Part time SENCO or Trainee SENCO
Oakridge School, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, HP11 2PN13 days remaining to apply
Start date details
September 2025
Closing date
7 May 2025 at 9am
Date listed
23 April 2025
Job details
Job role
- Teacher
- SENDCo (special educational needs and disabilities coordinator)
- Other leadership roles
- View all Suitable for early career teachersjobs
Visa sponsorship
- Visas cannot be sponsored
Key stage
- Early years, Key stage 1, Key stage 2
Working pattern
- Part time: 3 days per week, flexible with hours/days to suit the candidate
Contract type
- Permanent
Pay scale
- MPS/UPS
Additional allowances
TLR
What skills and experience we're looking for
SENDCo Person Specification
Essential
Desirable
Qualifications
- Degree level qualification (2:2 or better) with Qualified Teacher status
- National Award For SEND (NASENCo) or willingness to apply
- Evidence of continuous INSET and commitment to further professional development with particular reference to Special Educational Needs and Pupil Premium
Experience
- Experience teaching SEND children
- Evidence of continuing professional development
- Experience of target setting and improving pupil outcomes
- Experience of leading SEND
- Experience of leading and training teaching teams
- Leading the development of teaching and learning for pupils with SEND across the school
- Working in partnership with external agencies
- Working in partnership with parents
- Experience of leading annual review meetings
- Leadership experience
- Experience of budget management
Knowledge and understanding
- The SEND Code of practice 2014
- What constitutes quality first teaching
- Barriers to learning
- Statutory National Curriculum and EYFS requirements at the appropriate key stages
- Systems for monitoring, assessment, recording and reporting of pupils’ progress
- How to refer into external agencies for further support or assessment
- The statutory requirements of legislation concerning Equal Opportunities, Health & Safety, SEND and Child Protection
- Understanding of the needs of vulnerable pupils (eg, EAL, SEND, PP etc)
- Positive links necessary within school and with all its stakeholders
- Effective teaching and learning styles
- How to prepare for and request assessment for an EHC plan
- The Threshold document for safeguarding and child protection
- The links between schools, especially partner schools
Skills
- Promote the school’s aims positively, and use effective strategies to monitor motivation and morale
- Develop good personal relationships within a team
- Establish and develop close relationships with parents, governors and the community
- Communicate effectively (both orally and in writing) to a variety of audiences
- Confident and competent use of information technology for communication purposes
- Create a happy, challenging and effective learning environment
- Be very organised
- Have good influencing and negotiating skills
- Be an excellent classroom practitioner
- Be able to breakdown and explain assessment reports from external agencies for parents
- Develop strategies for creating community links
Personal characteristics
Kind
Approachable
Committed
Empathetic
Diplomatic
Sensitive
Enthusiastic
Organised
Patient
Resourceful
Sense of Humour
Resilience
What the school offers its staff
Wellbeing, Workload and Professional Development Charter
We value all our staff at Oakridge, which is why we have put on paper what we will offer staff:
Wellbeing
- All new staff are assigned a mentor to support you in your first term.
- 24 access to an Employee Assistance Company.
- A staff wellbeing team, including a staff counsellor.
- A trained Senior Mental Health Leader to support staff wellbeing.
- No data targets for teachers to reach in Appraisals – purely focused on teacher development.
- Furnished staff room, less than 3 years old.
- A thorough on-boarding and induction process.
- No cost for tea or coffee
Workload
- No marking expected in English (and hoping to expand to other subjects)
- Extra PPA time is given to teachers each term to prepare for the following term.
- Ring-fenced PPA time with partner teacher, sharing planning.
- Streamlined annual reports to parents, saving teacher time.
- Streamlined Assessment Systems, saving teacher time.
- No lesson observations (except for statutory ECT observations)
Professional Development
- Teacher Development is based on research and practise. We love Doug Lemov’s Teach like a Champion and Rosenshine’s Principles.
- Each teacher works alongside an instructional coach fortnightly to develop teaching practice.
- Extra time out of class time weekly for ECTs and new teachers with the Deputy Head to develop teaching strategies (Direct Practice).
- No staff meetings – Instead weekly ‘Teaching and Learning’ sessions focused on CPD.
- Regular short and low-level learning walks, rather than observations, with informal feedback, always containing a positive.
What our staff say: (Wellbeing Survey Autumn 2023)
‘Everyone smiles and recognises each other’s efforts, no matter how small’
‘Staff have welcomed me into Oakridge and have shown their appreciation of what I'm trying to embed with regards to my role here’
94% of staff feel they are well supported by the Leadership Team, with one stating ‘I have found the support amazing, especially when an issue is raised. Everything is dealt with effectively’
Supportive, friendly and open-minded were the three most popular words to describe the working culture at Oakridge.
‘Friendly team, approachability leadership’
‘Feeling valued, a friendly environment to work in, cultural diversity, supportive SLT’
Flexible working opportunities
- Extra PPA time is given to teachers each term to prepare for the following term.
- Ring-fenced PPA time with partner teacher, sharing planning.
Further details about the role
At Oakridge School, we believe that all our SEND children are amazing!
We go above and beyond to meet individual needs and are looking for someone to be their main advocate as our Part-Time SENDCo.
If you are not qualified, we will support you in gaining your qualification. You will have the opportunity to work with our award-winning Leadership Team (Primary Leadership Team of the Year – Buckinghamshire School Awards 2024).
This is a permanent, part-time (3 days a week) SENDCo position. We can be completely flexible with hours, with days and hours to suit you. This position can be ‘topped up’ to full time with teaching commitments for the rest of the week. We are looking for someone to start in September 2025. We may interview before the application deadline for exceptional candidates.
Commitment to safeguarding
Our organisation is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. We expect all staff, volunteers and trustees to share this commitment.
Our recruitment process follows the keeping children safe in education guidance.
Offers of employment may be subject to the following checks (where relevant):
childcare disqualification
Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS)
medical
online and social media
prohibition from teaching
right to work
satisfactory references
suitability to work with children
You must tell us about any unspent conviction, cautions, reprimands or warnings under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975.
Applying for the job
Please download the application form using the link below, and once completed send to finance@oakridge.bucks.sch.uk
CVs are not accepted.
Additional documents
If you need these documents in an accessible format, please contact the school.
About Oakridge School
- School type
- Local authority maintained school, ages 2 to 11
- Education phase
- Primary
- School size
- 476 pupils enrolled
- Age range
- 2 to 11
- Ofsted report
- View Ofsted report
- School website
- Oakridge School website
- Email address
- finance@oakridge.bucks.sch.uk
- Phone number
- 01494 520341
Oakridge is a two-form entry school taking children from 2-11 years old.
The school has amazing, polite and respectful children who love being at school and learning. All visitors comment positively about learning behaviours.
The staff all share the school’s vision of ‘Enhancing the life chances of all our children.’ We feel strongly about wellbeing and workload, which is why we have developed the attached, ‘Wellbeing and Workload Charter.’
We are a school that is outward looking, wanting to learn from current research and best practice.
Arranging a visit to Oakridge School
To arrange a visit and increase the chance of a successful application email finance@oakridge.bucks.sch.uk.
School location
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