Amy, tell us about your role – what are you responsible for and what difference does your work make to the Trust?
I am hugely lucky to work under the oversight and guidance of Mary Abeyasekera, Executive Director SENDV. We have a team of two Senior trust SENDV Coordinators and three trust SENDV Coordinators (in addition to the SENDCO at each school). Our team has three main strands of responsibility:
- * Quality assurance of SEND provision across all Meridian Trust Schools
- * Ensuring that there is a high quality SENDV Network for Meridian Trust SENDCOs
- * Individual school support
How does your work connect to the Trust values?
The work of our Trust SENDV team connects to all the Trust values. Our pursuit of excellence is ensuring that all children and young people educated within Meridian Trust have high-quality learning environments that meet their needs, ensuring achievement for all. Extending the boundaries of learning ensures that skills and values are developed both in and out of the classroom
Can you tell us about a stand-out moment for you at work?
Last year I joined the Meridian Trust Coaching program. Learning about and utilising team coaching approaches has transformed the way we work as a team and the way our SENDV Network meetings function. Our last SENDV Network meeting was on March 10th and I had a wonderful ‘snapshot’ moment of observing a room of incredibly knowledgeable and resilient SENDCOs sharing their initial thoughts about the SEND Reform consultation. I felt immensely proud that, in a time of such instability and uncertainty, our SENDCOs came together to support each other in understanding and processing the proposed changes to a system that they care passionately about and are invested in.
Please tell us about one thing you’re excited to work on at the moment.
It has been particularly exciting to work with colleagues outside of our SENDV-specific team and network. This is where the magic happens and where we ensure that the universal offer for all children and young people is inclusive by design. Beth Morrish, our Director of Literacy and Meridian Learning (T&L) invited me to work with her on an Adaptive Teaching project that highlighted the importance of stepping out of traditional ‘silos’ of ‘SENDV’ and ‘teaching and learning’. By doing this, we were able to develop a set of training resources providing clarity around how cycles of assess, plan, do and review are central to planning and enacting high-quality, adaptive teaching.
What’s coming up for you in the future that you’re excited to work on?
Sarah Louise (Principal of Martin Bacon Academy), Tiff Middleton (Trust Senior SENDV Coordinator) and I have recently embarked upon a very exciting pilot project. The focus of the project is to explore the use and impact, in mainstream primary schools, of assessment and curriculum tools developed at Martin Bacon Academy. We are working closely with three of our primary schools to introduce the tools, with the aim of ensuring that the progress of children with complex needs is more meaningfully measured and celebrated. I am excited to see what the project shows us about developing the use of the tools in mainstream primary schools, but equally excited about the process – working directly with children, young people, and staff is my favourite part of the job!
