Is it time for professional standards and qualifications for all SEN Caseworkers?

Is it time for professional standards and qualifications for all SEN Caseworkers?

“The role of SEN case officer is critical in the system yet is completely underdeveloped. A case officer brings together a range of professionals and a wealth of information, yet it is the single role within the system that does not have a professional footing. Investing in the professional development of case officers would, over time, help to instil parental confidence that children were receiving the right support…”

?The Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS) response to the SEND and Alternative Provision Green Paper

Here at SEN Experts we believe this role is a vital one to support children and young people with SEND. While the it might not be as 'hands on' as may other roles it is one that is crucial to children and young people getting the support they need.

The job requires a huge number of skills and knowledge which should be professionally recognised. Just think about the legal knowledge required and add the interpersonal skills required for effective co-production. Then throw in the organisational skills to juggle paperwork and digital systems making sure all aspects of the assessment and annual review processes are completed on time. Making sure you hit deadlines to get placement or funding decisions while communicating effectively with children and their families throughout the process. The negotiation and influencing skills required to get the right people round the table at the right time to ensure effective planning when moving towards adulthood and the compassion and empathy required to really support young people and families through that process.

Our SEN caseworkers are a critical resource. They really are the experts with a wealth of knowledge. Many have all areas and all ages groups and field questions about education, health and social care, speaking to a health visitor about a five year old in the morning then answering a question about Continuing Health Care funding for a 20 year old in the afternoon. Masters of multi-tasking, the go-to person for other professional queries, the person on speed dial for families, the emergency services for settings. All done with a well-thumbed, paper copy of the Code of Practice on the desk and a substantial supply of coffee.


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We have developed our qualifications with all this in mind. We offer a Level 4 Certificate in Statutory SEN Officer Duties and Responsibilities and Level 3 Certificate in Supporting LA Statutory SEN Processes that not only develop skills but recognise through accreditation the amazing professionals that work in this sector.

Level 4 Certificate in Statutory SEN Officer Duties and Responsibilities

This course covers the breadth of knowledge and skills you will need to produce high quality, compliant EHCPs and to ensure that statutory timescales and statutory responsibilities are discharged.

The qualification aims to give a full understanding of the SEND statutory process including:?

  • Implications of this for the SEN Officer role including legal, financial and performance aspects
  • Co-production with parents / carers and children and young people in a statutory SEND context
  • Ensuring high quality throughout SEND statutory process
  • Understanding appeals and legal challenge in the SEND statutory process

This course consists of 12 taught sessions via Teams or bespoke arrangements for full teams on request. This is an expectation of some independent study and assignment preparation for the purposes of demonstrating knowledge and competency to meet assessment criteria

Level 3 Certificate in Supporting LA Statutory SEN Processes

This course covers the knowledge and skills needed for those in roles that support Local Authorities in discharging the LA statutory duties regarding SEN.?

The qualification aims to give a clear understanding of the SEND statutory process in the following areas:

  • Working collaboratively with parents / carers and children and young people in a statutory SEND context
  • The completion of the statutory process
  • Continuing statutory responsibilities: annual reviews, phase transfers, reassessment, preparing for adulthood, ceasing EHCPs

This course consists of 6 taught sessions via Teams or bespoke arrangements for full teams on request. . This is an expectation of some independent study and assignment preparation for the purposes of demonstrating knowledge and competency to meet assessment criteria.

Accredited Learning and Development

All our online training is delivered via Live Online Courses, which comprise of sessions given over the internet in real-time. These classes are led by highly experienced professionals and as the courses are in real-time, learners will have the chance to ask questions, and interact with other learners. Learners will receive all course materials for each session for future reference.

Qualification Details

Our qualifications have been developed to meet the specific needs of our learners and have been accredited by NCFE demonstrating quality and rigor. Our qualifications have been accredited as a Customised Qualification and we have benchmarked our qualifications’ learning outcomes and assessment criteria at the appropriate level (using the national framework’s level descriptors) to allow you to demonstrate the difficulty and depth of study. On completion of the Customised Qualification, learners will receive a certificate of achievement. The certificate is evidence of the knowledge and skills gained by completing the qualification. This qualification has been accredited by NCFE under the Customised Qualification and the certificate of achievement will be issued directly by NCFE.

What is NCFE?

NCFE is an awarding body recognised by the qualification regulators for England (Ofqual), Wales (Qualifications Wales) and Northern Ireland (CCEA Regulation). NCFE provide nationally recognised qualifications and awards in vocational skills. NCFE also provide an accreditation service for specialised courses under their Customised Qualifications accreditation service which is designed to give formal recognition to College’s bespoke courses that fall outside ‘regulated provision’ and is monitored by Ofqual. This is an unregulated qualification and is not a nationally recognised qualification

Approved NCFE CQ Centre

SEN-Experts (North-East) Ltd is an approved NCFE Customised Qualification Centre (Centre No). As part of our approval we are inspected annually to ensure we provide a quality assurance framework for the development, delivery and evaluation of our courses

Nikki Joyce

SEN Consultant, HE Lecturer, BLAST author and Speech and Language Therapist at SEN-Experts

2 年

I absolutely think there should be professional standards! Starting week 2 today with the first of our 2 level 4 courses that are running this term and digging down into the nitty gritty of the CoP and the law, When you start looking at how joint commissioning for example MUST work but without a good knowledge about Health legislation, performance management, systems, structures and governance - it's no wonder that people come unstuck. We need high quality training and professional standards so that our families can have confidence in the service they receive and so that our SEN teams feel confident in explaining, supporting and navigating families through what is a very complex area of work :) Great to have our courses running with engaged, professional and enthusiastic SEN staff from across England! :)

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