School SENCO (January 2021)

Job description / Role

General
• Embrace and encourage the ethos and standards of excellence as defined in the Newlands School Core Values
• Strategic Direction of SEN provision in the School
• Exercise a key role in assisting the Principal with the strategic development of SEN policy / provision.
• Support all staff in understanding the needs of SEN students and ensure the objectives to develop SEN are reflected in the school development plan.
• Monitor progress of objectives and targets for students with SEN from teachers’ plans, evaluate the effectiveness of teaching and learning by work analysis and use these analyses to guide future improvements.
• Analyse and interpret relevant school, local and national data and advise the head teacher on the level of resources required to maximise achievement.
• Liaise with staff, parents, external agencies and other schools to co-ordinate their contribution, provide maximum support and ensure continuity of provision.

Teaching and Learning
• Work with the head teacher and staff to develop effective ways of bridging barriers to learning through assessment of needs, target setting, developing a recording system for progress.
• Support teachers and learning support staff in the identification of the most effective teaching approaches for students with SEN.
• Monitor teaching and learning activities to meet the needs of students with SEN.
• Deliver small group support and interventions to students with SEN.
• Liaise with other schools to ensure continuity of support and learning when transferring students with SEN.

Leadership and Management
• Provide professional guidance to staff to secure good teaching for SEN students, through both written guidance, modelling teaching, coaching and mentoring.
• Provide training opportunities for learning support staff and teachers to learn about SEN.
• Disseminate good practice in SEN across the school.
• Identify resources needed to meet the needs of students with SEN; advise the leadership team of priorities for expenditure and manage the SEN budget.
• Attend Senior Management and Student Progress meetings.
• Hold regular meetings with the SEN teacher and learning support assistants.
• Develop links with other professionals, agencies, governors.
• Contribute to the performance management process of SEN teachers and learning support assistants.

Recording and Assessment
• Set targets for raising achievement among students with SEN.
• Collect and interpret specialist assessment data.
• Set up systems for identifying, assessing and reviewing SEN.
• Update the head teacher and governing body on the effectiveness of provision for students with SEN.
• Develop understanding of learning needs and the importance of raising achievement among students.
• Keep parents and carers informed about their child's progress.

Requirements

• A certified teaching qualification, such as BED., PGCE., PGDE. or equivalent (PGCE/PGDE must be accompanied by a subject relevant Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology or any other relevant field).
• Minimum 3 years in the same role.
• Knowledge and experience of DSIB inspection preferred.
• Solid experience within a SENCO position or as an SEN Teacher.
• Additional qualification or specialism within SEN support.
• Counseling skills.
• Excellent Team Player.
• English (Fluent) and Arabic (Basic).

About the Company

The Beaconhouse group has almost 308,000 fulltime students in eight countries and is possibly the largest school network of its kind in the world. Established in November 1975 as the Les Anges Montessori Academy with 19 toddlers, Beaconhouse has since grown into an international network of private schools, imparting distinctive and meaningful learning to students all the way from birth – through its partnership in Pakistan with Gymboree Play & Music – to post-graduation, through Concordia Colleges and the Beaconhouse National University.

Of these students, close to 101,000 study at the group’s flagship network, the Beaconhouse School System, in Pakistan as well as overseas, while the remaining are largely enrolled at The Educators, a parallel school network operated by the group.

The Beaconhouse of today is thus much more than just a stand-alone school. Through distinct and independent divisions across multiple destinations including the UK, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Oman, the UAE, Pakistan and Belgium, it caters to the education and training needs of a large and diverse group of individuals of varying ages, socioeconomic backgrounds, and nationalities, with its activities also extending beyond education in some countries.