Introducing Spiro

Eighteen months ago my sister and I went out for dinner. It’d been a long time since we last caught up. The first priority in these circumstances is always food but, with hungers sated, Tanya proceeded to explain to me what her job as a primary school teacher & SENCO was really like.

Of course, there was the good stuff. Like the work she does to support children with the highest needs, and how rewarding it is. But she also bemoaned the mountains of paperwork that limits her time supporting children directly.

Tanya’s experience isn’t unusual. The prevalence of SEND in primary schools has risen dramatically since the pandemic. Correspondingly, the complexity of teachers’ roles and the associated paperwork has exploded.

With dinner’s drinks making us feel a bit bolder, we decided to build something to help.

Tackling the challenge

Spiro is the result of eighteen months of building, testing, trialing, and learning. It provides a single place for SEND work to get done; from supporting teachers in the Assess, Plan, Do, Review cycle, to drafting local authority documents for SENCOs. It embeds AI into everyday workflows, reducing time spent on paperwork and making smart recommendations tailored to pupils’ individual needs.

Results to-date have been energising: SENCOs have seen significant time savings that they have been able to reinvest in pupil support and more strategic work. Classroom teachers are more confident in the support plans that they have in place.

What’s next

On October 9th and 10th my sister and I will be presenting Spiro in public for the first time at the TES SEND show in Islington. In November, we’ll be at the Schools and Academies Show at the NEC in Birmingham. And throughout we’ll be doubling down on improvements to the platform that save teachers time and improve the support that children with SEND can receive.

If you’d like to chat, you can reach me at simon@spirosen.com, and if you know someone who you think would be interested in what we’re doing, please do share.

It’s a privilege to get to work on such a meaningful mission. We’ve brought Spiro to the starting line and can’t be more excited about the journey ahead.