This year we welcomed Amy Wright to CMAT. Amy is CMAT’s Assistant Director for SENDV and we caught up with her to find out how her first term had gone.
Welcome to CMAT Amy. Can you tell us about your background in education?
Prior to joining CMAT I was an autism advisory teacher at Peterborough City Council. I’ve also worked as a specialist SEND teacher at Arthur Mellow Village College, near Peterborough and at Friars Academy, Wellingborough. Overall, I’m approaching 20 years working in SEND education.
What has your first term been like with CMAT?
I’ve been getting to know all our schools and, in particular, have met with the Special Educational Needs and Disability Coordinators (SENDCOs). This has given me the opportunity to advise and have communication with SENDCOs if they need to talk anything through so they can continue to provide a high-quality level of support to all their students who have special educational needs, disability and vulnerability.
It’s of course the responsibility of all teaching staff to make sure their students with SEND are supported and it is the responsibility of the SENCO to co-ordinate this practice in the school. This ensures that staff know which students need support and how to provide the necessary support.
I’ve now started more intensive work to support individual schools. These include Northstowe Secondary College, Martin Bacon Academy, Nene Park Academy, Greater Peterborough UTC, West Town Primary Academy, Sharnbrook Academy and Lincroft Academy.
What’s it like working for CMAT?
Working for a multi-academy trust so far has been different than working for a local authority. There is this sense of belonging- that we are all part of one organisation, rather than at the local authority when it was different schools and different practices. That’s not to say that schools within CMAT don’t do things differently, but there is more of a feeling of uniformity and cohesion.
It’s been very valuable working with Mary Abeyasekera, our SENDV Director. Mary has a vast skillset and range of knowledge and experience to tap in to whenever I need to check anything. There’s a close liaison between us.
What do you enjoy most about working in SEND education?
There is lots to enjoy. Seeing SENDCOs’ dedication to their pupils and how hard they work is heartening.
I’ve always enjoyed supporting pupils with autism. I have just completed a Masters degree in autism, so I have a desire to see the continued development of good autism practice across the Trust.
I find my background in autism has prepared me very well as there are some principals of good practice that I have traditionally seen as strong autism practice, however I now recognise that these are general good practice principals for working in other areas of SEND education.
How have the schools/SENCOs responded to the challenges of Covid?
Like all staff, SENDCOs have had to be creative and resilient during Covid. There have been some practices put in place due to Covid that schools recognise work better for some students. Things like staggered starts, a smaller number of people being in the lunch hall, can work well for some of our students, particular those on the autism spectrum.
However, we must acknowledge that these are greatly changed times, some aspects of which are outside the full control of the school. Society as a whole is coming to terms with the impact of Covid and this has had a massive knock on effect on the mental wellbeing of pupils. Schools are working hard to support their pupils with this.
Not just in SEND, but in wider education, staff absence has been a challenge but everyone is working very hard, for which we are very grateful. The hard work of staff is ensuring that pupils and students continue to gain from the learning opportunities available, which is very positive in such confusing times.