SENCO - Special Educational Needs Coordinator

About the role:  Inclusion lies at the very heart of Longfield Academy. Due to the relocation of the current post-holder, we have an exciting opportunity for an experienced SENCO to make a real impact in our academy, Leigh Academies Trust and the local community. In this role you will leading a large and diverse team (including the Head of the Specialist Resource Provision, a team of LSAs along with a dedicated admin support team) responsible for fostering the academic, social, aesthetic, physical and moral development of the students in the Academy.  This is an exciting time to join and be part of Longfield Academy as it builds our recent successful Ofsted inspection, and provides our successful candidate with a career-defining role and SEN environment to work in!

In this strategic role you will lead, develop and support effective practice for children with special and additional needs, including the development of all teachers across the academy to provide ‘quality first’ teaching. As the successful candidate you will promote the Academy ethos, vision, policies and procedures, carefully monitor pupil progress as well as ensure all statutory processes are correctly delivered.

In recognition of the importance and scope of this role within the academy you will have a small teaching commitment, although as the successful candidate you would be expected to model and advise on outstanding classroom practice particularly in relation to inclusion.  To support you to deliver excellent outcomes we will provide you with a senior leadership team with a strong inclusive ethos, a well-established SEN team, support with your own professional development and engaging children who are keen to learn!

Longfield Academy contains a Specialist Resourced Provision - the celebrated ‘Spectrum Centre’ -  for up to 40 students whose primary need on their EHC plan is identified as ASD. Students are supported by specialist staff within bespoke provision comprised of four classrooms, each with direct access to a quiet room and significant ICT capacity. It also has its own kitchen area to develop life skills, changing rooms and a training room. Students have access to their own their own open learning and recreational space, separate from those accessed by other students within the academy.

Within the Spectrum Centre students are based within the provision for tutor activities and social times but all access the rest of the academy for most lessons. The aim is to enable each student to integrate main school lessons full time and to study the full range of KS3 and KS4 examination courses and enrichment activities. Each student has a carefully personalised timetable which takes account of their individual needs, but has a significant level of challenge built within it. 

Inclusive education is also at the core of Leigh Academies Trust. As well as the Spectrum Centre the Trust has eight specialist resource provisions covering a wide range of needs, as well as Milestone Academy a special academy for 320 pupils with severe and complex needs. In addition, the Trust has its own team of educational psychologists supporting all academies. In this role you will play a leading role within the team of SENCOs across the Trust, contribute to the work of the SEN Drive Team and the regular TLC forum. You will also develop specialist outreach services to both other academies and the local KCC LIFT.

What are we looking for in you?  As the successful candidate you will be a qualified teacher with experience of SEN related responsibilities, policy and practice preferably with experience within the secondary age range. You will also have completed the National SENCO Award.  You will be passionate and knowledgeable about this area of education and possess the relevant leadership and managerial skills to ensure successful inclusion throughout the Academy and share best practice across the Trust and the local authority.

As the ideal candidate you will;

• hold the National SENCO Award;
• consistently drive to ensure that all children achieve their full potential;
• lead, motivate and inspire others;
• advise staff about best practice and model this where appropriate;
• evidence that they are an innovative, creative and strategic thinker;
• demonstrate a proactive and collaborative approach to working with others, within your current school and beyond;
• work under pressure whilst remaining highly organised;
• analyse data effectively to identify and track the progress of individual and groups of SEN pupils.  Subsequently, use it to inform the delivery of highly effective strategies which enable them to improve strongly;
• have excellent leadership and management skills;
• be committed to Longfield Academy’s ethos;
• have the resolve to make a real difference to the lives of pupils and their families.

Responsibilities will include:

• taking a strategic overview of the curriculum design and implementation;
• participating in support designed to ensure pupils with special educational needs (SEN) achieve success;
• ensuring the needs of all pupils with SEN are met and that they are supported to make excellent progress;
• advising and supporting leaders, class teachers, learning support assistants and mentors, enabling them to offer high quality provision;
• co-ordinating the Academy’s responsibilities during the statutory assessment process, with a view to ensuring that pupils with a high level of need obtain an educational statement;
• advising and supporting the parents of pupils on the SEN Register.

Working at the Academy:  The Academy is a highly successful, heavily oversubscribed, growing secondary of 1,100 pupils housed in state of the art buildings in a semi-rural location just outside of Dartford.  Longfield offers a calm and purposeful learning environment where students can flourish and succeed. 

We consider ourselves to be highly inclusive and all staff are expected to be teachers of SEN.  The hard work, skill and dedication of our talented staff ensure that students at the academy make excellent progress.  Value added puts in the top band for similar schools nationally in Key Stage 4 and Key Stage 5 and examination outcomes are among the best of non-selective schools in Kent.  Our success is achieved through teamwork.  We support the Trust model of small schools within a school, so that no student is left behind.  

Being part of Leigh Academies Trust:  As part of Leigh Academies Trust you will have the opportunity to collaborate with your peers and share best practice at Academy level and across the whole Trust.  

Click here for a glimpse of what life is like working for Leigh Academies Trust and why we're so proud of what we do. 

Diversity at our core:  As a Trust, we are passionate about diversity and recognise that as individuals we all bring something unique to the role regardless of age, gender, race, beliefs or disabilities which is why we treat all of our people equally, without compromise. 

The academy is committed to safeguarding children and successful candidates will be subject to an Enhanced DBS check.  Our commitment to safeguarding is underpinned by robust processes and checks which are in place across the Trust.