Teacher Of Children With A Visual Impairment

Our Values

In line with our One Coventry Values we strive to have a workforce that reflects our local communities and welcome applicants from all sections of the community. We particularly welcome applicants from minority ethnic backgrounds, applicants who have a disability and applicants who are from the LGBTQ+ community to apply for our senior leadership roles. 

Our Values are:

About the team we are recruiting to

We value diverse perspectives and experiences and are striving to create a workplace culture that is inclusive, is accepting of all and is free from discrimination and bias.

The Coventry Special Educational Needs & Disabilities (SEND) Support Service exists to deliver the aspirational challenge set to us by young people with SEND and their families: ‘To Lift the Cloud of Limitation and enable them to enjoy an ordinary life’. 

We are a creative, connected and forward-thinking service.  Together with our families and partners in schools, settings, the NHS and third sector, we have driven change that has pushed us to the cutting edge of SEND.  This includes embedding co-production across all areas of service delivery, investing in our SEND workforce, and pioneering new initiatives such as the award-nominated 'Together We Can' partnership group to engage Early Years children and their families and 'My Support Plan', a family-centred approach to understanding children's strengths and needs and tailoring their support. 

When Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) completed a Local Area inspection of Coventry in October 2019, they commended our “genuine passion and commitment to get things right for children and young people with SEND and their families”; our respect for the “lived experiences of Children and young people with SEND and their parents” and the “strong partnership between school settings and education service providers, with a high level of buy-back of specialist services”.

The Sensory Team are specialist (hearing and vision) teachers and support staff providing highly specialist support and advice for children and young people with hearing or vision difficulties in Coventry aged from 0-25. 

The team, which is highly regarded by families and schools, provides information, equipment and direct teaching in homes, early years settings and schools across Coventry to promote inclusion, empower families and raise achievement.

What is the job role?

Teacher of Children with a Visually Impaired -Salary TMS/UPS + SEN  1 or 2 Allowance depending on mandatory qualification required to start Easter 2024. The post has become vacant due to retirement.

The post involves:

• Providing peripatetic teaching support, training and advice to Children with a Visual Impairment, young people, parents/carers and professionals across Coventry in homes, educational settings and special schools to enable them to access an inclusive education and thrive.
• Conducting functional visual assessment to inform on the educational implications of Visual Impairment and to report to parents, teachers and other professionals the results of assessments.
• promoting the well-being, self-esteem, and self-advocacy skills of Children with a Visual Impairment

This post is exempted under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and as such appointment to this post will be conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory response to a check of police records via Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).

Who are we looking for?

We are looking for an experienced and highly motivated Teacher of the Visually Impaired to join our team. This is an exciting and unique opportunity to work in a well-established service with a commitment to quality improvement.

A Teacher of the Visually Impaired qualification is desirable; however applications will be considered from excellent teachers with relevant teaching experience looking to develop their career in working with pupils with a Visual Impairment. You must be willing and able to undertake specialist mandatory training for this post which is a two-year distance learning course as soon as possible. Successful team-working experience and excellent inter-personal skills are essential.

You will need:

• Qualified Teacher Status
• a good level of experience of successfully teaching children who have SEN
• good knowledge of how to promote education access for children and young people with a Visually impairment or the ability to gain this knowledge.
• excellent communication skills
• excellent ICT skills, to support Children with a Visual Impairment in their learning and provide training

If you would like an informal discussion about this post  or to visit please contact Joanne Appleton, Sensory Team Lead joanne.appleton@coventry.gov.uk or telephone 02476786174.

If you need help or support to complete your application, please visit our accessibility page to see how we can assist you.                                              

For full details on the application process please read the attached document on our jobs page labelled 'Coventry City Council Application Process'

Interview date:week beginning 19th February 2024

About Coventry

Coventry has a proud, innovative and creative spirit that throughout its history has seen communities come together to tackle problems and bring about real social change.

We are cutting-edge, challenging, youthful, vibrant and diverse.
At Coventry we are committed to excellence in everything we do. With around 5100 staff from a range of different backgrounds, our aim is to recruit and develop talented people who will focus on our customers, take responsibility, work together and find better ways of doing things.

To deliver the best services to our residents, we need the best people working for us to make a difference to our communities.

If you join us, we will provide a fantastic rewards and benefits package - to find out more please visit https://www.coventry.gov.uk/council-vacancies

Coventry City Council