Relational and Restorative Practice Advisor

Staffordshire Virtual School is responsible for promoting and driving the educational attainment and outcomes of children who are looked after from 0 – 25 years. We also have statutory and non-statutory responsibilities to offer advice and guidance to support children with a social work involvement, previously looked after children and children who reside under Kinship Care arrangements.

You will be part of a team within the Virtual School, working with education and social care colleagues to develop Relational and Restorative practice with a view to raising the attainment of care experienced children and children who fall under the Extended Duties remit.

This is a hybrid role, with travel across the whole of Staffordshire, working across a range of settings, including Local Authority premises and education settings.

You will:

• Providing information, advice and guidance to individuals at risk of exclusion, with unmet emotional wellbeing or SEND needs, attendance concerns or challenges accessing appropriate education.
• Supporting children who are not achieving their potential through direct work with pupils and key adults.
• Leading solution circles and restorative conferences to address barriers and develop effective plans.
• Working with children previously in care, those subject to a plan, and children living with friends or family under Kinship or SGO arrangements.
• Responding confidently to support requests from parents and carers.
• Supporting education settings to develop relational and restorative practice as part of the Staffordshire Pathway.
• Helping settings audit practice, identify training and development needs, and providing practical advice on implementing relational and restorative approaches.
• Delivering training sessions to adults across education settings and the Children and Families directorate.
• Supporting a broad range of education providers, from early years through to post‑16.

What you’ll bring:

• You will need to be a great advocate for improving educational outcomes for young people who have a social care experience or are living under Kinship Care/SGO arrangements. You will have excellent communication, interpersonal and organisational skills and experience of working with both teaching and social care professionals.
• Experience of working with schools in a support and challenge role would be desirable.
• You will be a confident practitioner able deliver practical support, training to adults and children as well as offering consultation and advice to school staff and partner agencies. You will be willing to undertake training to ensure that Relational and Restorative Practice is delivered to an exceptional standard
• You will bring experience of working with groups of children in an education setting with a range of strategies to engage children and ensure that their voice is heard.
• You will be a great team member working in a solution focused way to help us achieve great outcomes for our children.

Successful candidates will be asked to apply for an Enhanced Disclosure from the Disclosure and Barring Services.

Shortlisting is scheduled for Tuesday 10th March.

Interviews are scheduled for Monday 16th March and will be held in Stafford.

To arrange an informal chat about this role please contact Lisa Wood, recruiting manager by emailing: lisa.wood1@staffordshire.gov.uk

Additionally, you are invited to attend an online half-hour information session where you can listen to what we do and ask any questions you may have. This is your opportunity to ensure you understand the role fully. To book onto one of these sessions, please email the recruiting manager.

Our Recruitment Process: We anonymise applications during shortlisting to ensure only relevant information is considered. Please complete your application fully, especially the supporting statement, to highlight what you’ll bring to the role.

We are no ordinary county council:

Our Values:

The core of who we are as an organisation. Just like we all have personal values that shape our thoughts and behaviour, organisational values drive how we think and act collectively.

Our values were created and shaped by colleague feedback and national best practice and they sit at the heart of People Strategy:

We have a real sense of community spirit that brings our people together. This feeling of belonging means we are all connected to what we do and take pride in the difference we make every day for Staffordshire people. We are ambitious and our sights are set firmly on a better future.

We look forward and race ahead - that goes for your career too.

Our benefits:

We recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive working environment where employees can achieve their full potential and achieve a healthy work-life balance.

In addition to your salary, as a member of staff, you will have access to Our rewards and benefits - Careers at Staffordshire

Our recruitment process:

As an Authority we are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

Staffordshire County Council is an equal opportunities organisation and Disability Confident employer. We encourage applications from all background and communities

As part of our commitment as a Disability Confident employer, a Gold Award Armed Forces employer and our commitment to supporting care leavers - we offer a guaranteed interview as long as your application meets the minimum criteria for the post.

As you’ll know safeguarding and promoting the welfare of our children and young people/vulnerable adults is important to us and that’s why this position is subject to a criminal record check from the Disclosure and Barring Service. If applicable you should disclose details of unspent and unfiltered spent reprimands, formal warnings, cautions and convictions in your application form.