SENCO

Wilds Lodge School - Rutland

Salary: £55,000 - £63,000

Contract type: Permanent, full time and term time only

Start Date: Easter 2026 (or sooner)

The successful candidate will sit on the Senior Leadership Team and Senior Education Team.

We are excited to offer the opportunity to join our wonderful school and work with our exceptional learners who experience a range of needs including SEMH and ASD. If you are someone who can enthuse, motivate and engage learners and would like the challenge of working in a demanding and rewarding environment, then we want to hear from you!

We are currently looking to appoint an inspiring and dedicated SENCO to provide strategic development of the Schools Special Education Needs (SEN) provision and oversight of the day-to-day operation of that policy with the aim of raising all SEN learner achievement.

The appointed candidate will have experience working within an SEN/SpLD environment and will ideally have a recognised SENCO qualification. The ability to demonstrate knowledge of the needs of children with SEMH and motivate/effectively communicate with those children is essential. Regardless of experience, the successful candidate will have the ability to embrace the inclusive therapeutic culture and ethos of the school. A strong commitment to raising achievement and standards is required along with an informed and creative approach to curriculum delivery.

Full support will be available via an outstanding professional development programme for aspiring leaders to develop your career further.

Key areas of responsibility and tasks include:

• Chairing the School's multidisciplinary team.
• Acting as the main point of contact with regional education and clinical psychology.
• Support the identification of and disseminate the most effective teaching approaches for individual learners with SEN.
• Ensuring provision map is up to date and that interventions and provision are carried out according to EHCP.
• Line manage and coordinate the therapy team, dyslexia specialist teacher and numeracy intervention teacher.
• Acting as designated Teacher for looked after children.
• Support all staff in understanding the needs of SEN learners.
• Liaise with staff, parents, external agencies and other Schools to coordinate their contribution, provide maximum support and ensure continuity of provision, especially in relation to complex cases.

Teaching and Learning:

• Support the identification of and disseminate the most effective teaching approaches for individual learners with SEN.
• Work with head teachers, teachers, key stage coordinators and pastoral staff to ensure all learners' learning is of equal importance and that there are high and realistic expectations of learners.
• Work with staff to develop effective ways of bridging barriers to learning through:

• Assessment of needs
• Monitoring of teaching quality and learner achievement
• Target setting
• Keeping accurate records
• Collect and interpret specialist assessment data to inform practice.

About Wilds Lodge:

Wilds Lodge School is an independent 38 week specialist boarding and day provision for boys and girls (girls are accepted as day learners only) for learners aged between 5 and 19 with social, emotional and mental health difficulties, set in Empingham, Rutland. All the learners at the school have an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP). It was established in 2007 and aims to place an equal emphasis on the educational, social and psychological development of our learners. The key to the success of the school is a strong ethos, developed by a highly experienced and capable staff, and the strength of the relationships between the staff and the learners.

We are a friendly school where staff are supportive of each other inside and outside of the classroom. We pride ourselves in ensuring all members of staff including our support staff have access to regular training. All our members of staff attend regular training on child protection; mental health and multi-agency working. All staff access a wide range of training on areas of SEN such as Autism, attachment and ADHD.

To be successful, you will:

• Be able to inspire, enthuse and motivate learners to ensure they achieve their full potential;
• Be an effective and committed team player with a clear vision for development and sustained improvement;
• Possess humour, energy, flexibility and a positive outlook.

Benefits include:

• Free onsite parking
• Free refreshments and meals whilst on duty
• Company events
• Gym membership
• Access to an employee assistance programme
• Group life cover 2 x salary from day 1
• Excellent CPD packages, paid induction training and opportunities for part funding of further training including HLTA, Master Degrees and Teacher Training
• Excellent promotion and career progression

Our learners are incredibly important to us; if you have a caring nature, you’re interested in making a real difference and impacting positively on the lives of our learners, we would love to hear from you.

How to apply:

For more information and a full application pack, please contact Mike Sherwin.

Closing date for applications: Wednesday 25th February 2026

Strong applications may be considered upon receipt. The School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. All post holders are subject to appropriate vetting procedures and a satisfactory enhanced DBS check.