SEND Placement Support Worker

Salary: Band 7, £31,067 to £35,235 per annum

Contract: Fixed Term / Secondment for 12 months

Hours: Full time (37 hours per week, Monday to Friday, flexible hours)

Closing date: Sunday 5 January 2025, 23:59

Interview date: Thursday 16 and Friday 17 January 2025

Portsmouth City Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, and young people, and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. It is also committed to promoting quality childcare across the city that works to improve outcomes for children. 

DBS Disclosure at Enhanced level will be required prior to any offer of employment and this post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.

Every post is subject to PCC and Portsmouth Safeguarding Children’s Board safer recruitment procedures.

Why come to live and work in Portsmouth?

Portsmouth is a great waterfront city and a vibrant place to live and work. It is an island city with an “inner city” feel, a seaside location packed with attractions and events, and the advantage of fantastic countryside on its doorstep. With fast road and rail links to London, Brighton and major airports, and ferry links to Europe, it is the perfect place to live and work. Portsmouth has a strong history of partnership working and has successfully integrated several local services. 

The Service:

Within the Children, Families and Education Directorate, the Sufficiency and Resources Service supports school organisation, school management and school improvement through liaison with senior school leaders and other council teams. It also works directly with children and young people to improve attainment / progress, deliver positive outcomes, and to improve social and emotional wellbeing.

Your New Role:

You will give support and information for families of children with SEND, providing factual information and options that will allow them to make decisions. You will put the child/young person at the centre of your work, fully considering the range of options available to prepare children with SEND for adulthood and for achieving their dreams, wishes and ambitions. You will meet parents/carers of children with SEND in person and virtually to discuss school placements, accompany them on school visits, and provide an impartial/mediatory role in meetings between families, the local authority and schools. You will attend and observe key decision-making processes, and ensure that your experiences with families inform strategic decisions for SEND provision.

Please read the job profile for the full details of this role. 

What you'll need to succeed:

You have a qualification in Education or Social Care or can demonstrate significant experience of working with children, young people and families in an education, health or social care environment. You have experience of statutory SEND processes, ideally achieved through your work in a SEND Assessment Team/Service, and experience of engagement with parent/carers of children with SEND and young people with SEND.  You can manage challenging conversations and have the skills to show empathy, kindness and resilience in emotional situations. You can build trust, work impartially, and challenge poor practice. You can review and draft complex written documents and adapt your communication style to fit your audience. You have detailed knowledge of safeguarding and sound knowledge of equality and diversity. You can plan, organise and prioritise your own workload across competing agendas, and work under your own initiative. You are innovative  and open to new ways of doing things, interested in best practice, and an excellent team player.

Please read the job profile for the full details of this role. 

You will need to demonstrate that you have the Right to Work in the UK. No post will be offered without it.

What you'll get in return:

We really appreciate our employees and fully realise they are essential to our success and look to offer an inclusive, supportive working environment where employees can reach their potentials with a healthy work life balance, offering the following rewards:

• Generous annual leave (27 days per year rising to 31, pro rata for part time hours) with the potential to purchase additional leave.
• A fantastic pension which allows you the opportunity to pay in more for that greater return.
• Flexible working options including hybrid working with a minimum of two days office based per week pro rata, giving you the flexibility to work up to three days at home every week. Hybrid working is dependent on the role and service needs, exact details will be discussed with you at interview.
• Access to a wide range of training and development opportunities including apprenticeships.
• Extensive wellbeing support through the Employee Assistance Programme 
• Discount on travel, travel loans and the bike loan scheme
• Discounts on a wide range of goods and services – access a range of discounts and offers from thousands of restaurants, shops and more.

Staff rewards: https://careers.portsmouth.gov.uk/working-for-the-council/

Additional Information:

The full job profile is attached here.

Contact Details for an Informal Discussion:

Jo Hill, Sufficiency and Capital Strategy Manager, jo.hill@portsmouthcc.gov.uk, 023 92 437 598

A commitment to our values:

We are committed to our values of respect, integrity, collaboration, inclusivity and being people-focussed. These values set out how we can contribute to the success of the council and our own success as individuals. Learn more about our values and behaviours.

Application process:

How to complete your application: https://careers.portsmouth.gov.uk/how-to-apply/

We are a disability confident employer - committed to ensuring that our recruitment and selection process is inclusive and accessible and welcome applications from all areas of society.

Please submit both a CV and a cover letter/personal statement. Remember to demonstrate in your cover letter/personal statement why you are suitable against each of the points described in the 'Who is the Person' section of the full Job Profile, using examples from your experience or transferable skills. This might be through qualifications or descriptive examples from your work / personal experience, which clearly illustrates what you did and the effect it had.

If you upload a CV without a cover letter/personal statement, it is unlikely that your application will be successful.

Please ensure you provide your full education history from secondary school, include name/address of establishment, details of relevant qualifications & awarding body. Please explain any gaps - this is essential for all safeguarding children's roles.

We will email applicants from time to time; please ensure you check e-mail folders as sometimes our e-mails may go into spam/junk folders.

We look forward to speaking with you soon.

Should you require any support in completing the application form please contact recruit@portsmouthcc.gov.uk.