Assistant Headteacher: SENCO (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Co-ordinator)

Assistant Headteacher: SENDCo

Required from September 2025

Leadership scale 8 - 12

The Role:

Balshaw’s has an enviably strong provision for students with SEND with a large, experienced team of teaching assistants and a track record of excellent outcomes for SEND students, often outperforming non-SEND students in terms of their achievement.

The SEND department has grown considerably over the past 5 years in terms of the dedicated space that it has and also the size of the team. This is a result of the increase in needs of students coming to school, both with EHCPs or with a level of need short of EHCP that requires significant support.

Balshaw’s Christian vision is rooted in the Word of God which is a “lamp to our feet and a light to our path.” Nowhere is this more true than in the dedication we have to our SEN students.

We are seeking to appoint a SENDCO who will:

·      be driven by the vision to act as a light to the path of our most vulnerable and in need students

·      have no limit on the aspiration and belief that we have in all of our young people, especially those with additional needs

·      be an excellent communicator with all stakeholders

·      be committed to developing all staff to understand that they are teachers of SEN and embedding best practice

Part of this role involves close liaison with the examinations team in terms of access arrangements for students and close involvement with external JCQ inspections. Therefore, as part of the AHT SENDCo function is SLT oversight as the link to the exams team. This involves supporting the exams team with the planning and implementation of examinations, compliance with regulations, oversight of the exam team’s management and training of invigilators and any other actions to ensure the examination team are able to run internal and external examinations effectively and with full compliance.

The closing date is: Sunday 30th March, 2025