Emma Grove, special educational needs coordinator (SENCO), Tower Hamlets LEA

The team’s mission is to ensure that the needs of all children, particularly those with learning or behavioural difficulties, are met socially and academically.

As she says, the support this function receives varies from school to school and she feels extremely fortunate to work for a head teacher who views her role as fundamental to the school’s success.

Wherever possible, Grove and her team integrate children with special needs into mainstream lessons. Where this is not possible, they offer alternatives.

The biggest change she’s seen in the last three years is the increase in the number of children coming through the school with complex needs. She tentatively suggests that this could be due to medical advancements that mean that children who would not have survived in the past, now survive.

Before she became a special educational needs coordinator, Grove was a French teacher. She believes that her background has helped her because she understands how a classroom works and the challenges that her colleagues face every day.

However, she warns teachers not to be attracted to this role because they are simply fed up of teaching, as it is a busy and stressful job that demands full commitment.

“It’s also mentally and emotionally challenging," she says. "You have to be sensitive but also resilient and be able to think on your feet and be creative when it comes to problem solving. But the rewards are rich.

“It’s great when you see kids making progress,” she adds. “It made my day recently, for example, when a boy of 14 who could barely read or write grinned from ear to ear, so happy that he had read a book. These kids often have very low expectations of themselves and when they realise they can do it, it’s very rewarding.”