures, including: Staff confidence surveys built into the platform and Pupil progress indicators linked to intervention tracking

While other approaches like LA training packages or in-house development can achieve some of these outcomes, they typically require significantly more SENCO time to develop resources and systems.

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The Economics of SENCO Time: Investment vs. Cost

When considering whole-school SEND training options, frame them in terms of SENCO time economics:

A typical SENCO might spend:

• 25% of time answering routine questions that could be handled by trained staff
• 35% manually tracking interventions that could be systematised
• 20% attending meetings where a SEND champion could take the lead
• 20% writing reports and paperwork, much of which could be streamlined

That leaves just 10% for strategic improvement work – the very thing that would create long-term impact and efficiencies.

The STEPS programme costs £800 for an annual whole-school licence (or £700 with early access offers). For comparison:

• Sending just three staff members to external SEND training would typically exceed this cost
• Developing equivalent in-house training would require 36+ days of SENCO time
• Individual online courses for all staff would cost significantly more

Most importantly, STEPS can release more and more SENCO time – increasingly over time as more staff develop their own skills and expertise in different areas.

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Looking Ahead: SEND System Changes and the Need for School Resilience

With the government preparing what it calls a "complete recalibration" of the SEND system (as reported in The Guardian), schools that have developed distributed expertise will be better positioned to navigate upcoming changes.

"Schools implementing comprehensive approaches like STEPS will be more resilient to whatever changes come"

This isn't just about surviving the current crisis – it's about building a sustainable model that's less dependent on individual champions stretching themselves to their limits, and more reliant on systematic approaches to inclusion.

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Conclusion: From SENCO Survival to SEND Success

The current SEND crisis needs new approaches. By investing in whole-school SEND training through programmes like STEPS, you can:

• Reduce your unsustainable workload through distributed expertise
• Build capacity across your whole school with tiered training
• Improve consistency of provision through shared resources and approaches
• Create more responsive support for pupils with earlier identification and intervention
• Demonstrate strategic leadership to Ofsted and governors with robust impact tracking

Perhaps most importantly, you can reclaim the strategic aspects of your role that initially drew you to SEND leadership – making meaningful differences in children's lives rather than drowning in paperwork.

The growing complexity of SEND needs, coupled with mounting financial pressures, means that the traditional SENCO-centric model is no longer viable. Whole-school approaches aren't just nice to have – they're essential for sustainable, effective SEND provision.

Click below to learn more about how STEPS could support your school's SEND development

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The STEPS approach to whole school SEND training

The SEND system needs new approaches. STEPS (School-wide Training for Every Pupil's Support) provides the systematic framework that SENCOs like you need to distribute expertise across your setting without compromising quality.

Start with our FREE SENCO Behaviour Support Toolkit -  five evidence-based resources designed to immediately improve behaviour management while reducing your workload. This toolkit demonstrates the practical, whole-school approach that makes STEPS so effective at creating sustainable SEND provision.

"These resources have transformed how we manage behaviour across our school. For the first time, I'm not drowning in constant interventions." - Secondary SENCO, Manchester

Whether you begin with the free toolkit or explore the complete STEPS program, you're taking essential steps toward breaking the unsustainable cycle of SENCO overload and building school-wide capacity for effective SEND support.

DOWNLOAD FREE SENCO TOOLKIT

EXPLORE STEPS PROGRAMME