SENCO and SEN Staff
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.
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.
In addition the school has:
- 3 members of staff who have attended Mental Health and Attachment Training
- 2 members of staff who have attended Autism Training
- 3 members of staff who are trained in basic Literacy Support
- 4 members of staff who are trained in basic Numeracy Support
- 1 member of staff who is trained in delivering emotional support through THRIVE
All members of staff have received ADHD and Restraint training.
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 Pyschologists
- Speech and Language Therapy Durham
- Occupational Therapy (Treetops)
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.
