Interim SEND officer

SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS OFFICER
Role Purpose
* In accordance with Children and Families Act 2014 and SEND Code of Practice 2015, national and county council strategic objectives and policies provide an efficient and effective service to
* To manage and oversee the EHC Needs assessment, annual review and placement process for children and young people from 0 years to age 25.
* Determine the appropriate level of support and identify placements for children and young people with SEN.
* Oversight and responsibility for complex casework, Mediation and Tribunals
* Attend Mediation and pre-hearing Tribunal meetings as required
* Provide line management support to a team of SEN Caseworker
* Ensure the careful management of and accountability for SEN budgets
Role Requirements
Knowledge and Communication
* Ensure an up-to-date understanding of the statutory framework and the major issues affecting the policy and operational direction for the delivery of services for children with SEN
* to provide information, advice and support to parents and professionals in education and other agencies about the statutory SEN processes
* Engage in frequent communication with an extensive and diverse range of people to discuss, persuade and negotiate courses of action so that assessments are concluded within statutory timescales and provision and placements achieved for children and young people
* To attend meetings relating to case planning for individual pupils and liaise with other agencies, professionals and parents * To lead and manage the Tribunal process to ensure that all deadline dates are met and that all case preparation is in line with Tribunal processes
* To attend Mediation and pre-hearing Tribunal meetings as required
Delivering Outcomes
* Manage and oversee the EHC Needs Assessment and placement process for young people, ensuring that each assessment is handled efficiently and within Statutory deadlines, ensuring each EHC plan issued is of high quality against which the performance of the county council is measured and publicly accountable.
* Ensuring that children's assessed needs are accurately described in their EHCPs
* Negotiating and securing educational provision and placements for children and young people
* Ensuring that all children with EHCPs have their needs reviewed annually and that any agreed amendments to the EHCP and/ or change in provision and placement are made in consultation with parents and all other parties. To ensure that the Annual Review process is clear and that all schools adhere to the time scales set out in the Code of Practice. Ensure that the transition process is communicated to all schools prior to annual review so that this can be implemented.
* Chairing or representing the SEN Service at more complex annual reviews/transition planning meetings and other case planning meetings to secure outcomes that move situations forward so that children's needs are properly identified and met.
*To ensure that all records for students are maintained and up to date at all times. This will ensure that an audit trail of involvement is kept and is able to be produced if required.
* To take lead responsibility for advising parents, schools, colleges and providers in implementing SEND decisions, managing expectations, issues and arising disputes on these decisions
* The role also involves receiving challenges from headteachers and parents. This contentious area of work frequently involves enquiries from members, MPs, media, and is subject to the scrutiny of the Ombudsman and SEN & Disability Tribunal
Manage staff performance reviews and provide supervision
* Collectively the SNOs under the leadership of the Area Team Manager, oversee the management of the day to day operation of special educational needs casework, including complex casework, ensuring quality and consistency
* Recruit, induct, train and develop staff to ensure a high quality service providing advice to parents, schools, and other agencies in line with the aims and objectives of the SEN Service
* To ensure the effective deployment and management of the casework staff within your team
* To provide advice and support to the Caseworkers in dealing with complex cases * To deliver in-service training to staff on agreed and selected relevant topics
* Liaise with other SNOs and Area Team Managers to ensure a flexible response to pressure points so that comprehensive service delivery is maintained.
* To develop, monitor and review policies and practices for the efficient and effective management of casework
* To ensure that casework teams operate consistent and common procedures , Children's Services and SEN Service policies and guidelines
* To monitor the quality, effectiveness and timescales of written correspondence, telephone communications, and database maintenance, ensuring that steps are taken to remedy any shortcomings;
Resource Allocation
* Determine support and identify appropriate placements for children with special educational needs, taking full account of schools' agreed place numbers, relevant placement criteria, resource implications and the County Council's policy to place children with SEN in mainstream schools whenever possible
* To ensure the careful management of and accountability for SEN budgets, in accordance with the councils policy
* To ensure that the allocated resources are appropriate to meet the needs described in the EHCP
* To ensure that the database is correctly updated and maintained
* To ensure that the school is informed promptly of the allocations
* To ensure regular review of all additional allocations
* To ensure that records of exceptional payments are maintained.
Managing Requests for information and complaints
* Ensure that requests for information including those under the Data Protection Act and Freedom of Information Act and complaints are dealt with effectively and speedily and that the Area Team Manager is kept informed