Company History:
My name is Sandy,
After working in education and SEND for most of my adult life, a business idea developed and grew. I was very aware of the difficulties parents, schools and the LA were finding themselves in.
I have a passion for what I do, know and believe in. My focus is always on the Child / Young Person’s needs to come first and centre, while supporting and understanding wide issues the LA and educational settings are facing.
My interest started when I worked in early years, I was a SENCo and Deputy manager. I could see first hand the challenges Early Years Settings faced and decided to focus on early interventions and meeting the needs of SEND children. I studied and attended as many training as I could to develop my skill. I also studied for a Psychology Degree with the OU while working as a SENCo, to enhance my skills as well as volunteering in a primary school. I then moved to a LA role, deciding to focus on SEND and started from bottom up. I initially worked as an Admin Officer, transferring SSEN (Statements) to EHCPs, then became a keyworker where I was responsible for a high number of children going through the Statutory assessment Process. I have written EHCPs, worked with parents to find appropriate placements, I became a team leader (leading keyworkers and Annual Review (AR) officers, making LA decisions) where i was in charge of multiple schools and line managed 6 Officers. In addition, I also worked as a Senior Tribunal Officer in the SENDIST department. I then decided to move to another LA working as a team leader focusing on ARs.
I then decided to work in a state special school in order for me to have a wider understanding of the LAs issues in a school and how the schools were affected. I lead a team of AR and EHCP administrators focusing on improving the delivery of the AR service, ensuring the ARs were returned to the LA in a timely manner and held by the anniversary of the last AR. I also coordinated the Outreach and Alternative Curriculum which focused its attention on students who are unable to come to school due to health / anxiety.
To date, I have worked with 3 LAs, the SENDIST Tribunal and have made decisions within the LA regarding placement, funding, EHCPs and ARs.
Areas of expertise:
- Early Years
- Primary
- Secondary
- Post 16
- Phase Transfers
- Request for Statutory Assessment Process
- Decisions to assess
- Decisions to Issue
- EHCP writing
- Placement decisions
- Tribunal appeals
- Mediations
- Funding
- Alternative Curriculum
- Personal Budget and EOTAS
Education:
- Degree of Batchelor of Science in psychology (Open University)
- Diploma in Child Psychology
- SENCo Certificates
- many Certificates in SEND
- Makaton Certificates
- Bilingual French – English
- A Level in Marketing, Economy and Law, English, French, Maths, Geography in France
