SENCO and SEN Staff
Our SENCO is Mrs A Caine.
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 a number of skilled Teaching Assistants in school who support children 1 to 1 or through class intervention. Their names can be found on the website.
At Thornley Primary School we believe SEND Is everyone’s responsibility. Mrs Caine has been a SENCO for nearly 20 years and her role is to support staff in supporting SEND pupils within the classroom. Class teachers are always the first point of call.
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 SEND Information, Advice and Support Service
- Educational Psychology
- Parent Support Advisor
- Early Years SEND Team
- Cognition and Learning Team
- Communication and Interaction Team
- CAMHS
- Speech and Language
- Occupational Therapy
- Community Nurses
- School Nursing Team
This is not a fully exhausted list and we will contact and refer to any outside professional we feel would benefit pupils’ development.
How We Secure Specialist Expertise
Our Additional Needs Budget is used to support children and young people with SEN. The Headteacher monitors this spending and ensure the provision for SEND Pupils is positively impacting on pupil progress.
This is used to support children and young people with SEND by:
- Training staff to deliver SEND intervention or to modify the curriculum for pupils
- Provide intervention to small groups and individuals
- Purchase programs which benefit pupils
- Purchase additional resources
- Provide adult support for individuals or small groups
If a child has complex special educational needs, we could also receive additional funding from the Local Authority to meet the agreed outcomes.
