This article covers a number of different roles. Some of these roles, including Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCOs) and careers educators, are based in schools. Others, including Education Welfare Officers (EWOs), careers advisers, school counsellors and educational psychologists, are based outside schools.
In addition to the specialist roles described in this article, the Professional Competences set out in Teaching: The Reflective Profession establish an expectation that all teachers have responsibilities for the progress and behaviour of the pupils they teach, and for their guidance and support. They also have specific responsibilities for promoting the safety and well-being of pupils.
Pastoral care roles
‘Pastoral care’ means looking after the welfare of pupils and ensuring that they can come to school.
In primary schools, it is usually the class teacher who has particular ‘pastoral responsibility’ for the children in his / her class.
In secondary schools, where students have different subject teachers, it is normally the ‘form tutor’ who has particular pastoral responsibility for a group of pupils. The form tutor meets with his / her form twice a day for a few minutes before the morning and afternoon sessions to register pupils as present or absent, give out notices, and prepare them for the teaching sessions ahead. (A ‘form’ is a group of pupils usually of the same age.) This ‘tutor time’ allows form tutors to get to know the students in their care, monitor their progress and well-being, and deal with problems that arise.
In secondary schools, a teacher is also typically appointed to oversee pastoral matters for each year group. This role is commonly known as ‘head of year’. The way in which individual schools organise pastoral roles and responsibilities varies. In some schools, pastoral roles such as head of year are undertaken by support staff rather than qualified teachers.
Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCOs)
All mainstream grant-aided schools, including nursery schools, must designate a member of staff to act as the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO). This role is normally taken alongside other teaching or management responsibilities and, in a small school, the principal or vice principal may be the SENCO. In a larger school, another teacher may be the SENCO and there may be a wider learning support team. The SENCO is usually responsible for:
- the implementation of the school’s special educational needs (SEN) policy
- working with and advising teachers
- coordinating the teaching provided for children with SEN and overseeing the records of these pupils
- maintaining contact with parents of SEN pupils and contributing to the in-service training of staff
- working with external agencies, including the educational psychology service.
Further details are provided in the SEN Code of Practice.
Reform of the SENCO role
The system for SEN, and the role of the SENCO, is under reform. Following the passing of the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act (Northern Ireland) 2016 in March 2016, under the new SEN framework, all schools will be required to appoint a Learning Support Coordinator to coordinate provision for children with SEN. This role will replace that of the SENCO.
The Draft Special Educational Needs (SEN) Regulations state that the Learning Support Coordinator will usually be required to be a qualified teacher working in the school, who has had at least two years’ full-time experience of teaching pupils with SEN in the last five years. Existing SENCOs will be able to take on the role.
Implementation of the new SEN framework was anticipated to be in 2020, but has been delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. For further information, see the Department of Education SEN webpage and the article on ‘Special Education Needs Provision within Mainstream Education’.
Education welfare officers
Education Welfare Officers (EWOs) are employed by the Education Authority (EA) to reduce unnecessary absences from school by offering support to pupils, parents and schools. Every school has a ‘link’ EWO. EWOs in Northern Ireland must have a social work qualification.
Careers education, information, advice and guidance staff
Careers education, information, advice and guidance (CEIAG) is provided by a partnership between those who work within schools and colleges (careers educators) and those who are external to the school or college (careers advisers).
Careers educators are members of a school or college staff with responsibility for coordinating, managing or providing CEIAG through Learning Life and Work programmes for students. Although several members of staff normally contribute to delivering LLW education, which is a compulsory subject in Key Stages 3 and 4 (ages 11-16), the key role in a post-primary school is the Learning for Life and Work coordinator. This role is typically taken on by a teacher alongside their subject teaching responsibilities, although some schools appoint non-teachers to the role.
Alongside being the subject leader for Learning for Life and Work education, the coordinator also acts as the principal point of contact for the external careers adviser, and as the manager of careers education, information, advice and guidance provided by the school or college staff. Some LLW coordinators may hold an accredited professional qualification in managing careers education and guidance for young people.
Careers advisers are external to the school / college and are typically employed by the external, all-age Careers Service Northern Ireland. Advisers work with schools and colleges to provide careers guidance and training, and provide consultancy support to schools and colleges in the delivery of their CEIAG / Learning for Life and Work (LLW) programmes. They are specialist careers advisers, often qualified at postgraduate level.
The Qualification in Career Development (QCD) is the main qualification route for those who wish to work as careers advisers with young people. Awarded by the Career Development Institute (CDI), the QCD is a postgraduate qualification, available at seven universities across the UK. It combines academic study with some work-based learning, and study may be full- or part-time, including distance / blended learning options.
School counsellors
The Department of Education (DE) has funded an Independent Counselling Service for Schools (ICSS) for post-primary pupils in grant-aided schools since 2007. See the subheading ‘Psychological counselling’ in the article on ‘Guidance and Counselling in Early Childhood and School Education’ for details.
The counsellors providing this service must be qualified to at least Diploma level in counselling (a qualification at Level 3 or above on the Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF)). They must also have had a minimum of 150 hours of clinically supervised practice before starting work in a school. All counsellors also need an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check prior to commencing work in schools (see the subheading ‘Requirements for appointment’ in the article on ‘Staff Involved in Monitoring Educational Quality’), and attend child protection training organised by the ICSS. School counsellors are also expected to have prior experience working with young people. Further information is available in the Independent Counselling Service for Schools (ICSS) Handbook, published by the Department of Education in 2012 and updated in 2020.
Educational psychologists
Educational psychologists (EPs) work with children and young people experiencing difficulties, and their families, to promote their learning and behaviour and emotional and social well-being. They also support those with learning difficulties to achieve their potential by contributing to the assessment of a child’s special educational needs (SEN) and to reviews of provision. They are usually employed by the Education Authority’s (EA’s) educational psychology services and work in consultation with parents, teachers, social workers, doctors and others involved in the education and care of children and young people.
The educational psychology professional entry training is a three-year doctoral degree. The courses generally consist of a first year spent studying full-time, followed by two years in which the trainee works as a trainee educational psychologist, with one to two days’ study per week.
The entry requirement is normally an upper second class (2:1) bachelor’s degree in a psychology-based subject that grants eligibility for Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC) with the British Psychological Society. Applicants must also have one year's relevant experience of working with children and young people.
In order to practise, educational psychologists are required by law to be registered by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), the statutory regulator for all practitioner psychologists in the UK. Further information regarding registration is available from the HCPC.
Article last reviewed April 2021.