Eleanor Sams, Episodes
Developing Distributive Leadership in Secondary Schools to Improve Inclusion with Eleanor Sams
As SEND registers continue to grow and expectations rise across the profession, many SENDCOs are leaving due to overwhelming workloads and lack of support. It’s crucial that we rethink how to empower teachers to meet their students’ needs.
In today’s episode, Dale was joined by Eleanor Sams, an Assistant Headteacher and SENDCO at the Marvel College in Hull. Eleanor tells us about ‘developing distributive leadership in secondary schools to improve inclusion’ sharing her school’s successful implementation.
Their discussion includes:
- Key challenges for new SENDCOs: The pressure to be an expert in everything and how this can be especially overwhelming in larger settings.
- Strategies for conducting a whole school SEND review: Helping new SENDCOs identify strengths and areas for improvement.
- The concept of all teachers as teachers of SEND: Addressing the nervousness some staff may feel and exploring how to overcome this.
Eleanor provides valuable insights on implementing a distributive leadership model, illustrating what this can look like in a large setting. When schools get it right, it empowers teachers to understand their learners better and meet their needs more effectively, all while relieving SENDCO workloads. She also explains how this approach can be implemented with minimal cost and has been proven to increase attendance, improve outcomes, and reduce behavioural incidents.
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About Eleanor Sams
Ellie Sams is an Assistant Headteacher (SENDCO) at The Marvell College in Hull.
Ellie has supported children with SEND since 2011, across both specialist and mainstream settings. She joined the Marvell College in 2016 as a Teacher of History. She has worked as a Head of Year and was appointed as Assistant Headteacher and SENDCO in 2022.
Since 2022, Ellie has worked alongside the Senior Leadership Team to develop a culture of inclusion that runs throughout all areas of the school. Alongside her responsibilities at The Marvell College, Ellie supports across the trust as a SEND Hub leader, this includes supporting the development of provision for students with SEND across a number of primary schools. She is also a trustee at Humberston Park Special School, responsible for Transdisciplinarity and Learning.
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