What makes an excellent Special Educational Needs Teacher?

A special educational needs teacher, or SEN teacher for short, plays a crucial role in the classroom. They enable pupils who have a variety of disabilities, impairments and difficulties, to learn alongside their peers. Whether the pupil has a physical disability, a learning difficulty or a complex emotional need, an SEN teacher is able to use their skills and abilities to help that individual to reach their potential inside the classroom and beyond.

What skills do you need to be an SEN teacher?

Commitment and the ability to build solid relationships with both the child and their family is a primary skill of an SEN teacher. There may be many teachers, healthcare workers and school staff involved in the care of the pupil, so excellent communication skills are also a key ability.

Flexibility is another primary skill needed to be an excellent SEN teacher. Depending on the pupil’s difficulty, plans may need to be changed at the last minute depending on the needs of the child. Multiple hospital or clinic appointments, behavioural issues or exceeding their goals can all mean last-minute lesson plan changes.

Alongside empathy, relationship building, communication skills and flexibility, the other key skill needed is a positive outlook. As an SEN teacher, you may face extremely challenging or disruptive behaviour, and being able to see the end goal is really important. For some, being an SEN teacher can be an exceptionally rewarding experience. Seeing a pupil reach their potential, whilst facing sometimes significant physical or mental health problems, can make the challenges met along the tough road seem all the more worthwhile.

How do I find out more information?

If you’d like to talk to one of our experienced recruitment consultants on how to start your journey to becoming an SEN teacher, please contact us today.

Alternatively, please take a look at our jobs board for a selection of SEN teacher jobs in London.