--- title: SEND Practice for School Staff url: https://thestudyguild.com/programmes/send-practice-for-schools type: programme published: 2026-08-13 last_reviewed: 2026-08-13 reviewed_by: sarah-okeke publisher: The Study Guild --- # SEND Practice for School Staff A 10-week live SEND programme for school staff, taught by a former SENCO who will not award QTS or the mandatory SENCO qualification. ## Programme facts - Price: £399 (payment plans available, never discounted) - Format: Live online + self-paced - Live contact hours: 20 - Expected self-study hours: 40 - Duration: 10 weeks - Level: All levels - Tutor: sarah-okeke ## Learning outcomes - Use the SEND Code of Practice as a working document, not a slogan - Support pupils under a designated SENCO without impersonating that role - Read an EHCP well enough to work inside it, not rewrite it - State that this pass is not QTS and not the NPQ for SENCOs - Stop at diagnosis, which you will not do - Write a case that a SENCO could use in a review ## Curriculum 1. **Roles the law actually names** — SENCO, teacher, TA and private tutor are different jobs. This certificate is none of the statutory ones. Topics: QTS; NPQ for SENCOs; What this pass is not; Who this is for 2. **The SEND Code of Practice as a tool** — 0 to 25, not a marketplace module title. Topics: Graduated approach; Assess, plan, do, review; Working with families; Your limits 3. **EHCP literacy for non-SENCOs** — Reading the plan so you can work inside it. Topics: What an EHCP is; What you must not rewrite; Annual reviews you attend, not run; Case study one 4. **Autism in school, without diagnosis theatre** — Support and environment, not a private diagnostic right. Topics: Reasonable adjustments; When CAMHS or paediatrics own the question; Awareness versus role; Language 5. **ADHD, dyslexia and the other labels schools use** — Provision, not a weekend practitioner title. Topics: What schools can put in place; What they cannot diagnose; Coaching families is a different Guild product; Referral 6. **Safeguarding and SEND** — The overlap where a support-staff course does the most harm if it is vague. Topics: Your school's policy; When DSL owns the work; Recording; Practice cases 7. **Working under a designated SENCO** — The relationship that makes this course safe. Topics: What to take to the SENCO; What not to freelance; Parents who want you to be the SENCO; Case study two 8. **If the destination is the SENCO role** — QTS first, then the NPQ, then three years. We are not that pathway. Topics: Who the NPQ is for; Funding via schools; Why we will not print the award; GOV.UK, not us 9. **Private 'SEND practitioner' marketing** — Why we will fail a bio that sounds like a school job you do not hold. Topics: Directories; Tutors versus teachers; ADHD coaching as a different product; Marked copy 10. **Assessment clinic** — Live review of case studies against the rubric. Topics: Common fails; Identifying pupils; Resubmission; Monday morning in school ## Assessment A school-facing case study of 1,800 words and a written scope note, marked by Sarah Okeke against a published rubric covering Code of Practice literacy, working under a SENCO, and diagnostic limits. Written feedback with one free resubmission. Work that claims the NPQ, QTS or a right to diagnose does not pass. ## Upcoming cohorts - 2027-01-14 to 2027-03-18 — Thursdays 19:00–21:00 UK, 10 weeks (open, cap 20) - 2027-04-22 to 2027-06-24 — Thursdays 19:00–21:00 UK, 10 weeks (open, cap 20) ## What is SEND practice for school staff? Live, assessed training for teaching assistants, pastoral staff and teachers already in a school: Code of Practice literacy, EHCP reading, and working under a designated SENCO. It is not QTS. It is not the NPQ for SENCOs. It does not create a right to diagnose. A diploma that claimed those things would be selling a school job, not teaching one. ## Can this programme make you a SENCO? No. In maintained mainstream schools in England the SENCO must be a qualified teacher, or the headteacher, working at the school. New SENCOs must complete the NPQ for SENCOs within three years of appointment. A ten-week cohort cannot be that qualification, and the certificate will not print the award. Sources: - [SENCO national professional qualification](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/special-educational-needs-co-ordinator-senco-national-professional-qualification) — GOV.UK - [SEND code of practice: 0 to 25 years](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-code-of-practice-0-to-25) — GOV.UK ## Does this programme award qualified teacher status? No. QTS is awarded through teacher training and assessment that we do not provide. Support staff can still become more useful in SEND provision without becoming teachers. If the person spec names QTS, buy teacher training. If it names the NPQ for SENCOs, buy that from a listed NPQ provider. ## How is this different from an autism-awareness diploma? Case work is marked by a former SENCO who will fail diagnostic overreach and role impersonation. The certificate names QTS and the NPQ as routes we do not award. An awareness PDF can still help a parent. It cannot tell a school whether you knew this was not the designated SENCO job. ## Common questions **Why not just call this SENCO training?** Because the mandatory qualification is the NPQ for SENCOs, and SENCOs must be qualified teachers. We teach support-staff practice and say so. **Can I diagnose autism after this?** No. Diagnosis is clinical. Awareness and school support do not create that right. **I want to coach families of neurodivergent adults — is this the course?** No. See ADHD Coaching Practitioner. That is still not diagnosis and not a school job. **Can I pay in instalments?** Yes. Interest-free plans total exactly £399. --- Source: https://thestudyguild.com/programmes/send-practice-for-schools · The Study Guild