Interim Head of Inclusion - Education

Job details:

Salary: £69,469 - £77,642 per annum.

Hours: 37 hours per week

Contract: Fixed term / secondment for up to 2 years

Portsmouth city Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We want to be an inclusive and diverse employer of first choice reflecting the great city in which we live.
 

Portsmouth has been selected as the SE19 Regional Change Programme Partner to support the implementation of the SEND and Alternative Provision improvement plan. We are seeking an Interim Head of Inclusion for a two year period to enhance capacity for the current Head of Inclusion and Inclusion Managers to support the Change Management Programme.

DBS Disclosure at Enhanced level will be required prior to any offer of employment and this post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.

The Service

The Inclusion Service covers a broad portfolio of work that extends well beyond SEND and includes a range of statutory and traded services that aim to remove the barriers to achievement for all Portsmouth children and young people, in particular those with special educational needs or those from vulnerable groups. This includes enabling children and young people to benefit from education or training, with support, if necessary, to ensure that they can make progress in their learning, build and maintain positive social and family relationships, develop emotional resilience and make successful transitions to employment, higher education and independent living.
The service has a diverse portfolio of services that include SEND, Education Psychology, Hearing and Vision, Portage, Admissions, Attendance, Exclusions & Reintegration, Alternative Provision, Virtual School & College, Inclusion Outreach Service, Targeted Short Breaks & Local Offer and Careers & Post-16 Progression.

Your role

You will be responsible for leading and managing the Inclusion Service and be the strategic lead for SEND, leading on the implementation of the SEND Strategy, working closely with, and reporting to, the Deputy Director for Education. 
As Head of Inclusion, you will be responsible for commissioning specialist school places, Inclusion Centres in mainstream schools and Alternative Provision, funded from the High Needs Block of the Dedicated Schools Grant, in addition to managing a cash limit budget of £3.4m and a staffing complement of 70 FTEs.
You will need to have a proactive approach and be expected to work flexibly to meet business needs. This may include occasional evening and weekend work if necessary. You will be committed to working in co-production with families and stakeholders.

What you’ll need to succeed

In this role, you will need to have experience of successful service leadership and management in education, ideally covering Inclusion and SEND, as well as experience as a senior leader in an education setting or as an education adviser including responsibilities for Inclusion and SEND.
You will also need to have experience of leading strategic and multi-agency work programmes, successful budgetary management skills and control in relation to high cost services, procuring and managing large and complex contracts, as well as leading across functional teams in high pressure environments.
In terms of knowledge, this post will also require you to have extensive knowledge and understanding of SEND and Inclusion, as well as a thorough knowledge and understanding of legislation relating to SEND, Inclusion and Children’s Services.

Please read the job profile for the full details of this role  

What you'll get in return

We really appreciate our employees and fully realise they are essential to our success and look to offer an inclusive, supportive working environment where employees can reach their potentials with a healthy work life balance, offering the following rewards:

•   Generous annual leave (27 days per year rising to 31, pro rata for part time hours) with the potential to purchase additional leave. 
•   A fantastic pension which allows you the opportunity to pay in more for that greater return.
•   Flexible working hours. 
•   Access to a wide range of training and development opportunities including apprenticeships.
•   Extensive wellbeing support through the Employee Assistance Programme 
•   Discount on travel, travel loans and the bike loan scheme.
•   Discounts on a wide range of goods and services – access a range of discounts and offers from thousands of restaurants, shops and more.

Staff rewards: https://careers.portsmouth.gov.uk/working-for-the-council/

Contact Details for an Informal Discussion:

Mike Stoneman, Deputy Director, Education Tel: 07821 610661 Email:  mike.stoneman@portsmouthcc.gov.uk

Liz Robinson, Head of Inclusion, Education Tel: 07961 135119 Email:  liz.robinson@portsmouthcc.gov.uk

Additional Information:

The full job profile is attached here

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

Application process:

We are a disability confident employer - committed to ensuring that our recruitment and selection process is inclusive and accessible and welcome applications from all areas of society.

Remember to demonstrate why you are suitable against each of the points described in the 'Who is the Person' points on the Job Profile using examples from your experience or transferable skills. This might be through qualifications or descriptive examples from your work / personal experience, which clearly illustrates what you did and the effect it had.

Applicants will be shortlisted based on their ability to use good examples that meet the criteria of this role.

You may wish to attach an additional letter or document to supplement you application.

You will need to demonstrate that you have the Right to Work in the UK. No post will be offered without it.