SENCO and SEN Staff
- Our SENCO is Mr Tom Wakelam.The role of our SENCO includes:
- overseeing day-to-day operation of schools SEND policy;
- coordinating provision for children with SEND;
- liaising with designated teacher where a Looked after Child has SEND;
- reviewing SEND support plans and ensuring teachers and support staff work
- closely with parents/carers to follow a graduated approach to SEND support;
- monitoring delivery of SEND interventions and support and evidence held by teachers;
- advising on use of delegated budget/other resources;
- liaising with parents of children with SEND;
- maintaining links with other education settings and outside agencies;
- liaising with potential next providers of education;
- working with head and governors on Equality Act;
- ensuring that SEND records are up to date and;
- contributing to the in-service training of staff.
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
- Autistic & Social Communication Team
- CAMHS
- Learning Disability Service
- Special Educational Needs Support Team
- Looked After Children
- Movement Support Team
- One Point Hub
- Sensory and Physical Team
- Speech and Language Therapy
- Occupational Therapy
- Social, Emotional & Mental Health Services
- Cognition and Learning
- Educational Psychologists
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:
- Securing staff training e.g. NASENco qualification, communicating with children, Makaton, social stories, ASC training
- Securing in school support from external specialists who can provide advice and support to ensure we provide the best service possible
- Purchase of specialist SEND resources;
- Provision of high levels of support for pupils with specfic needs e.g. nurture provision
If a child has complex special educational needs, we could also receive additional funding from the Local Authority to meet the agreed outcomes.
