Birkenhead School, awarded the Sunday Times Independent Secondary School of the Year in the North West for 2025, was founded in 1860. It is an HMC independent day school providing education for boys and girls drawn from the whole of the Wirral, Liverpool and as far afield as Chester and North Wales. Situated in the leafy suburb of Oxton, the School enjoys excellent facilities. The main campus has a ‘village green’ atmosphere, with classrooms and laboratories looking out over the cricket square.
The School comprises Nursery and Pre-Prep (Early Years), Prep and Seniors and integrates their objectives and activities within a ‘One School’ concept. Birkenhead School prides itself on being a family school. It is attractive to parents to have all their children in one school and it is a great advantage for the school to be able to establish strong, long-lasting relationships with families.
A key feature of the School is its strength of community, which runs through the student, staff and parental bodies. The School is embedded within the wider Wirral community, has strong links with local business and charities, and offers an extensive bursary programme.
Birkenhead School recruits on attitude as much as the quality of an individual’s qualifications on paper, an approach that has played a considerable role in the winning of the Sunday Times award – in short, staff go above and beyond in delivering outstanding academic grades and an expansive co-curricular programme which leads to a fulfilled, inspired and happy community.
The Department
Birkenhead School has a thriving SEND department supporting students primarily with Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, ASC and/or ADHD. The department itself has grown in recent years with the appointment of 6 Teaching Assistants in Senior School to support our growing number of students with an EHCP. The teaching staff are supportive of all students, in particular those with SEND, and are proactive in identifying any students of concern. Support is mostly at subject teacher or pastoral team level and around 25% of those students with diagnosed or suspected SEND received specialist 1:1 tuition in the form of Study Skills via our 2 specialist teachers.
The Role and Responsibilities
Administration and record keeping
* Maintain all SEND information for students in school and to maintain the SEND register by circulating a half termly update to all Senior school staff.
* Support the Exam’s Officer and Assistant SENDCo (Access Arrangements) as needed with examination access arrangements in both internal and external examinations.
* Oversee the students who follow a reduced timetable and ensure programmes of work and timetable amendments are made.
EHCPs
* Co-ordinate the provision for all students with Educational Health Care Plans (EHCP) and Additional Support Plans (ASP), completing all the necessary tasks to implement provision and complete all paperwork involved in termly and annual reviews.
* Liaise with local LEAs (Wirral and Cheshire West), Educational Psychologists, Speech and Language Therapists and other outside agencies as needed to ensure students with EHCPs are well supported.
* Maintain a close working relationship with students and parents, particularly those with an EHCP and ASP in place.
* Line manager to the team of 2 Study Skills teachers and Team of Teaching Assistants (specific to students with ECHPs) in Senior School including convening regular meetings, timetabling and leading the annual professional review programme.
Admissions
* Ensure students sitting the adaptive admissions assessment for Senior School with SEND have the access arrangements in place.
* Oversee SEND students on Year 5 and Year 6 assessment days liaising with the Head of Admissions.
* Ensure a structured, enhanced transition for students with SEND joining Senior School and for those transitioning from Prep.
Referrals
* Liaise with teaching staff and, as appropriate, with the Headmaster, Deputy Head, Head of Prep, Deputy Head of Prep, Heads of Year (Senior School) and School Nurse over the identification and support of pupils with SEND.
* Oversee the referral process for students with potential SEND from initial concern, meeting parents, liaising with staff, completing referral forms for students requiring a concentration or literacy screening assessment by gathering information from subject teachers, evaluating progress and referring to the Assistant SENDCo.
* Complete the relevant and necessary NHS and/or private referral form to follow the referral pathways for ADHD, Dyspraxia, SEMH and/or Autistic Spectrum Conditions.
* Take responsibility for any EHCP applications.
SEND INSET and Training
* Work with Prep SENDCo and Assistant SENDCo to keep up to date with national changes and developments in supporting special educational needs pupils in general.
* Deliver training sessions to develop teaching and learning strategies to support SEND students in school (with support of Prep SENDCo and Special Educational Needs Assessments Co-ordinator)
* Identify whole school training needs related to SEND.
A degree of teaching experience would be beneficial for the ability to deliver 1:1 and small group interventions in addition to the main SENDCo responsibilities.
For the full list of responsibilities and personal attributes, please visit the School website where further information can be found on the Information for Candidates.
This is a permanent role. Applications from both full time and part time candidates are welcome.
A letter of application indicating skills and experience, together with a completed application form, including the names and addresses of at least two referees, should be sent for the attention of the Headmaster via Cheryl Wallace, Personnel Manager.
Candidates are welcome to contact the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator, Mrs Jenny Williams with any questions relating to the role.
To meet our safeguarding obligations, an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check is undertaken as part of the recruitment process for all new staff. As Birkenhead School is an educational provider, it is permitted to ask whether an applicant has any convictions, cautions, reprimands or final warnings which would not be filtered in line with current guidance, as defined by The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (2013 and 2020). It is a criminal offence for an individual who is barred from working with children to apply for a role which is classed as regulated activity.
The closing date for applications: 9.00am on Monday 21st April 2025
We reserve the right to close this vacancy and complete the recruitment process when we are in receipt of sufficient applications. Should you wish to apply for this post you are advised to complete and submit your application form as soon as possible.