SENCO AND ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL - CHARLOTTE BAKER

Summary

The speaker, an assistant principal for inclusion at Caladen, shares their journey from a teaching assistant to their current role, emphasizing a pupil-centered approach. They highlight their focus on personalized education for children, including sensory opportunities and specialist support. A key strategic goal is expanding the SEND provision class to offer bespoke, tailored learning experiences for students. The school's ethos prioritizes life skills and real-world experiences, such as theater trips and sports events, to prepare students for society.

Takeaways

• 🏫 The speaker is the Senco (Special Educational Needs Coordinator) and Assistant Principal for Inclusion at Caladen.
• 📚 They started as a teaching assistant at Old Ford Primary School and trained to be a teacher within the trust.
• 📅 The speaker has been working at Culloden since 2014, initially in Year Two, and became Assistant Principal in 2016.
• 🎓 In their role, they focus on ensuring children are offered a tailored curriculum with specialist support and personalized timetables.
• 🧩 The curriculum includes a broad range of sensory opportunities to accommodate different learning needs and abilities.
• 🌱 A significant strategic project is the growth of the SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disability) provision class.
• 📈 There is currently one SEND provision class with seven children, offering bespoke, personalized timetables for individual learning.
• 📊 The speaker aspires to expand this provision, potentially adding more SEND classes to accommodate more children.
• 💡 The trust's ethos is pupil-centered, with decisions and curriculum planning made with the pupils' best interests in mind.
• 🌟 The trust places importance on offering a variety of experiences to pupils, including theater trips, restaurant visits, cinema outings, farm trips, and sporting events.
• 🛠 These experiences are considered crucial for teaching life skills and preparing pupils to become responsible members of society.

Q & A

What is the speaker's role at Caladen?

The speaker is the SENCo (Special Educational Needs Coordinator) and the Assistant Principal for Inclusion at Caladen.

How long has the speaker been working at Caladen?

The speaker has been working at Caladen for around eight years.

What was the speaker's initial position at Old Ford Primary School?

The speaker started as a teaching assistant at Old Ford Primary School.

In what year did the speaker join Caladen?

The speaker joined Caladen in 2014.

What position did the speaker hold before becoming the Assistant Principal for Inclusion?

The speaker worked in Year Two at Caladen before becoming the Assistant Principal for Inclusion.

What is the main focus of the speaker as the SENCo?

The main focus is to ensure that all children are offered a curriculum catered to their needs, with specialist support, personalized timetables, and a broad and balanced curriculum that includes sensory opportunities.

What is the biggest strategic project the speaker is working on?

The biggest strategic project is growing the SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disability) provision class at the school.

How many children are currently in the SEND provision class?

There are currently seven children in the SEND provision class.

What type of timetables are offered to the children in the SEND provision class?

The children are offered bespoke, personalized timetables that allow them to flourish and learn.

What is the speaker's goal regarding the SEND provision class?

The speaker's goal is to grow the provision to potentially have more than one SEND provision class.

What is the ethos of the trust that the speaker mentions?

The ethos of the trust is pupil-centered, meaning all decisions and curriculum planning are well thought through with the pupils at the center.

Why are the experiences offered to the pupils considered important by the speaker?

The experiences, such as theater trips, restaurant visits, cinema visits, farm trips, and sporting events, are considered important as they provide key learning experiences that the children may not otherwise have the opportunity to engage in.

What skills are the pupils taught according to the speaker?

The pupils are taught life skills to help them become reputable members of society.