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SENCO support

Support for current and aspiring SENCOs

 

  1. CENMAC: support with using assitive technology in education

  2. Part-time timetable guidance

  3. Support with qualifications

  4. SEND identification, progress and outcomes in Southwark schools

  5. Forums and hub: peer-to-peer support

  6. Requesting an EHC needs assessment
     

CENMAC 

Assistive Technology in Education

CENMAC are a team of specialists who support children and young people experiencing barriers to learning and/or communication to access the curriculum and/or to communicate using assistive technology.

Their Thursday Thirty free live online training and information sessions run throughout the school term 3.30pm to 4.00pm on Thursday afternoons.

To stay up-to-date about assistive technology and SEN provision sign up to the CENMAC newsletter.

How to make a refferal

To refer a child or young person from Southwark to CENMAC you will need to complete a referral:

Form one covers the main areas of the SETT framework: Student, Environment, Tasks and Tools. This is for assistive technology to support learning. 

Form two covers part of the AAC (augmentative and alternative communication) framework. This is for individuals with communication disorders who have difficulty with traditional spoken communication.

Referral criteria

  1. School has used its own resources and expertise to show what has already been tried/strategies put in place and then reviewed (eg Individual Education Plan).

  2. Another professional (SaLT, OT, VI, HI, AST, EP) supports the referral or it is identified as possible provision in the child/young person’s EHCP.

Please refer to Top Tips and Southwark’s guidance to schools

Step 1: Download Referral Form 1 (AT)  or Download Referral Form 2 (AT + AAC)  and save it.

Step 2: Complete all the questions as fully as possible (please DO NOT leave any fields blank). You can use the visuals to support student questions to support conversations with your child/young person in the completion of Part 1. If the child or young person is multilingual, you should also complete the rating scale and questions for multilingual students  

Step 3: Save the completed form.

Step 4: Email the completed form along with the supporting information requested (IEP, OT, SALT, VI, HI and handwriting/drawing sample as applicable) to cenmac@southwark.gov.uk.

Part-time timetable guidance

 Department for Education (DfE) statutory guidance on part-time (also known as reduced) timetables was recently updated as part of their refreshed 'Working together to improve school attendance'. Our part-time timetable guidance and template for SENCOs set out how the guidance applies in Southwark:

Part-time timetable guidance

Part-time timetable template form

Qualifications

SENCO - National Professional Qualification 

The National Professional Qualification (NPQ) became the mandatory qualification for SENCOs in September 2024, replacing the National Award for SEN Co-ordination (NASENCo) qualification. 

Southwark Council is able to offer all SENCOs working in the borough the opportunity to complete the NPQ through the SEND Hub at Alfred Salter Primary School. The award will be delivered by Adam Bridle, Hub Lead and Deputy Headteacher, in partnership with the London South Teaching School Hub and UCL. Any provision that is interested in registering for the 2025/26 cohort and beyond should contact Adam Bridle at thehub@alfredsalter.com.

Alfred Salter SEND Hub

Graduate Taught Programmes

The Institute of Education (IOE) is a world leading centre for research and teaching in education. In 2022 they were ranked first in the QS World University Rankings for the ninth year running. They offer a range of taught graduate programmes with a specific focus on SEND.

Institute of Education courses for SENCos

SEND identification, progress and outcomes in Southwark schools

The outcomes for young people with SEND in Southwark schools are good when compared with similar young people across the country. The DFE have recently produced a local area SEND Report presenting the statistics on SEND available compared to inner London averages.

The most recent SEND comparative data set is available upon request from Sarah Redman, Senior Adviser for SEND: Sarah.Redman@southwark.gov.uk.

Southwark schools vary widely in size and context. The proportion of pupils/students identified as needing SEN support varies from well above the inner London mean to well below.  You can read the latest DfE SEND identification data for Southwark Schools on the department's website. The SEN support interactive dataset and the EHC interactive dataset give a national view of the identification, progress and achievement of pupils/students at SEN support and EHC. The datasets cover:

  • outcomes at the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage
  • Year 1 phonics test
  • reading, Writing and Maths at the end of Key Stage 1
  • all headline measures at the end of Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 4.