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We are looking for a motivated and enthusiastic individual with recent, direct, employed experience of working with Children and Young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities and their families to join the SEND information, advice and support service (SIAS) in a new and exciting role.
SIAS enables the independence and self-advocacy of children, young people and their families by providing free, impartial, confidential and accurate information, advice and support about education, health and social care on matters relating to special educational needs and disability, including:
- SEND support and the graduated approach;
- Statutory processes including EHCPs, suspensions and exclusions;
- Mediations, appeals and tribunals.
In this exciting, new role you will be developing the offer of direct support for Children and Young people. You will work with Children and Young people to understand what they want from the SEND information, advice and support service and co-produce the service offer. You will also work alongside the SIAS team to provide legally-based information, advice and support to individual Children and Young people, supporting them to understand what they can expect from education settings, exercise their rights, and enable them to have their voices heard in the decisions that affect them.
Your responsibilities
- Work with Children and Young people to co-produce the SIAS offer of information, advice and support for Children and Young people, ensuring this meets local need and national minimum standards.
- Listen to Children and Young people to develop a good understanding of their current experiences and support them to express their views and wishes.
- Provide support that empowers Children and Young people to express their views and wishes and helps them to understand and exercise their rights in matters including exclusion, complaints, SEND processes and SEND appeals.
- Provide impartial information, advice and support (IAS) to individual Children and Young people on the full range of education, health and social care as defined in the SEND Code of Practice.
- Provide information, advice and support before, during and following a SEND Tribunal appeal in a range of different ways, dependent on the needs of the young person. This will include representation during the hearing if the parent or young person is unable to do so.
- Develop SIAS information specifically for young people, including leaflets and information held on the website and social media
- Work directly with CYP to ensure their voices are heard and represented, particularly when it comes to schools preferences, and Post-16 and Post-19 transitions.
About you
- You will have recent relevant experience working with children or young people, especially those with special educational needs and disability. A qualification in special educational needs will be an advantage.
- You will be experienced and confident to work in partnership with a range of different agencies and particularly with those with lived experience of SEND services.
- Possessing excellent communication skills and organisational skills, you will enjoy being part of a high achieving team and will be able to work effectively and efficiently under pressure.
- You will be competent in working with an electronic case management system and have a good level of computer skills.
- You will be committed to being a learning practitioner and to building and supporting the professional development and understanding of special educational needs in others. You will have a focused work ethic and set high standards for the service you provide.
You must be fluent in the English language (as a requirement of Part 7 of the Immigration Act “for the effective performance of a customer-facing role”).
Your next package
Please see our Rewards and Benefits offer for more details.
As an employee, you will receive a diverse and exciting environment in which to work, encouraging creativity and innovation whilst recognising the need to support ongoing personal development and a flexible work life balance.
For Swindon to thrive in the future, we need to lay the foundations now. It’s why our regeneration and transformation programmes are already underway. So, you’ll be joining us at an exciting time on our journey. We’ll look to you to share your knowledge, influence decisions and drive real, positive change. With your contributions, we’ll achieve our vision of a prosperous, re-vitalised Swindon together. And you’ll be proud to say it was made better with you.
Please see our Vision and Values page for more details.
Your next steps
Read the role profile and select the Apply button where you will be redirected to the Swindon Borough Council website to complete our online application process. Clicking the ‘Apply’ button on this job website is not an application, you must register on the Swindon Borough Council website in order to be considered for the role.
Potential applicants are sometimes put off if they don’t meet 100% of the requirements. We think individual experience, skills and passion make all the difference, so if you meet the majority of the criteria, we’d love to hear from you.
For further information about the role please contact Freyr Bendleton, Head of Service at FBendleton@swindon.gov.uk
If you are experiencing technical issues submitting your application please email resourcing@swindon.gov.uk
