Mrs A Cox - Assistant Head/SENCO

Attachment Lead/Drawing and Talking practitioner

I have been working at Herne since 2013. I started my role as SENCO in 2014 and am passionate to ensure that all children have the opportunity to reach their full potential. In 2017 I completed my Masters degree in Inclusion with a focus on emotional health and wellbeing.  I have always had an interest in mental, emotional and physical health and am keen to ensure that all children grown up knowing that they are important, valued and most of all that they are loved. Within my role as Assistant Head and SENCO I oversee the wellbeing of all children across the Nursery and school. I feel privileged to work with a team of teachers and support staff who also feel that emotional health and wellbeing is important to the holistic development of all children. I work closely with families to support them when challenges occur and enjoy being able to work together and find solutions in order to move both learning and emotional wellbeing forward.  All decisions made are in the best interests of the children and their wellbeing remains at the heart of everything we do.

Mrs C Stroud - Wellbeing Womble

I joined the Herne family in 2016 as a Teaching Assistant and became a Learning and Wellbeing Mentor in September 2021.  I have a passion for helping children to achieve their full potential and believe that we need to reduce any barriers to learning, whether they be physical or emotional, to enable our children to shine.  I offer a friendly smiling face who is willing to listen and offer any guidance when necessary.  I enjoy working with children and their families to provide support and advice wherever I can.

 I have a particular passion for supporting Speech and Language within the school, I have completed a level 3 award in Speech and Language Support for 5-11’s and use this knowledge to advise and guide best practice when delivering interventions and supporting our children in class. I am a Drawing and Talking practitioner and can provide children with a safe and secure environment to process their emotions. I am a certified Emotional Literacy Support Assistant (ELSA) and as such I care about the happiness of your children in school, a happy child is ready to learn and enjoy their school adventure.  I aim to build your child’s emotional development and help them cope with life’s changes. I feel very privileged to work in the wellbeing team where the needs of the children are made a priority.

Mrs C Willingham -  Play Therapist

I am a certified and registered Play Therapist and I focus on providing children with therapeutic support for their social, emotional, and behavioural health and wellbeing.

I work with children aged between 4 and 11 years old either individually on a 1:1 basis or within small groups. As a Play Therapist I provide children with a safe therapeutic space to express and process their feelings and emotions as they may need to.

I work with a Play Therapy toolkit which consists of creative visualisation, therapeutic storytelling, puppets and masks, art, clay, sand tray, music, movement and drama and role play.

Play is a child’s natural medium of self-expression and it is essential for their development. Play Therapy provides children with the opportunity to play out their feelings and problems within a therapeutic objective to enable a child’s full potential.