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At West Sussex County Council, we are ambitious for children, families, and our workforce. We are committed to improving outcomes for children through early, inclusive, and coordinated support. Best Start Family Hubs (BSFH) are central to this ambition, bringing together services so families can access the right help at the right time, from pregnancy through to school entry.

The West Sussex Best Start Plan sets out our shared commitment to prevention, early intervention and strong partnerships around families. It is built on a simple belief: when parents and families are supported, children thrive. Whatever a child's background, acting early and working together makes a lasting difference.

Best Start Family Hubs are at the heart of community support, bringing together services for families from pregnancy through to early childhood to ensure every child has the best possible start in life. We offer a welcoming, inclusive environment where parents and carers can access early help, health support, parenting guidance, and opportunities to build confidence and connections within their local community. Working in partnership with health, education, and voluntary services, Best Start focuses on improving outcomes around child development, school readiness, and family wellbeing.

The Best Start Inclusion Practitioner (BSIP) play a vital role in ensuring children with additional needs and their families receive tailored support, feel understood and empowered, and can access the right services at the right time to thrive. Strengthening inclusive practice across the Best Start Family Hub network and ensure children with emerging additional needs and their families receive early identification, advice, and support without waiting for a formal diagnosis.

About the Job

Salary: £29,540 - £32,061 per annum
Working Pattern: Full Time (37 hours)
Contract Length: Permanent
Location: Opportunities available in the Horsham and Crawley area.

As a Best Start Inclusion Practitioner you will provide direct, flexible, and preventative support to children aged 0-5 with emerging or additional needs, supporting families to understand and navigate local SEND pathways and to empower families and professionals to respond inclusively and confidently.

You will work across the West Sussex Best Start Family Hubs, outreach venues and partner settings, working with a range of roles such as Early Years and Childcare Advisors, Early Years SEND and Inclusion mentors and health and SEND professionals. You will be focusing on early identification, advice, modelling inclusive practice, and short-term interventions, prioritising children not in Early Years provision. Providing practical support, advice and guidance to families, supporting access to timely and appropriate specialist support, where appropriate.

Both in Best Start Family Hubs, and out in the community, you will lead on and facilitate the SEND stay and play sessions, providing support to the team delivering the universal stay and play sessions and will facilitate the SEND PEEP Learning Together parenting sessions.

You will need to be able to travel independently to various locations around the county. You will cover an allocated geographical district area and work across the Best Start Family Hubs and community venues in that geographical area; however, you may occasionally be required to travel countywide. Pool cars and bikes are available.

Experience and Skills

Key Skills:

• Ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills to build effective relationships with children and practitioners.
• Excellent time management and personal organisational skills to organise own workload and meet deadlines. Ability to work flexibly and creatively.
• Ability to provide practical advice, brief interventions and modelling of inclusive practice for parents and early years professionals.
• Ability to analyse developmental information and use professional judgement to support appropriate next steps.
• The ability to build rapport quickly with people participating in services and remain up to date with changes in best practice and available support mechanisms.

Qualifications and/or experience:

• Level 3 qualification or above in early years, education, SEND, health, child development or a related field, or equivalent experience.
• Significant experience working with young children and families, including those with additional or emerging needs.
• Experience of working within a team and multi-agency environment and understanding differing professional roles.
• Good knowledge of child development from birth to five.
• Understanding of SEND pathways, inclusive practice and early identification.
• Experience of interpreting families' needs and assisting families to access appropriate support services.
• Ability to travel around the country independently, including to areas not easily accessible via public transport. Pool cars and bikes available.

Reward and Benefits

As an employer we recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive and dynamic working environment where employees can achieve their full potential, achieve a healthy work-life balance, and are rewarded for the work they do.

In addition to working within a great team and a competitive salary you will have access to:

For a full list of the benefits offered to you as a West Sussex County Council employee, you can find this at our Rewards and Benefits page.

Further Information

The reference number for this role is CAFHE06409.

For an informal conversation or further information regarding the role, please contact Emma Parker at or Katie Crompton at for general queries please reach out to our resourcing team at .

To apply, upload your CV and cover letter explaining the skills and experience you can bring to the role ensuring that any gaps in employment are covered in your CV. Please ensure you have saved the job description attached to the main advert on our website as, once the job has closed, you may not have the opportunity to download again.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. This post is subject to an enhanced DBS check, 5 years referencing and a health check.

Equity, inclusion and accessibility is very important to West Sussex County Council. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, as this helps us build a diverse and talented workforce, that reflects the communities we serve. We ensure our approach to recruitment is flexible and supportive to enable all applicants to be at their best and to ensure they have the best possible chance of success. If you require any reasonable adjustments to support your application please contact .

For information regarding your eligibility to apply for this role under our Disability, Veteran's or Care Leaver's Guaranteed Interview Scheme, please visit our website.