10 Witty (but Worryingly Honest) reasons which highlight our current challenges.
Each week, I ask SENCos in my Facebook Group what has made them become a Sweary SENCO. Here is an analysis and overview of the common themes and issues from the last 5 weeks.
(please note that all the names have been changed on the quotes!)
Let’s just say—brace yourselves. It turns out that “pretty much every aspect of working in a school” is a fair summary (thanks, anonymous sweary SENCO, for your succinct overview). But if we dig a little deeper, we’ll find some specific patterns emerging. Grab a cuppa (or a gin), and let’s unpick the chaos…
1. Parents (Some, Not All… But You Know the Ones)
Parents expecting SENCOs to work evenings, weekends, and in-between swimming sessions are still high on the list of frustrations. Amy brilliantly puts it:
“You would not expect a doctor, or a plumber to hang around after work for a couple of hours to meet with you after you’ve had time for a swim!!!!!”
Throw in the parents who cancel carefully coordinated multi-agency meetings the day before or write scathing Facebook posts despite receiving extensive support, and it’s no wonder we’re all clutching our lanyards for dear life.
One SENCO had the absolute gut-punch of being told by a parent:
“Just make him be normal.”
We’ve got no words. Except maybe: Ouch (we do of course fully appreciate that a parent’s journey of acceptance of their child is also a challenging one).
2. The Local Authority: A Never-Ending Source of Pain
If I had a pound for every time an EHCP was delayed, declined, or disastrously drafted, I’d be able to outsource my paperwork (ha, imagine). The LA shenanigans include:
- Sending EHCPs to schools without any communication.
- Naming schools that specifically said no.
- Ignoring tribunal evidence (but magically agreeing later after we’ve bled onto the keyboard).
- Saying “QFT can meet need” when there’s £14k worth of provision mapped out.
Tim summed it up with pure exasperation:
“EHCP declined saying need can be met by QFT when the costed provision map shows 14k per year and child has a 1:1 to support.”
What part of “this isn’t working” are they not understanding?
And let’s not forget the LA who just casually announced they’re “not taking EHCNAs at all anymore.” Cheers for that – not exactly legally binding information.
3. Paperwork – Ahhhh
Three cycles of APDR. Ten-page CAMHS forms. Multiple re-writes of EHCPs. Endless JCQ documentation. One SENCO said it best:
“Paperwork!!!” – no further comment needed, honestly.
Or perhaps this one captures the despair:
“I was literally surrounded by EAA files doing checks when JCQ arrived unannounced.”
It’s like a horror film. Only with lever-arch files and fewer survivors.
4. Being Everyone’s Emotional Punching Bag
We’re the middle of every Venn diagram: parents, staff, senior leaders, outside agencies. And sometimes, it feels like no one actually listens.
As Aisha put it:
“Being everyone’s emotional punching bag and being stuck in the middle of everyone else’s needs.”
This one really hits home—especially when paired with SLT micromanaging SENCOs who, funnily enough, are the actual experts in a school (although of course we know we don’t know everything and are happy to take on board advice from the more qualified in the field).
5. Staff: The Good, The Bad, and the Inconsistent
Some staff are incredible allies. Others… less so. Inconsistencies in behaviour policies, unmet responsibilities after advice is given, and SEN being seen as our job and our job alone all came up frequently.
Not to mention the colleague who was criticised for spending over an hour in a parent meeting. Heaven forbid we build meaningful relationships or anything.
6. Funding (or the Lack Thereof)
Yes, we know this is a theme every week, but the discontent is cumulative. One member bluntly wrote:
“F*nding.”
And another?
“Any SEN funding going straight into the deficit budget. Anyone else experiencing this??”
We feel you. Every time we scrape together a costed provision map, knowing it’ll be ignored, a little piece of us dies.
7. External Professionals: Experts in Not Helping
Whether it’s CAMHS inventing new referral rules every week or an EP spending 20 minutes with a child and invalidating everything school says, SENCOs are losing faith fast.
Then there’s this gem:
“Medical professionals who recommend an EHCP with every diagnosis.”
Yes, because apparently we hand those out like stickers now.
8. Systemic Disrespect and Professional Gaslighting
A huge number of SENCos reported feeling belittled, ignored, or outright disrespected by leadership, external professionals, and sometimes even colleagues. As Meagan put it:
“Constant professional disrespect & not having my voice heard, despite being eminently qualified and experienced.”
This kind of institutionalised dismissal is what leads to burnout. Or gin. Often both.
9. The Magic Wand Myth
We’re expected to “fix” children overnight using laminated now-and-next cards and a heavy dose of wishful thinking. When support is ignored or undone, we’re still the ones blamed.
As one SENCO wrote:
“Make it make sense.”
We can’t. We’ve tried. It doesn’t. Nothing adds up.
10. Random Bonus Misery
Day-to-day school life is a challenge in itself as all school staff find. Here are just a couple of examples:
- School servers going down for two days—just as reports were due.
- Unfounded complaints from people who didn’t even come to the meeting.
- Senior leaders shouting at children who are deregulated.
- “Practice” Ofsteds (because the real ones weren’t traumatic enough).
Final Thoughts (And Possibly a Cry in the Cupboard)
Every SENCO in that thread deserves a medal, a spa weekend, and someone else to do the paperwork. This job is relentless. But we keep going—for the children, for the small wins, and (let’s be honest) out of sheer stubbornness.
But maybe, just maybe, we should stop accepting all this as “just part of the job.” If you’re reading this and nodding (or swearing), know that you’re not alone—and that speaking up isn’t weakness. It’s survival. If we could all be 10% (or more) less agreeable, we could start making a collective change.
If all else fails, come shout into the void with us in The Sweary SENCO group. There is plenty of solidarity here and when I went to a local cluster meeting recently, one member said to me, ‘your group makes me feel like I’m not the only one’.
What can you do to support yourself?
Here are some further resources for you which you may find helpful. Don’t forget that Education Support is always on hand for you and also I have a SENCo SOS button on my resource page for any SENCo in crisis to reach out to me directly.
Thanks for reading.
Lynn