SEN Specialist Expertise
SENCO and SEN Staff
It is the SENCO’s role to:
- Oversee the day-to-day operation of the school’s SEN policy
- Liaise with the relevant Designated Teacher where a looked after pupil has SEN
- Advise teachers on using a graduated approach to providing SEN support
- 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
- Ensure that the school keeps the records of all SEN pupils up to date
- Work with the Headteacher and school governors to ensure that the school meets its responsibilities with regard to reasonable adjustments and access arrangements
Our SENCO role is shared by Mrs Chris Riley and Miss Farley. Mrs Riley has a Bachelor of Education (honours) degree, NPQH (National Professional Qualification for Headship). Miss Farley has a Bachelor of Arts (honours) degree, PGCE and the National Award for Special Educational Needs Co-ordination (NASENCO). They can be contacted on 01325 730274 or gainford@durhamlearning.net
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.
We have Four Learning Support Assistants who have a wealth of experience supporting children with a wide range of needs including amongst others Cerebral Palsy Downs Syndrome, Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, ASD, ADHD.
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
At Gainford Church of England Primary and Pre-School, we receive a notional SEN budget from the Local Authority and this is used to support children and young people with SEND by offering a wide range of intervention and enhancement programmes within school and through our partnerships with other agencies and professionals within the Local Authority. This is monitored each term by the Governing Body.
We have Learning Support Assistants who are partly funded from the SEN budget and deliver programmes or interventions designed to meet the child’s needs . The budget is allocated on a needs basis. The children who have the most complex needs are given targeted support.
All children, no matter what their needs are, receive daily Quality First Teaching. We aim to keep children with SEND part of their whole class as often as possible, therefore support is generally given in the form of an LSA working alongside the children and teacher. Interventions are carried out throughout the day at a range of times.
If a child has complex special educational needs, we could also receive additional funding from the Local Authority to meet the agreed outcomes.
A support timetable and Costed Provision Map will be developed in liaison with the child, young person, parent or carer.
Training and support from external specialists has also been accessed such as ASD Training, Team Teach training, Sessions with SEND Team (in school support) Speech and Language, Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy, Cognitive and Learning Assessments
Specialist resources have also been purchased for example Clicker programmes to allow a child to access their specific curriculum topics; balance boards to use in physiotherapy sessions.