SENCO and SEN Staff
Our SENCO is Anna Bowden who holds the National Special Educational Needs Qualification. Anna can be contacted at oxcloseprimary@durhamlearning.net or by calling 01388 814 860.
At Ox Close Primary, the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO) does the following:
- Oversee the day to day operation of the SEN Policy.
- Co-ordinates the provision for children with SEN.
- Liaises with the Designated Teacher when a looked after pupil has SEN.
- Supports and advises colleagues.
- Liaises with parents/carers of pupils with SEN.
- Liaises with and is a key point of contact for external agencies.
- Ensures that the school keeps the record of SEN pupils up to date.
- Manages resourcing and teaching materials which supports SEN provision.
- Works with the Executive Headteacher and school governors to ensure that the school meets its responsibilities with regard to reasonable adjustments and access.
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
- Educational Psychology Service
- Emotional Wellbeing Team
- Cognition and Learning Team
- Autism and Social Communication Team
- Behaviour Intervention Team
- One Point Hub
- Health Agencies – particularly the School Nurse Service and Health Visitors
- Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)
- Speech and Language Therapists
- Crisis Response
- Virtual School for Looked After Children
- Specialist therapists – Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy
- Specialist health services
- Medical Practitioners
How We Secure Specialist Expertise
Our Additional Needs Budget is used to support children and young people with SEN. This is used to support children and young people with SEND by:
- Buying in services of external specialists.
- Buying resources to support children.
- Running in school interventions that are above and beyond the Quality First Curriculum.
If a child has complex special educational needs, we could also receive additional funding from the Local Authority to meet the agreed outcomes.
