SEND Early Intervention Officer

About Us

The Strategic Early Intervention team is part of the wider SEND teams in Children’s Services in Oxfordshire. The Strategic Early Intervention team is an innovative support service for SENCOs and education staff in supporting children and families in Oxfordshire to ensure that needs are identified and met at the earliest opportunity. It includes projects such as Enhanced Pathways, Special School Outreach and the Relational School Programme.

About the Role

The SEND Early Intervention Officer role offers an exciting opportunity to help coordinate the SEND offer for SENCOs and education staff in Oxfordshire.

Oxfordshire is embarking on a broad range of system reform to sustainably improve the outcomes for children and young people with SEND in Oxfordshire while remaining within the available resources. As part of this ambitious work, and following the recent announcement to expand to 60 enhanced pathways across Oxfordshire, we need to support our mainstream education settings in identifying and meeting the needs of children and young people at the earliest opportunity.

You will be responsible for:

• Providing early intervention support following the graduated response by utilising and supporting the skills and aptitude of SENCOs and education setting leaders across the county for children and young people to be able to access the full mainstream education offer.
• Supporting settings to enhance inclusion practices and ethos.
• Ensuring that the Local Offer and county wide SEND training programmes are utilised.
• Utilising data sets, such as the Enhanced Pathway Quality Assurance, to identify areas of need within settings and signpost settings to appropriate avenues of support.
• Developing the service by creating confidence in parents, schools and other key stakeholders to avoid unnecessary escalation of need.
• Supporting the Lead Officers to coordinate the SEND Strategic Early Intervention Team’s projects, including measuring impact and KPIs

The post holder will need to develop and maintain effective working relationships with internal colleagues and external partners at all levels and will ensure that planned work is adequately prepared and resourced.

About you

Working closely with schools and settings is going to be key, so a good understanding about SEND and the strengths and challenges this poses to all stakeholders is key.

To be successful in this role, you will have the skills to work as part of a team, but also able to work independently on your own initiative. You will be creative in how you face challenges and be willing to utilise technology to bring together ideas and practitioners. You will have a real passion for teaching and learning and finding ways to support children and young people with SEND achieving good outcomes.

Good communication skills are essential as this role is about working in partnership with educational professionals. You will be very organised and have the ability to prioritise work. You will also need to be ICT proficient and have working knowledge of the SEND Code of Practice.

You will:

• Hold qualified teacher status (or equivalent) and have leadership experience in education and inclusion
• Have a strong understanding of safeguarding and the SEND Code of Practice
• Have experience of quality assurance, service improvement and leading change in complex systems
• Be analytical, resilient and able to make well-informed decisions in high-pressure situations

Rewards and benefits

• Competitive salary
• Annual leave starting at 30 days per year (plus bank holidays)
• A comprehensive Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS)
• Agile and flexible working
• Employee Assistance Programme including access to health and wellbeing support 24/7
• Childcare vouchers, cycle to work scheme, electric car scheme, range of staff discounts including travel, holidays, insurance, food, health and leisure activities.
• Excellent learning and development opportunities.
• Explore more here

Please see the attached job description for further details of the post. If you would like an informal conversation about the role, please contact Fiona Champness, Lead Officer SEND Strategic Early Intervention Team, at Fiona.champness@oxfordshire.gov.uk

Our commitment to:
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

At Oxfordshire County Council we are proud of our diverse workforce. Everyone is accepted for who they are, regardless of age, disability, gender identity, marital status, race, faith or belief, sexual orientation, socioeconomic background, or on maternity or family leave. We have a number of staff network groups which provide peer support, education and safe spaces for all.

Our commitment to:
Guaranteed Interview Schemes

As a Disability Confident employer, we guarantee an interview for disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the job. We also guarantee interviews to care leavers who have completed further education and who meet the essential criteria for the job. For those leaving care without any further education, we guarantee an interview for our apprenticeships. We are also committed to helping and supporting those transitioning from HM Armed Forces to civilian life and guarantee an interview for those demonstrating the essential criteria for the role, within three years of leaving the service.

Our commitment to:
Safeguarding

Oxfordshire County Council are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults. We expect all employees, workers and volunteers to share this commitment. We will ensure that all our recruitment and selection practices reflect these commitments.

Our commitment to:
Flexible Working

We are open to discussions about flexible working, which can include flexi-time, full time and part time working, job sharing, nine-day fortnights and annualised hours, depending on the requirements of the role and the service.

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If you encounter any issues with the application system, please contact: fiona.champness@oxfordshire.gov.uk