SENCO and SEN Staff
Our SENCO is
Mr Whelerton. It is his job to:
- oversee the day-to-day operation of the school’s SEN policy
- advise teacher’s 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 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 school governors to ensure that the school meets its responsibilities under the Education Act (2010) with regard to reasonable adjustments and access arrangements
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
- Local Authority Special Educational Needs Inclusion Team
- Durham Educational Psychology Service
- Barnard Castle One Point Hub
- School Parent Support Advisor Mrs Rachel Stevens
- Health Agencies, particularly School Nurse Service.
- Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS)
- Speech and Language Therapists
- Durham Autistic Spectrum Disorder and Communication Team
- Durham Cognition and Learning Team
- Durham Emotional, Wellbeing and Effective Learning Team
- Durham Behaviour Support Services / Crisis Response.
- Treetops Occupational Therapy Service for Children
- Educational Social Workers
- Looked After Children Team
- Learning Difficulties and Disability Support Service
- Occupational Therapy
- Medical Practitioners
How We Secure Specialist Expertise
Our Additional Needs Budget is used to support children and young people with SEN. In 2019/20 this amount is £26,668.09.
This is used to support children and young people with SEND by:
- Providing extra staff to support pupils with a range of needs
- Providing training for staff to enable them to support pupils more effectively e.g. Lego Therapy.
- Paying for specialists e.g. ASC Team, EWEL Team to come into school to assess/support pupils and advise staff on suitable support strategies
- Purchase SEN Resources e.g. sensory equipment, apps, books, fiddle toys
If a child has complex special educational needs, we could also receive additional funding from the Local Authority to meet the agreed outcomes.
