Special Educational Needs Co-Ordinator (SENCO) in Woodbridge

Position Type: Teaching/Child Support

Pay Range: up to £54,000 DOE

Position Start Date: Immediate

Contract Type: Full-time

Contract Term: Permanent

Application Close: 20/02/2026 Midnight

Date of Interviews: WC 23/02/26

Overview

About The Role: Are you a Life Changer? Do you want to lean in and transform the life of a child? Compass Community puts children first through our therapeutic, innovative approach. Integrity, Courage and Care shape how we work. We listen deeply, challenge each other and fix what needs fixing, together.

Compass Community School Aylward Park and Meadowview park is an independent specialist school providing high-quality, therapeutic and child-centred education to pupils from 7 to 17 years of age in Saxmundham, Suffolk and Woodbridge. Our children come from a wide range of backgrounds, but all have Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs (SEMH). Many will also have other Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) such as Autism, ADHD, and communication difficulties. The work we do is both varied and challenging and, as a trauma and attachment informed organisation, all staff are provided with extensive therapeutic training and support.

Our closely triangulated approach places the child at the centre of decision making, ensuring that education and therapy professionals, parents/carers, local authority teams and, most importantly, our students can work together to secure outstanding outcomes for all.

The Role

The SENCO role sits squarely in our regional SLT and, as such, we are looking for a practitioner who shares our vision and can embody our ethos in every decision they make and every conversation they have, be that with students, parents or professionals. The staffing structure around our family of schools means that SENCOs are well supported, allowing them to focus on what is really important. Regional Executive Head Teachers oversee the region and will support decision making and problem solving, and every school has its own Head Teacher. Admin and compliance teams keep things running smoothly, a specialist Head of Teaching Learning and Curriculum helps to drive the quality of education and you will also get to work with a broader team of SENCOs that operate in other regions across the country.

The SENCo will lead the support of effective teaching and learning across all sites, aiding children to overcome a multitude of barriers to education and a-typical learning journeys. SENCos in our settings need to be hands-on, solution focussed and child-centred - observing children in class and at leisure to provide feedback, support and advice to those working with them. They will manage Annual Reviews of EHCPs as well as assessments and applications across a range of LA teams.

The Right Person

• Qualified Teacher Status (QTS).
• Hold an appropriate SENCo Qualification such as PGCiPP NASENCo or similar OR have experience in a SENCO role and be willing to undertake qualification within 2 years of taking up post.
• A proven record of good or outstanding teaching practice.
• An excellent, efficient and emotionally intelligent communicator.
• Sound working knowledge of the SEND Code of Practice.
• A strong desire to work inclusively within an emotionally literate environment, supporting children who have experienced adverse childhood experiences (ACEs).
• Experience of crisis-management/managing challenging behaviours and working with children with SEMH difficulties.
• The ambition to progress professionally within an expanding, child-centred national organisation.
• Experience of effective working with hard-to-reach or disengaged families.

Benefits and Rewards

• Staff laptop and mobile phone
• Competitive salary
• Extensive training and professional qualification opportunities
• Small class sizes with specialist TA support
• The chance to be part of an expanding, national organisation that recognises skill, effort and potential and grows its own leadership teams
• Enhanced occupational sickness scheme
• Flexible pension
• Regular therapeutic and supportive supervision
• Employee benefit service with access to wellbeing services, salary sacrifice schemes, high street vouchers, money off eating-out and takeaways

Safeguarding

This role is subject to an enhanced DBS check. The Compass Community values equality and diversity across our workforce and aims to ensure our staff community is reflective of the diversity of the children and young people within our care. In support of this commitment, we welcome applications from individuals of Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds.

Information about the School

Compass Community School Essex is an independent secondary school for boys and girls Y7-Y11 in North Essex. Building relationships with our pupils is key to the therapeutic approach we take here at CCSE. Small pupil numbers, coupled with a high staff ratio, help to create a nurturing environment in which our students can thrive. Our highly trained and experienced education team work closely with parents, carers, multi-agency professionals, key workers and programme psychologists to holistically support our young people with a wide range of challenging behaviours and experiences. Our curriculum is developmentally sequential, building on prior learning, with high expectations of progress.

All appointments are subject to safer recruitment requirements to ensure the safeguarding of children and young people. All positions will involve appropriate checks and clearances.