 Welcome to the September 2025 edition of the SENCO newsletter. This edition includes:
- Update from Jamie Conran, Head of SEND
- SENCO meetings and events
- ASSIST workshops
- A SENCO's September to-do list
- SEND team appointments for families
- Inclusion Champions
- Celebrating the talents of autistic young people and children
- Reminders
Update from Jamie Conran, Head of SEND
A very warm welcome back! I hope you all had a restful summer and that the new term has started positively for you and your school communities.
Thank you for your continued hard work and engagement over the past year. The SENCO role is vital, and the impact you have on the lives of our learners and their families cannot be overstated. Over the last academic year, many of you contributed to a range of projects, whether through working parties, forums, or our SENCO network meetings - and your input has been invaluable.
You may recall this time last year, we were experiencing significant changes within the SEND team, including a huge staffing churn with interim officers. I am delighted to share that our team is almost fully staffed with a permanent workforce, and many of you have shared your improved experience of our school-based allocation model. We remain committed to working in partnership with you and we look forward to strengthening our practice, with your support, over the next academic year.
It was fantastic to see so many of you in person at the launch of our Ordinarily Available Provision in June. Helen and I have been showcasing the quality of your work across our services and Southeast region. It's a fantastic example of what we can achieve when we come together, draw on our collective experience and expertise and work in partnership.
By now, we hope you've had the chance to familiarise yourselves with this important guidance. The resources on the SENCO Hub are available to support you in rolling this out to all staff. If you haven't yet received a hard copy, please contact our Area SENCO Team.
As part of our ongoing commitment to improving communication with families, we’ll be holding monthly drop-in sessions for parents and carers of children with an EHCP. These sessions will offer families the chance to raise any questions or concerns they may have. Please do share the information below with your parents and carers.
We’re also very excited to announce our very first SEND Conference in partnership with Maiden Erlegh Trust, which will take place on 29 January 2026. This will be a fantastic opportunity to come together to celebrate good practice, share inclusive approaches, and reinforce our shared commitment to high-quality, consistent inclusion across all settings. Look out for a ‘save the date’ invite coming soon!
The SEND Service has a busy year ahead, and we’re looking forward to working closely with you to secure the best possible outcomes for children and young people with SEND. In the meantime, have a great term and I look forward to catching up with you at our SENCO network meetings and our conference in the new year.
 SENCO meetings and events
We have a busy year ahead of us! Below are the dates for upcoming SENCO network meetings and other key events. Invitations will be sent out in the near future.
Please note additional training sessions may be added later in the year.
- Tuesday 30 September, 2pm - 3.30pm - SENCO network meeting 1
- Thursday 23 October, 2pm - 3pm - Training session on tribunals and mediation
- Thursday 6 November, 1.30pm - 2.30pm - Training session on annual reviews
- Wednesday 26 November, 3.30pm - 5pm - SENCO network meeting 2
- Thursday 29 January, 9am - 3.30pm - SEND Conference
- Tuesday 10 March, 2pm - 3.30pm - SENCO network meeting 3
- Thursday 30 April, 3.30pm - 5pm - SENCO network meeting 4
- Wednesday 1 July, 3.30pm - 5pm - SENCO network meeting 5
ASSIST workshops
ASSIST are offering a range of autism workshops this term. Most sessions will be held in person at the Woodley Airfield Centre, with two evening workshops available online.
Workshops are priced at £10 for parents and carers and £40 for professionals.
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Autism understanding and acceptance
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Supporting autistic individuals to understand and self-manage emotions and feelings
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Creating and using visual supports
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Sexual development and puberty
 A SENCO's September to-do list
September is always a busy time for SENCOs and, with such long to-do lists, it can be difficult prioritising which tasks to work on first.
Gary Aubin, author of The Lone SENDCO and co-author of The Parent’s Guide to SEND has written a short blog outlining 10 tasks that SENCOs should try to complete before the end of September.
Although it is aimed at SENCOs who are new to the role or to their school, the checklist offers useful reminders for everyone.
 SEND team appointments for families
Please share the following information with your families.
If your child or young person has an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), you can book a 20 minute appointment with the SEND Team to talk through any queries you have about their plan or current support.
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Woodley Airfield Centre, RG5 4UX
If you can't come in person, you can request an online appointment when booking.
We'll be running these sessions once a month during the autumn term. We'll share future dates in this newsletter and through SEND Voices Wokingham.
Inclusion Champions
Please share the following information with your families about this new online group that is open to children and young people aged 8 to 25 with additional needs and/or disabilities
- Have you got additional needs or disabilities?
- Have you got ideas about how to make support better for everyone?
- Would you like to get to know other young people with additional needs and/or disabilities and take part in a craft activity together?
- Do you struggle to get to face-to-face groups?
There is no need to have a diagnosis to attend.
Join the Wokingham Borough Council participation and SEND team on Tuesday 14 October for our first online additional needs inclusion champions group.
Contact Jo on WhatsApp 07834 150273 or email jo.dixon@wokingham.gov.uk for more info and to get the link to join.
We will post a mosaic coaster kit to you which we will work on together during the meeting. We can’t wait to welcome you.
 Celebrating the talents of autistic children and young people
To celebrate 20 years of supporting families in Wokingham Borough, is creating a special book. It will showcase the talents and perspectives of autistic children and young people, including those currently awaiting assessment.
ASSIST are inviting children and young people to take part and share a short piece. Ideas include:
- A story, poem, or joke
- Something about their joyful interests or talents
- A drawing, photo, or craft
- A favourite recipe with a photo
To find out more, email
Reminders
Ordinarily Available Provision
A reminder that you will find a presentation for sharing the Ordinarily Available Provision with your staff teams on the SENCO Hub. If you haven't done so already, please get a date in your school diary for ensuring that all of your staff know about this important resource.
MAIC dates
The MAIC dates for this academic year have now been released with the first meeting being held on September 11. The referral form and dates for the upcoming year can be found on the SENCO Hub: MAIC - Multi-Agency Inclusion Clinic.
SENCO Induction Programme
A reminder that we will be once again be running the SENCO Induction Programme this year for SENCOs who are new to their role or school or who want to refresh themselves on different aspects of the role.
Please complete the form below if you would like to book a place.
SENCO Induction Enrolment Form
Thank you to those of you who have already signed up. We will be in touch soon with more details.
Area SENCO team
If you are new to your role or to your school or if you just have a question or query, feel free to reach out to the Area SENCO team for support or advice. Helen and Kathryn are always happy to help. Find out more about how we can help and how to contact us by visiting the front page of the SENCO Hub.
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