[senco-forum] the bogey man

Thank you, Brian.  Much appreciated.

Jean

S Wales

 Team
>
> You've all been watching too many horror films, haven't you? There's
> somebody waiting inside that dark room to get you. But it's not Jason,
> Freddie or Saw, it's the LA!
>
> The LA jumps on you just as you're turning your childlike, innocent faces
> up
> to the light of resources,funding, recognition, appreciation or whatever
> else you're hoping for. (I know, it's a preposition at the end of a
> sentence, sue me!) The only way you can cater for the little lambs is to
> get
> more money from the LA, but will she co-operate? No, she's going to leap
> out
> when you least expect it and TURN YOU DOWN!
>
> Why? Obviously because she enjoys torturing you. The LA hates all
> children,
> schools and especially SENCOs. She will do whatever she can to destroy
> you.
> She is never happier than when she can suck all the joy from your lives by
> saying no. She knows that without her, you'll never be able to meet the
> needs of those pathetic scraps of children. And she laughs her evil laugh
> every time she says no, because she gets so much masochistic pleasure from
> the your pain.
>
> Deep breath, Brian.
>
> OK, I've calmed down a bit now.
>
> I've worked in SEN depts, I've worked with SENCOs in a LA support service,
> I'm now on the dark side working as an SEN officer. I've seen the SEN
> process from all sides. (I'm a parent and worked with parents of kids with
> SEN)
>
> Just like there's no such thing as Jason, there is no such thing as the
> LA.
> It's a bunch of people, who mostly sit in an office and make decisons
> based
> on the paperwork schools send them and balance that against the Code of
> Practice and pressure from government .Believe it or not, they mostly (I
> don't know them all) have the children's best interests at heart.
>
> It's not their fault your head won't spend the SEN part of the formula on
> SEN. It's not their fault that you don't even know what the SEN budget is.
> It's not their fault that, particularly in secondary schools, the kids are
> taught with no regard to the statement. It's not their fault that the 10
> hrs
> provision is used to support whatever size group/class the kid is in,
> rather
> than the kid personally. It's not their fault that advice and support
> provided by LA support teams is ignored or not acted upon.
>
> You want to listen to the parents who ring them, at their wits end because
> the school won't listen to the parents' concerns? Particularly when they
> know, since LMS, that the LA has no power and so can't make schools act on
> those concerns.
>
> Ah, yes, there are always 2 sides to a story. In this case it's at least
> 4.
> Kid, parent, school, LA. And what's the easiest reaction when everyone's
> frustrated and tired? Let's get angry. Let's start blaming someone else.
>
> I can see exactly why SEN becomes a battlefield. It's a microcosm of
> education. Thatcher and Baker turned education into a battlefield in the
> mid
> 80s. Since then, any tinpot politician or Daily Mail editor has used
> education to score cheap points. The effect has been to create sides, to
> perpetuate the blame culture and to stop us all seeking out the real
> culprits.
>
> And we fall for it. We fight amongst ourselves.
>
> I give up. I'm going to help finish the bottle of Merlot. I'm going to eat
> last year's Xmas pudding (to make room in the cupboard for this year's
> lot)
> and take my last chance to watch I'm a Celeb for another year. (How do I
> live without Myleene in her white bikini?)
>
> Have fun with the fighting
>
> Brian
>
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