SENCO and SEN Staff
Our SENCO is Mrs Sarah O’Sullivan.
It is the SENCO’s job 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 head teacher and school governors to ensure that the school meets its responsibilities with regard to reasonable adjustments and access arrangements by phoning the school on 01388 816230 or sending an email to: kirkmerrington@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.
Staffing and any Specialist Qualifications/Expertise:
Mrs Sarah O‘Sullivan is our SENCO. She has received training and holds the National Award for SEND Coordination (NASENCO)
All staff have received recent training from Durham County SEND and Inclusion Team in:
- Autism
- Emotional regulation
- Meeting Sensory needs
- Mrs Mowbray has received training in Supporting Pupils with Maths Difficulties
- Miss Jacques has received ELSA training
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
- Special Educational Needs – Inclusion Team
- One Point Children’s Service – Ferryhill Hub
- Health agencies, particularly School Nurse Service, Health Visitors and Family Workers
- CAMHS Assessment Team
- Speech and Language Therapist, Speech and Language Technician
- Autistic Spectrum Disorder
- Behaviour Support Services
- EMTAS
- Durham Movement Difficulties Service
- Counselling Service
- Tree Tops Occupational Therapy
- The Service for Hearing Impaired
- The Service for the Visually Impaired
How We Secure Specialist Expertise
Our school receives an Additional Needs Budget which is used to support children and young people with SEN. The school is responsible for personalising how expenditure is monitored. This is used to support children and young people with SEND by:
- Extra staff to support pupils with a range of needs
- Providing training for staff to enable them to support pupils more effectively eg Lego therapy, ELSA Nurture Group
- Paying for specialist eg ASC Team, EWEL Team, Behaviour Intervention Team to come into school to assess/support pupils and to advise staff on suitable support strategies
- Purchase SEN resources eg Apps, books and fiddle toys
If a child has complex special educational needs we may also receive additional funding from the local authority to meet the agreed outcomes.
