SENCO
Dorothy Gardner Nursery School, London, W9 3JY17 days remaining to apply
Job start date
1 September 2026
Closing date
17 April 2026 at 3pm
Date listed
31 March 2026
Job details
Job role
- SENDCo (special educational needs and disabilities coordinator)
Visa sponsorship
- Visas cannot be sponsored
Working pattern
- Full time: Full Time
Contract type
- Fixed term - 1 year with a possible option to remain - Maternity or parental leave cover
Pay scale
- M3 to UPS
Additional allowances
SEN
What skills and experience we're looking for
Experience & Knowledge (Essential)
You are looking for someone who:
- Has experience working with children aged 2–5, particularly those with a range of SEND needs
- Understands early identification and intervention
-
Has working knowledge of statutory SEND processes, including:
- Early Support Plans
- EHCPs
- Has experience making timely referrals to external services
-
Demonstrates strong understanding of:
- Child development
- EYFS framework
- Inclusive practice
-
Has experience working with:
- Parents/carers
- Multi-professional teams
- Knows effective strategies for inclusion and quality first teaching
Skills & Abilities (Essential)
You are looking for someone who can:
- Lead and coordinate SEND provision across more than one setting
- Implement and manage the graduated approach (universal, targeted, specialist)
- Assess, monitor, and track progress of children with SEND
- Support and coach staff with practical strategies and adaptations
-
Communicate effectively with:
- Staff
- Parents
- External professionals
- Demonstrate strong organisation, time management, and flexibility
Desirable Experience & Skills
Stronger candidates may also:
- Hold the National SENCo Award
-
Have training in:
- Early intervention
- Speech and language
- Inclusion strategies
-
Have experience:
- Identifying complex SEND early
- Leading CPD or coaching staff
-
Be able to:
- Analyse data to inform provision
- Contribute to whole-setting development and policy
Personal Qualities You’re Prioritising
This is actually quite distinctive in your pack:
- Warm, approachable and responsive
- Collaborative across teams and settings
- Reflective and proactive
- Resilient and adaptable
- High expectations of professionalism and practice
- Deep commitment to improving outcomes for children with SEND and families
If you want to sharpen this further (my recommendation)
Given your federation model and SEND ambition, you could tighten this into a clearer “headline expectation”:
We are looking for a SENCo who can move beyond coordination into system leadership — someone who can build adult capability, drive early intervention, and ensure consistently high-quality inclusive practice across multiple settings.
If you want, I can turn this into:
- a one-page person specification (Ofsted-ready)
- or interview questions aligned to each competency
- or a scoring grid for shortlisting
remove bold - this is for dfe teaching vancancy wesite
Here is the same content with all bold removed and formatted cleanly for the DfE Teaching Vacancies website:
Experience and knowledge (essential)
You are looking for someone who:
- Has experience working with children aged 2–5, particularly those with a range of SEND needs
- Understands early identification and intervention
- Has working knowledge of statutory SEND processes, including Early Support Plans and EHCPs
- Has experience making timely referrals to external services
- Demonstrates strong understanding of child development, the EYFS framework, and inclusive practice
- Has experience working with parents/carers and multi-professional teams
- Knows effective strategies for inclusion and quality first teaching
Skills and abilities (essential)
You are looking for someone who can:
- Lead and coordinate SEND provision across more than one setting
- Implement and manage the graduated approach (universal, targeted, specialist)
- Assess, monitor, and track progress of children with SEND
- Support and coach staff with practical strategies and adaptations
- Communicate effectively with staff, parents, and external professionals
- Demonstrate strong organisation, time management, and flexibility
Desirable experience and skills
Stronger candidates may also:
- Hold the National SENCo Award
- Have training in early intervention, speech and language, or inclusion strategies
- Have experience identifying complex SEND early
- Have experience leading CPD or coaching staff
- Be able to analyse data to inform provision
- Be able to contribute to whole-setting development and policy
Personal qualities
- Warm, approachable, and responsive
- Collaborative and able to work across teams and settings
- Reflective, proactive, and committed to continuous improvement
- Resilient and adaptable
- High expectations of practice and professionalism
- Passionate about improving outcomes for children with SEND and their families
What the school offers its staff
What the school offers its staff
- A warm, inclusive and supportive working environment where staff feel valued and part of a close-knit team
- Opportunities to work within a collaborative federation, benefiting from shared expertise, coaching, mentoring and joint professional development
- Access to high-quality CPD and career development across a wider network of schools, nurseries and family services
- The opportunity to work in a setting with a strong reputation for inclusive practice and SEND expertise
- A well-established team committed to reflective practice and continuous improvement
- Leadership that prioritises staff wellbeing and ensures workload is manageable
- The chance to make a meaningful difference to children and families within a highly supportive community
- Opportunities to work alongside external professionals and develop multi-agency practice
- A rich early years environment, including outdoor learning and Forest School provision
- The ability to contribute to, and shape, provision across more than one setting within the partnership
Further information about the job
A job pack can be found here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lmcia9NcOyouXJE4mPKvoxricIGHbVGI/view?usp=drive_link
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 complete the online application.
CVs will not be accepted for this application.
Apply for this jobAbout Dorothy Gardner Nursery School
- School type
- Local authority maintained school, ages 2 to 5
- Education phase
- Nursery
- School size
- 70 pupils enrolled
- Age range
- 2 to 5
- Ofsted report
- View Ofsted report
- School website
- Dorothy Gardner Nursery School website
- Email address
- bcommins1.213@lgflmail.org
Dorothy Gardner Nursery School is part of Queen's Park Early Years Federation. The Federation comprises 3 nearby sites: Dorothy Gardner and Mary Paterson nursery schools and Queens Park Children's Centre.
Arranging a visit to Dorothy Gardner Nursery School
To arrange a visit and increase the chance of a successful application email bcommins1.213@lgflmail.org.
School location
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