Miss Amberley Westerman, Send Officer

As part of my role as SEND Officer I am responsible for the students with learning difficulties and providing them the best possible support. Within this I line manage the teaching assistants. The teaching assistants report to me on a daily basis to update me on the student’s behaviour and progress so that we can assess their needs and interventions in our weekly meetings.

I attend annual review meetings with the local authority to ensure the correct provisions are put in place to best meet the child’s needs. These meetings are vital to ensure the children are accessing education. I ensure that children with EHCP’s have the correct support daily to meet their needs. Students who have EHCP’s receive funding for 1-1 support from teaching assistants. I then create the teaching assistants timetables to provide them with the accurate hours of support.

As part of my role I make sure all staff are aware of these children’s needs. This includes creating one page profiles, and updating EHCP’s. It is my responsibility to ensure this information is correctly distributed so all staff are aware of all the student’s needs. If necessary I will find relevant training for staff to attend or be available for staff to ask me any questions regarding student’s needs.

I am also available for any students who require additional support outside of their lessons, for example a student with ASD might need 5 minutes away from the lesson to re-concentrate, and they would come to my office to do this. I put in place intervention to support these students, this might be providing them with a tangle toy which helps them to concentrate or a stress ball to help alleviate any anxieties.