Dean Bank Primary and Nursery School

Dean Bank, Ferryhill, County Durham, DL17 8PP

Dean Bank Primary and Nursery School
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SEN Specialist Expertise

SENCO and SEN Staff

At Dean Bank Primary School, we receive a national SEN budget from the Local Authority and this is used to support children and young people with SEND by offering a wide range of intervention and enhancement programmes within school and through our partnerships with other agencies and professionals within the Local Authority. This is monitored each term by the Governing Body.

We have an HLTA and Teaching Assistants who are partly funded from the SEN budget and deliver programmes or interventions designed to meet groups of children’s needs. The budget is allocated on a needs’ basis. The children who have the most complex needs are given targeted support.

The support they (Teaching Assistants) provide for children with SEND is effective as they reinforce essential vocabulary or help to explain new vocabulary being used in lessons.  (Ofsted 8-9 May 2019)

All children, no matter what their needs are, receive daily Quality First Teaching. We aim to keep children with SEND part of their whole class as often as possible, therefore support is generally given in the form of a Teaching Assistant working alongside the children and teacher. Interventions are carried out throughout the day at a range of times.

If a child has complex special educational needs, we could also receive additional funding from the Local Authority to meet the agreed outcomes.

A Costed Provision Map will be developed in liaison with the child, young person, parent or carer.   An example of a costed provision map can be found here:

Costed Provision Map

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 Katie Hay is our SENCO and is working towards The National Award for SEND Coordination.

Mrs Sharon Temple, who was the previous SENCO, is now the SEN Link Governor to help support Mrs Hay in her new role;

The experienced special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCO) has a detailed knowledge of pupils with SEND and their families. The most appropriate support for individuals is planned and put into place. Support plans are precise and actions are detailed. The impact can be seen in pupils’ books, during lessons and in the good progress these pupils make.     

(Ofsted 8-9 May 2019).

  • Miss Allen and Mrs Collin have both attended ELKLAN (Speech and Language) training.
  • Mr Murphy has had Lego Therapy Training
  • Mrs K Walsh, a qualified counsellor, supports children with Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs.

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:

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:

  • Providing each class with a teaching assistant to support children within class or to carry out interventions when necessary.
  • The purchase of specialist computer packages to help support specific needs e.g. NELI, Lexia, Freckle Maths, Splash.
  • Allowing staff to access training specific to individual needs, for example ADHD, Autism, Nurture Group training, Thrive.
  • Providing one to one support, or one to two support from a teaching assistant, where necessary.
  • The set up and running of a ‘Thrive Room’ where children receive individualised support.
  • Sensory Worx service level agreement to provide in-school support and CPD for staff members to deliver high-quality sensory programmes/interventions.
  • EWEL Team service level agreement to provide support for children who need emotional wellbeing support and strategies.
  • ELSA training and supervision for staff members.

If a child has complex special educational needs, we could also receive additional funding from the Local Authority to meet the agreed outcomes.