Head of Statutory SEND

JOB DESCRIPTION

Organisation: London Borough of Waltham Forest

Salary: PO11 - PO12 £71,319 - £83,019 Subject to outcome of evaluation.
Contract Type: Full-time/Permanent
Working hours per week: 36

Application Deadline: 22/05/2025

Proposed Interview Date(s): TBC

Reference: 1702

About Us:

Bursting with culture, energy, and opportunity, the London Borough of Waltham Forest is a fantastic and exciting place to work.

We are a highly ambitious borough. Driven by culture and the innate creativity of our residents, we have developed new and innovative ways to build our communities. Our Council is relentlessly resident-focused, insight-led, digitally driven and commercially minded; a Council focused on meeting the needs of our existing and future residents.

London Borough of Waltham Forest is one of the Mayor of London's Good Work Standard employers. This accreditation is a proof of our commitment to creating a healthy, fair and inclusive workplace. This includes fair pay and conditions, workplace well-being, skills and progression and diversity and recruitment.

The Council's preference is for online application. However, if you have a disability and are unable to complete an online application, please email recruitment@walthamforest.gov.uk so we can arrange an alternative application method.

Click here for further information on the Human Resources recruitment privacy notice.

About the role:

Leadership and management of functions which ensure the statutory functions of the council are met in relation to education, support and systems for children with special educational needs and disabilities. The service is broad and is defined to support children and their families, schools and settings with special educational needs and strategies plans and initiatives to engage, develop and promote activities which create truly inclusive learning environments that embrace difference and different levels of ability.

>> Click here to download the Role Profile <<

Key Responsibilities:

• Ensure the discharge the Council's responsibilities to Implement Part 3 of the Children and Families Act 2014 , Keep under review the special educational provision
  required for children and young adults resident in or in care of Waltham Forest.
• Publish and keep up to date the Council's Local Offer as prescribed in the 2014 Children and Families Act and the associated Code of Practice
• Make available defined services that can be funded through Personal Budgets for children and young adults with SEN
• Be responsible for Special Education Needs assessment, preparation of statements/EHCPs and the statutory monitoring system and reviewing and monitoring pupil/student level outcomes to ensure alignment with the Council's statutory responsibilities and strategic direction.
• Be responsible for decisions taken not to assess or issue a statement or EHCP and for defending the Council in SEN appeals.
• Be responsible for the quality, integrity, rigour and sustainability of decisions taken within the statutory process and in support of the statutory SEN process, intervening to model good practice and demonstrate the application of good models of stakeholder engagement in decision-making where necessary.
• Ensure that the Council discharges its responsibilities in relation to the 'Raising of the Participation age,' ensuring engagement in post 16-learning for all young people and, in particular, the post-16 education for young adults with SEN
  Work proactively with Joint Comissioners, supporting the SEN statutory and strategic , and in close liaison with the Service Design Hub, to secure a robust supply of specialist services to enable the delivery of provision specified in statements / Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs).
• Maintain an ongoing relationship with the Schools Forum and lead and be responsible for the continuing development and improvement of a High Needs funding strategy that enables:
  o Expenditure within budget
  o A refocusing of budget away from the independent sector into local maintained and academy provision
  o Fair, open and transparent decision-making
  o Clarity at school, college and setting level about the links between how schools/settings are funded for SEN, and how the statutory process applies.
• Lead and oversee SEN (0-25) placement, ensuring no overspends against budgets and the achievement of saving targets
  

Qualifications and Requirements:

Proven achievement of leadership success in setting standards for Special Educational Needs Services within an organisation of comparable complexity.

Educated to degree level or equivalent by experience with a relevant professional qualification (e.g. education psychology; teaching; lecturing; youth work).

Relevant professional and general management qualification or an equivalent demonstrable portfolio of experience to evidence understanding of education standards including SEND.

Post graduate qualification/Relevant professional qualification

Terms and conditions:

The below terms and conditions apply to this role:

Satisfactory employment references and CIFAS identity checks;

Satisfactory declaration of interest;

This role is subject to safer recruitment practices as it involves work with children and/ or vulnerable adults;

Satisfactory DBS check;

As a public authority, we must ensure that members of staff in public-facing roles are able to speak fluent English. This means that they must have a command of spoken English, with confidence and accuracy, sufficient for the effective performance of their role. This requirement does not refer to any particular English language qualifications, regional or international accents, dialects, speech impediments or the tone of conversations. It does not require staff to speak only in English.

How to Apply:

Interested candidates are invited to submit their applications online by pressing the 'Apply' button below. This includes a supporting statement that outlines to us how your skills and experience make you a good candidate for this vacancy.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.

Equal Opportunity Employer:

Waltham Forest is a diverse borough where diversity is valued and is integral to both, service delivery and employment of its staff. The Council is proud of its rich mix of communities and as the largest employer in the area, it works hard to respond to the changing needs of its population. We use our statutory duties on race, gender and disability equality and best practice in respect of age, faith and sexual orientation to ensure equality of opportunity in the workplace. The Council is committed to meeting its 4 equality objectives: - Promoting equality of opportunity - Opposing all forms of discrimination, intolerance and disadvantage - Ensuring our workforce reflects the diverse communities of Waltham Forest at all levels. - Providing fair, appropriate, accessible and excellent Services to all. Respecting Diversity is a core Council value.

To support the above and reduce the risk of bias in its recruitment activities, the council is operating an anonymous shortlisting process, which hides personal information that can identify individuals until their application has been considered for shortlisting. The council also operates a scheme whereby, for jobs graded up to and including scale SO2, internal candidates are considered first. This includes those candidates who self-identify as having a disability for the purposes of the Disability Confident scheme. For more information, please refer to our recruitment and selection policy.

We are keen to support employees to balance their working life with other commitments. Therefore, wherever possible, we will consider working arrangements that suit an individual's personal circumstances whilst still meeting the needs of the Council. If you would like to discuss the possible flexible working options that might be applicable to this role, please contact the person named below or feel free to discuss this during your interview.

For more information on the benefits of working for the Council, please visit https://www.walthamforest.gov.uk/jobs-and-training/find-jobs-and-other-opportunities/working-us.

Contact Information:

If you have any questions about this vacancy or the application process, please contact Kashif Nawaz at kashif.nawaz@walthamforest.gov.uk (Assistant Director for SEND).

If you have any technical issues when trying to apply for this post, please contact our Recruitment Team via email at recruitment@walthamforest.gov.uk.