Education Navigator - Integrated Front Door
Education Navigator - Integrated Front Door
We are seeking an experienced and passionate Education Navigator to join the Integrated Front Door Service. This is an exciting opportunity to act as the bridge between education and safeguarding services, supporting vulnerable children and young people through effective partnership working, specialist advice, and information sharing. Your work will help ensure that children at risk receive the right support, at the right time, to stay safe and achieve their potential.
About us
At Cheshire East Council we are resident, and partner focused with a vision to enable prosperity and wellbeing for all. People really are at the heart of everything we do and that starts with our incredible workforce. We promote a culture of high performance where people can aspire, thrive and flourish, where we strive to deliver best value in everything we do.
For us, success isn’t just about what we achieve, but how we achieve it together. We promote curiosity, excellence, innovation and continuous improvement.
We are values led and committed to wellbeing and inclusion for all, where our employees co-created our values of drive, integrity, respect and collaboration which inform all that we do.
We are proud to work for Cheshire East Council and believe you would be too!
Join us on a meaningful journey in Children’s Social Care at Cheshire East Council
We’re on a meaningful journey in Children’s Social Care and we’d love for you to be part of it. Joining us means becoming part of a supportive, forward-thinking team that’s passionate about making a real difference in the lives of children and young people. Everything we do is about putting them first, helping them grow, thrive and reach their full potential so they can build brighter futures.
If this sounds like the kind of impact you want to make, we’d be delighted to hear from you. Come and join us in shaping positive change for our young people.
About the role:
As an Education Navigator you will play a vital role in safeguarding vulnerable children and young people. Acting as the key link between education providers and safeguarding professionals, you will ensure that critical information is shared effectively, support multi-agency decision-making, and help develop plans that protect children at risk of harm. Working closely with colleagues across education, social care, health and policing, you will use your expertise to champion positive outcomes for children, ensuring they are safe, supported and able to access their education.
Key Responsibilities
- Act as the main link between education providers and the Integrated Front Door Service.
- Support multi-agency safeguarding decisions through information sharing and professional advice.
- Contribute to child protection meetings, safety planning and risk assessment processes.
- Provide specialist guidance to schools and education settings on safeguarding and child protection matters.
- Help ensure vulnerable children, including those missing education, electively home educated or with SEND, receive appropriate support and protection.
- Build strong partnerships across education, social care, health and police services to improve outcomes for children and families
This is just a snapshot of some of the exciting things you’ll be doing in the role, to find out more about the other key responsibilities of the role please view the attached job description.
About you:
You will be a skilled safeguarding or education professional with experience of supporting vulnerable children and young people and working collaboratively across agencies. Confident in building relationships, sharing complex information and influencing positive outcomes, you will be passionate about ensuring children are safe, supported and able to access education.
- Experience working with children’s services, schools, or other education providers.
- Strong knowledge of safeguarding and child protection legislation and practice.
- The ability to assess risk, analyse information and make sound professional judgements.
- Excellent communication skills and the confidence to work with a wide range of professionals and partners.
- A collaborative approach and the ability to build effective working relationships.
- Resilience, initiative and a commitment to improving outcomes for vulnerable children and young people.
- A relevant degree-level qualification or professional background in education, social care or a related field.
To find out more about the essential and desirable criteria for the role please view the attached job description specification document.
What we offer in return:
- A competitive salary - Between £43,149 per annum - £49,658 per annum (CEC NJC – Grade 10) with guaranteed yearly pay increases!
- Enhanced annual leave - Start with an impressive 34 days of annual leave (including bank holidays) from day one, and watch it grow to 39 days after just five years of service
- Purchase of annual leave – Want more time off? You can purchase up to 10 extra days of annual leave each year, giving you the flexibility to balance work and life just the way you want (Pro-rata for part-time staff)
- Flexible working pattern - Enjoy a 37-hour standard full-time work week with the added perks of flexitime and hybrid/remote working arrangements where possible. Your work-life balance just got a whole lot better!
- Salary sacrifice green car scheme - Drive green and save green! Lease a brand-new electric or hybrid car through our salary sacrifice scheme. There’re no credit checks, no deposits, just significant savings and exclusive offers on a three-year lease
- White goods salary sacrifice scheme - Upgrade your home with ease. Purchase home and electronic items through our salary sacrifice scheme, spreading the cost of big-ticket purchases like appliances, computers, and tech gadgets directly from your salary
- Enhanced public pension - Secure your future with our career average pension, where contributions are built at a rate of 1/49th of your yearly pensionable pay
- Cycle to work scheme - Save up to 25-39% on the retail price of bikes and safety equipment through Income Tax and National Insurance savings. Get fit and save money!
- Employee assistance programme - Access a completely free and confidential assistance service to help manage, reduce, and overcome life’s challenges, both at work and in your personal life
- Discounted gym membership - Stay active and healthy with corporate membership prices for Everybody Leisure, including:
- Gym, Swim and Group Fitness at all 16 facilities
- Off-Peak Racket Sports
- Athletics Tracks
- Sauna/Steam/Spa
How to apply
We’re delighted that you’re considering applying for this role!
As an equal opportunities’ employer, we warmly welcome applicants from all backgrounds. We believe that a diverse workforce helps us better reflect and serve our local communities, and together, we can build something truly special.
To join our team, simply click ‘Apply for this job’ at the bottom of the page. If you’d prefer an informal chat first or have any questions about the role, feel free to reach out to Lydia Bennett at: Lydia.Bennett@cheshireeast.gov.uk, they will be happy to hear from you! Please remember to include the job reference so we know which role you are interested in.
Once you’ve applied for the position, please keep an eye on your email inbox (including your junk and spam folders), as we’ll send any correspondence there to stay in touch with updates about your application.
If you haven’t heard from us within four weeks of the closing date, it likely means we weren’t able to move forward with your application at this time but please don’t let this discourage you as your interest means a lot to us, and we’d truly love to hear from you again in the future!
We wish you all the best in your application and if you run into any technical issues, our friendly team are here to help at: SourcingTeam@ecwip.co.uk.
Cheshire East Council is committed to safeguarding children and vulnerable adults across the Borough. As such, any cautions, convictions, reprimands or final warnings that are ‘not protected’ as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) order 1975 (as amended in 2013) relating to the non-disclosure of spent convictions do not apply to this job. You must therefore, disclose whether you have any previous convictions where prompted to do so within the application process.
Attachments
Salary range
- £43,149 - £49,658 per year