SENCO and SEN Staff
Our SENCO is Mrs Andrea Brotherston, she has a BA with Qualified Teaching Status and a Post Graduate Award for Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators. She can be contacted on 01207 234500.
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
Teaching Assistants deliver support and interventions to meet individual’s needs. These staff are partly funded from our additional needs budget. The budget is allocated on a needs basis and the children who have the most complex needs are given targeted support. All children, regardless of need receive daily Quality First Teaching. We aim to keep children with SEN within the class as much as possible. Support may be given in the form of a teaching assistant working within the class to support children. Interventions are carried out throughout the day. If a child has complex special educational needs, we could also apply for additional funding from the Local Authority to meet the agreed outcomes.
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 Catch Up Maths, fine motor programmes and Lego Therapy 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:
How We Secure Specialist Expertise
Schools receive funding based on a formula and this ‘notional budget’ is used to help provide appropriate support for children. Schools are expected to show a commitment of £6000 per child before additional funding may be sought. This spend is detailed on costed provision maps.
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:
- Training staff
- Supporting children directly in school
- Sourcing external specialists
- Specific SEN resources
If a child has complex special educational needs, we could also receive additional funding from the Local Authority to meet the agreed outcomes.
The school makes an audit of training needs for all staff taking into account school priorities as well as personal professional development. Special Needs is included within all school training. In addition, staff attend training organised by the LA and other agencies.
If a child has complex special educational needs, we could also receive additional funding from the Local Authority to meet the agreed outcomes.
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:
- Training staff
- Supporting children directly in school
- Sourcing external specialists
- Specific SEN resources
If a child has complex special educational needs, we could also receive additional funding from the Local Authority to meet the agreed outcomes.
