Newton Drive, Framwellgate Moor, Durham, DH1 5BG
0191 386 5400

SEN Specialist Expertise

SENCO and SEN Staff

Our SENCO is Miss Ruth Wilkinson, Deputy Head Teacher, SENCo (NASC, NPQH)

Framwellgate Moor Primary School receives a notional 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 programmes.

Some of our Teaching Assistants are partly funded from the SEN budget and they deliver intervention programmes specifically tailored to the children’s needs.  The budget is allocated on a needs basis and the children with the most complex needs are given targeted support.

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 much as possible, therefore support is generally given in the form of differentiated work and 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

Our SENCO is Miss Ruth Wilkinson, she has an Honors Degree, the National Award for Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators (NASC) and the National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH).  She can be contacted on 0191 3865400 or by emailing framwellgate.primary@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:

Miss Ruth Wilkinson is our SENCO who has achieved The National Award for SEND Coordination and has attended recent training:

  • Education, Health and Care Plan Training
  • SCERTS
  • Attachment Training

In addition to this, the whole Staff team have had Inclusion training, Attachment Training, Resilience training and specific staff have had more focussed CPD relating to their role in school e.g. “When phonics doesn’t work’ to support children who may experience spelling difficulties.

CPD relating to SEN is ongoing and largely driven by the needs of the children.

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

If a child has complex special educational needs we may also receive additional funding from the Local Authority to meet the agreed outcomes. We engage with other professionals at the earliest opportunity and they will work with Parents, Staff and Children as well as sharing their expertise. Wherever possible, staff implement programmes of work linked to these professionals e.g. speech and language programmes, exercises recommended by physical therapies etc.