Job Description

Job details:

Salary: \xc2\xa322,437 - \xc2\xa324,148
Hours: Full time - 37 hours per week
Contract: Permanent

Closing date: 24th September 2023

Portsmouth City Council

Portsmouth is a vibrant university city, with a rich maritime history on the South coast enjoying excellent transport links to the rest of the country.

Portsmouth City Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, and young people, and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. It is also committed to promoting quality childcare across the city that works to improve outcomes for children.

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.

Every post is subject to PCC and Portsmouth Safeguarding Children\'s Board safer recruitment procedures.

The Service:

Portsmouth City Council\'s Special Educational Needs (SEN) team is a specialist team within the Inclusion Service of Portsmouth Local Authority. The team\'s work is entirely statutory and involves co-ordinating and managing the statutory Education, Health and Care (EHC) Needs Assessment process including issuing, maintaining and reviewing EHC Plans; securing and monitoring appropriate educational placements and provision for children and young people with complex special educational needs and disabilities (aged 0 - 25) and co-ordinating and managing the response to appeals to the First Tier Tribunal (SEN & Disability) against decisions in relation to children\'s and young people\'s EHC needs assessments and EHC plans.

The Role:

The role of SEN Caseworker is busy, challenging and requires the successful candidate to demonstrate and develop a wide range of skills, knowledge and abilities including the capacity to work under sustained periods of pressure.

The SEN Caseworker will support the SEN Team through undertaking the administration of the statutory process in identifying, assessing, issuing and reviewing the education, health & care planning arrangements of children and young people\'s special educational needs and disabilities. The SEN Caseworker will routinely request, receive and distribute reports from education, health and social care professionals. These tasks require the SEN Caseworker to have an excellent grasp of written and spoken English, have a keen eye for detail and be confident in their administrative skills, knowledge and abilities.

Key tasks and responsibilities will include:

• Being the first point of contact for enquiries to the SEN Team.

• Administering EHC needs assessments and the annual review processes including communicating with parents, young people, and professionals in writing, by telephone and in person; arranging meetings; booking venues etc.

• Requesting evidence from all agencies when a request for EHC needs assessment has been received or through the annual review process.

• Receiving, collating and distributing reports.

• Liaising with education, health and social care professionals such as Teachers and Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators, Educational Psychologists, Paediatricians, Health Visitors, Therapists and Social Workers.

• Providing information and advice to parents of children and to young people with special educational needs and disabilities and signposting them to services as necessary.

• Providing information and advice to schools and signposting them to services, as necessary.

This role is office based and does not involve direct contact with children.

What you\'ll need to succeed

Who is the person?

Ideally, you will provide demonstrable knowledge, experience and skills in the following areas:

1. Higher level administrative experience of statutory or time bound processes, including dealing with customer\'s (e.g., schools) and clients (e.g., parents) enquiries through various methods of communication i.e., in writing, by phone or in person

2. Experience of working in a professional setting directly related to supporting work with children and families (e.g., in a school, a local authority such as an education or social care department, a hospital or community health setting etc).

3. A knowledge of Special Educational Needs and Disability current legislative and on-going developments.

4. A knowledge of the various legislation regarding children and families (for example the Education Act but numerous other acts are relevant).

5. A clear understanding of the role of the Local Authority in relation to Special Educational Needs & Disability.

6. A demonstrable ability to work with people in challenging and / or sensitive circumstances.

7. A demonstrable ability to show empathy.

8. Demonstrable experience of working with senior staff (such as Head Teachers or Heads of Service).

9. Excellent communication skills - clear and effective oral communication, and written skills - demonstrated and honed in a workplace

10. Proven ability to successfully work to tight deadlines and to use a range of techniques in order to effectively manage competing priorities when under pressure.

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/

The full job profile is attached here

Contact Details for an Informal Discussion:

If you have any questions, or would like an informal discussion about the role, please email Sharon.willis@portsmouthcc.gov.uk

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.
How to complete your application, https://careers.portsmouth.gov.uk/how-to-apply/

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.

Please ensure you provide your full education history from secondary school, include name/address of establishme

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