ABSTRACT
The role of the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) was first formalised and defined in the SEN Code of Practice (CoP) and reviewed in 1998 following the Government’s list of Standards. Prior to 2009 when the Training and Development Agency for Schools created nationally accredited training for SENCOs, there had been no recognised award for them: this is a requirement for all new SENCOs. The House of Commons’ Education and Skills Select Committee recommended that SENCOs should be a member of the senior leadership team indicates their perception of the role having a formal leadership status. The chapter aims to explore how the introduction of the 2015 CoP has impacted SENCOs’ relationships with parents and colleagues. A mainly qualitative research approach was adopted to collect evidence of SENCOs’ experiences. None of the SENCOs surveyed had received any useful training on how to engage with parents or manage confrontation.
