Our SENCO is Mrs Laura Richardson and is working towards her SENCO qualification. She regularly attends network meetings. Mr Phil Rumbles (Headteacher) is supporting Mrs Richardson. He has a number of years experience in a SENCO role both at our school and a previous school. Mr Phil Rumbles has the required SENCO qualification: National award for Special Educational Needs Coordinator.
It is the SENCO’s job to:
- Oversee the day-to-day operation of the school’s SEN policy
- Advise other teachers on using a graduated approach to ensure the right support is put in place for each child
- Liaise with the relevant Designated Teacher where a looked after pupil has SEND
- Advise on the deployment of the school’s delegated budget and other resources to meet the pupil’s needs effectively
- Liaise with parents/carers of pupils with SEN
- Liaise with and be a key point of contact for external agencies
- Arrange training for staff so they understand your child’s needs
Members of staff have First Aid and Safeguarding training. In addition, our SEND support staff have a wide breath of expertise and training has included Speech and Language, developing visual perception skills, ASC, fine motor programmes, emotional well-being to name but a few.
More details of the SENCO’s role can be found in the SEN Policy which you can find in the School Policies section of our website.
External Specialists and Other Bodies
The school enjoys good working relationships with a wide range of people who provide services to children with SEND and their families.
The external specialists may:
- Act in an advisory capacity
- Extend expertise of school staff
- Provide additional assessment
- Support a child directly
- Suggest statutory assessment is advisable
- Consult with all parties involved with the child
These include:
- Durham County Council Local Offer
- Durham SEND Information, Advice and Support Service
- Cogniton and Learning (LA)
- Durham LA Educational Psychologists
- Speech and Language Therapy Durham
- Occupational Therapy
How We Secure Specialist Expertise
Our Additional Needs Budget is used to support children and young people with SEN.
This is used to support children and young people with SEND by:
Providing specialist training in supporting children with social and communication difficulties, understanding how to write SMART targets for support plans, accessing Specialist Provision from various providers, e.g. Educational Psychology, Occupational Therapy, Cognition and Learning
If a child has complex special educational needs, we could also receive additional funding from the Local Authority to meet the agreed outcomes.
