SEND 101 for Governors/Trustees: Supporting your School Community

Since 2016 schools and trusts have seen an upward trend in the number of pupils with either an EHC plan or those requiring SEN support, with the latest figures showing 87,000 more students were added to the SEND register in 2022.

Judicium launched a survey of England’s SENDCOs and school leaders, which revealed two-thirds of SENDCOs feel current regulations leave them vulnerable.

With recruitment and retention posing challenges across education, our survey showed high workload was the top contributing factor to the lack of SENDCO retention.

One way to combat this is with support.

Governors/Trustees should play a pivotal role in supporting their SENDCOs and equipping them with the right tools to deliver quality SEND provision.

During the session we will be covering the following:

• • The essentials of what governors/trustees need to know about SEND.
  • Overview of how governors/trustees should be fulfilling their strategic role in relation to SEND.
  • How governors/trustees can support schools with their SEND provision.

Let us introduce you to this week's professional speaker

Rik Chilvers

Rik is a Safeguarding Consultant and the SEND Lead at Judicium. With experience of primary and secondary education, he brings to the team a detailed understanding of the cross-cutting nature of SEND and safeguarding, effective partnership working and management of resources.

While working as a primary school teacher, Rik completed a master’s degree in psychology of education. He then moved into secondary schools where he worked as a SENDCO, Senior Mental Health Lead and an Assistant Principal. Rik has played a central role in safeguarding and pastoral teams, championing a holistic approach to supporting children and their families. He developed whole-school policies and systems, led on best practice and has overseen systemic change including establishing a SEND department in a new secondary academy.