SENCO and SEN Staff
Our SENCO: is Mrs C. Parker. (Ba Hons; PGCE; PGC Dyslexia; AMBDA)
Mrs Parker (Year 5 teacher and Deputy Head Teacher) has been in the role of SENCO since 2009. Mrs Parker, as well as having a degree in Psychology, has the National Award for SEN co-ordination and a Post-graduate Certificate in Teaching Pupils with Dyslexia. She is an associate member of the British Dyslexia Association. In addition, Mrs Parker has attended many SEN-related courses based on areas such as ADHD, motor skills, ASD, and Working Memory.
We currently have 5 full time teaching assistants, 4 part time teaching assistants and 1 full-time higher-level teaching assistant (HLTA). These teaching assistants are either assigned to particular classes or particular children requiring 1:1 support.
Various members of staff are trained in the following areas:
- Speech and Language Skills
- Attachment difficulties
- Relax Kids Therapy
- Depression in Children
- Drawing and Talking Sessions
- Motor Skills
- Autistic Spectrum Disorder
- ADHD
- Dyslexia
- Social stories
- Therapeutic Story Writing
- Magical Spelling
- Working memory
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
- Durham One Point Hub
- Health Agencies, particularly School Nurse Service.
- Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS)
- Speech and Language Therapists
- Autistic Spectrum Disorder Team
- Durham Movement Difficulties Service
- Tree Tops Occupational Therapy Service for Children
- The Service for the Hearing Impaired
- The Service for the Visually Impaired
- Educational Social Worker
- Looked After Children Team
- Learning Difficulties and Disability Support Service
- Occupational Therapy
- Medical Practitioners
- Pathfinders
How We Secure Specialist Expertise
The budget allocation is agreed between our school and the Local Authority at the beginning of each financial year. Detail of how this money is used to support children and young people with SEND is shown below. This is monitored each term by the Governing Body.
At St Michael’s RC Primary School, our notional SEN budget amounts to £42,295.57. (2020-2021)
This is used to support children and young people with SEND by:
- Prioritising funding to tailor learning to ensure small steps of progress are continually made by all SEN learners.
- This Year, the majority of this money will be spent on experienced Teaching Assistants who work with children on a one to one basis, within class and as part of small group interventions.
- The small amount of remaining money will be spent on resources to aid the learning of children with SEND such as books, computer software and motor skills equipment.
If a child has complex special educational needs, we could also receive additional funding from the Local Authority to meet the agreed outcomes. This is known as Top Up Funding
To apply for Top Up Funding, a Costed Provision Map will be developed detailing the cost of all additional support and resources the child requires.The school is expected to pay the first £6000 towards the additional support with the LA then considering if they will contribute further funding. They take into account the information outlined on the child’s SEN Support Plans and require evidence of the graduated approach being implemented.
