National Professional Qualification in Special Educational Needs (NPQ SEND)

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National Professional Qualification in Special Educational Needs (NPQ SEND)

Are you a current or aspiring SENCO? This is a new mandatory programme for SENCOs to complete in the first three years of your role.

This is a course designed for SENCOs and replaces the NASENCO qualification.

Learn to implement tailored strategies and effectively lead on SEND across your school.

What are National Professional Qualifications (NPQs)?

National Professional Qualifications (NPQs) are the most widely recognised qualifications in the education sector for current and aspiring leaders. NPQs are open to all teachers and leaders in schools in England and Wales.

What our teachers will learn:

How to become a strategic leader of SEND.
How to contribute to and implement a strong and robust SEND strategy.

Benefits to our schools:

Develops your school’s SEND provision
Access to the latest SEND learning
Attract and retain staff.

Why were the NPQs reformed?

The reformed National Professional Qualifications (NPQs) offer teachers and leaders clearer development opportunities and career progression. These qualifications will build on key areas of the Early Career Framework (ECF), allowing for further specialisation and development of expertise and help prepare teachers and leaders for the next step in their careers.

The reformed qualifications aim to:

Help teachers hone and develop the skills they already have, helping them to become more effective leaders inside and outside the classroom and improving overall teaching quality.
Retain high-calibre teachers by offering clearer development opportunities and career progression.

Why this programme?

Ambition Institute has designed this ground-breaking new NPQ to help you develop the knowledge and expertise to lead teacher development at your school.

The programme uses the latest evidence-based learning and shows you how to put your findings into practice in your school setting. You will train alongside other teachers with similar responsibilities.

The new and reformed NPQs have been developed as a complete series, sharing a common language. This means you can have confidence that all the educators in your school are building and developing their knowledge from the same evidence-based framework.

We know that teachers’ schools’ and trusts’ needs vary. So its programmes are designed with flexibility in mind and can be completed at a time that suits you best and fits in with your existing role. Through Steplab, the innovative personal development platform built for teachers, by teachers, you will have access to your modules and practice activities to help you get better faster.

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Become a teaching expert

The new NPQs are designed to give you high-quality professional development. All the training is evidence-based and informed by the science of learning.

Champion quality teaching

Many teachers who end up in leadership roles haven’t had any formal training to become teacher educators. This programme fills that gap by giving you the knowledge and insight to make classroom teaching in your school the best it can be.

Learn to your timetable

This programme is designed to fit around your busy teaching role. Much of the work can be completed in short bursts around your existing schedule.

Connect with peers

You’ll get to train and collaborate with other teacher leaders on the programme, sharing your experiences and building a network.

Develop a golden thread

The new NPQ framework continues a ‘golden thread’ throughout every stage of a teacher’s career. Schools and trusts can have confidence that all their educators, from classroom teachers to leaders of multiple schools, are building and developing their practice from the same evidence-based framework.

Create confident leaders

Teachers who complete this programme will be able to successfully oversee staff development, leading to better teaching at your school and improved pupil outcomes.

Increase staff attainment

By investing in your teachers, you are showing confidence in their abilities. After completing the programme, they are more likely to stay in their roles and help you nurture the next generation of teaching talent.

More options for improvement

The new specialist NPQs are designed to be complementary, giving teachers multiple career pathways and options at every stage of their careers.

What you’ll learn

This programme follows the Department for Education’s National Professional Qualification (NPQ):Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators.

On this programme, you will learn how to:

Contribute to establishing and sustaining a positive and supportive culture across the school for all pupils.
Support senior leaders to ensure staff and governors enact statutory guidance.
Support teachers and support staff to understand the importance of expert teaching for all pupils and to implement a graduated approaching the classroom, subject or domain effectively.
Support the delivery of effective provision for pupils with SEND and their families, and be able to review, monitor, evaluate and improve the impact of SEND provision.
Work with staff, specialists and other agencies to assist the school in meeting the needs of all pupils.
Implement an efficient SEND identification process which ensures that barriers to learning are identified and addressed at the earliest opportunity.

How you’ll learn

The content is delivered through blended learning. This includes a mix of real-time, interactive online sessions and self-guided modules you complete in your own time. You will be encouraged to put what you learn into practice and track your progress as you go.

Note: programme content is subject to change.

Assessment

The assessment window starts at the end of the 18-month programme and runs for three months. During this time, participants will be given an eight-day window to sit an ‘open book’ style assessment in which they respond to a short case study.

There are two assessment windows every year, and participants can sit the assessment two times if they need to.

You need to complete the course to qualify for the NPQ accreditation.

Ambition Institute will offer a webinar and live clinic in advance of the assessment window to support participants.

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