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SEND Social, Emotional and Mental Health and Emotional Barriers to School Attendance Advisor
Please apply online via the link provided.
Please note, we do not accept CVs submitted without a fully completed online application form.
Are you passionate about helping children and young people feel understood, included and supported to thrive in education?
As a SEND Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) and Emotional Barriers to School Attendance (EBSA) Advisor, you will be part of the newly established Experts at Hand (E@H) service, supporting Bracknell Forest's ambitious SEND reform programme and wider system transformation.
This is a unique opportunity to influence practice across the local area, helping mainstream education settings respond confidently to children and young people's needs by promoting early identification, reducing reliance on statutory processes and embedding sustainable, inclusive approaches that enable all children and young people to flourish.
By providing coaching, training and modelling evidence-informed practice, you will build confidence and capacity across education settings, supporting professionals to meet the needs of children and young people with SEMH and EBSA needs. Through strengthening practice across the partnership, you will help make inclusion part of everyday practice, improve parental confidence and contribute to better outcomes for children and young people.
At Bracknell Forest, we are proud to be a stable, well-managed council where employees thrive in a supportive and collaborative environment. We value a healthy work-life balance and offer a range of flexible working practices, including remote and home-working options where these meet the needs of the service. This role includes an expectation to work from the Child Development Centre, Bracknell one day per week and two to three days per week in education settings, alongside flexible working arrangements.
About you…
You will bring substantial experience of supporting children and young people with SEMH and EBSA needs, alongside the confidence to translate specialist knowledge into practical, evidence-informed strategies that empower education settings to meet a wide range of needs.
You will hold a recognised therapeutic qualification or a relevant qualification in education, social work or a related profession, with a strong focus on SEMH, inclusion or SEND practice.
You will have a thorough understanding of the graduated approach, national SEND legislation and the importance of delivering needs-led support through inclusive practice. Skilled in coaching and developing others, you will be confident in modelling effective approaches, supporting environmental adaptations and promoting neuro-inclusive practice across a variety of educational settings.
Most importantly, you will be a collaborative, solution-focused professional who is passionate about inclusion. You will be committed to building workforce confidence, strengthening partnerships with families and professionals, and improving outcomes for children and young people by ensuring they receive the right support at the right time.
About the team…
Experts at Hand (E@H) is a new multi-disciplinary service at the heart of Bracknell Forest's SEND transformation programme. Based at the Child Development Centre, the team brings together specialist expertise from across education, health and social care to provide responsive, integrated and needs-led support to education settings and partner services.
Our focus is on building capacity across the local system through timely advice, coaching and specialist guidance that helps schools and early years settings strengthen inclusive practice and meet children's needs earlier. Through collaboration, innovation and shared expertise, we are creating a more equitable, responsive and sustainable SEND system where inclusion becomes part of everyday practice.
Joining Experts at Hand at this exciting stage of its development offers the opportunity to help shape a new service, influence practice across Bracknell Forest and make a meaningful difference to the lives of children, young people and their families.
Key responsibilities…
- Work as an Experts at Hand (E@H) specialist to support Bracknell Forest’s SEND reform and system transition. Deploy directly into early years settings, mainstream schools and post-16 providers to strengthen local capacity, align the graduated approach with National Inclusion Standards, and equip educators with effective SEMH and EBSA inclusive strategies.
- Support education settings to identify SEMH and EBSA differences at the earliest opportunity. Help schools develop strong universal and targeted approaches, reducing reliance on statutory Education, Health and Care Plans and crisis-led responses.
- Collaborate with mainstream settings and Specialist Resource Provisions (SRPs) to baseline current practice, build capacity and embed inclusive provision in line with National Inclusion Standards, the Graduated Approach and the Ordinarily Available Offer.
- Design and deliver training aligned with BFC recommended approaches. Enable professional reflection, coaching and mentoring so education staff can confidently support children and young people with a range of SEMH and EBSA related needs.
- Model and support the use of evidence-informed approaches, including adaptations to the environment for a range of SEMH and EBSA needs and other BFC recommended strategies.
- Develop opportunities for networking, collaboration and shared knowledge across BFC education settings to promote consistency, confidence and sustainable inclusive practice.
Our benefits…
- 28 days annual leave increasing to 33 days after 3 years’ continuous service, with the opportunity to buy up to 10 and sell up to 5 days.
- Hybrid working opportunities to support your wellbeing and work-life balance.
- Paid employee volunteering scheme.
- Local government pension scheme, with life insurance cover.
- Electric vehicle salary sacrifice scheme (subject to eligibility).
- Recognition of continuous service attained within the NHS and UKHSA when calculating some benefits. (Terms and Conditions apply)
- Career development through internal and external training opportunities.
- Enhanced maternity, paternity, adoption and fostering leave.
- Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to support your health and wellbeing
- Inclusive and social working environment with a variety of staff networks and a sports and social club.
Find out more about all our benefits or see the candidate pack.
Our values
At Bracknell Forest Council our values define who we are and what is important to us. Our core values are inclusive, ambitious, and always learning. These values influence the way we work with each other and the way we serve our residents and engage with our communities. We make our values real by demonstrating them in how we behave every day. If you are excited about joining a diverse team that celebrates learning and strives for excellence, we would love to hear from you.
Reasonable adjustments
We are committed to ensuring an inclusive recruitment process for all applicants. If you require any reasonable adjustments to support your application or interview, please let us know by contacting recruitment@bracknell-forest.gov.uk. We will work with you to support you throughout the process. Find out more about reasonable adjustments.
Disability confident and inclusive recruitment
Bracknell Forest Council is proud to be an inclusive employer. This means that if you have made us aware on the application form that you have a disability, are an armed forces veteran or you are a care leaver, you will be guaranteed an interview if you meet the essential criteria outlined in the person specification.
Interview date
Interviews will be held on 03rd August 2026.
Interviews will be held in person, giving candidates the opportunity to meet the team and learn more about our working environment.
We will review applications regularly and reserve the right to close the advert early if suitable candidates are identified. To avoid disappointment, we encourage you to submit your application as soon as possible.
Please note that AI must not be used during the interview. Any candidate found to be using AI during the interview process will be withdrawn from consideration.
Want to ask us a question?
For an informal discussion or to ask any questions about this role, please contact:
Catherine Reynolds, Principal Educational Psychologist: Catherine.Reynolds@bracknell-forest.gov.uk or 01344 351227
Bracknell Forest Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. We expect everyone employed with us to share this commitment. All successful candidates for this role will be subject to a DBS (Disclosure & Barring Service) check as part of our pre-employment checks process.
We can only accept applications from candidates currently residing in the UK.
Candidates currently residing in the UK who require sponsorship to work are encouraged to assess their eligibility for a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) based on the relevant criteria. Please be aware that sponsorship availability varies and is subject to eligibility requirements and budget limitations. As a result, we cannot guarantee sponsorship for all roles and will evaluate sponsorship requests on a case-by-case basis.
No agencies please.
Salary range
- £46,693 - £52,327 per year