Job Description

Job Category: Non-Teaching
:
PLEASE NOTE THIS POST IS ONLY OPEN TO INTERNAL APPLICANTS
Organisation: Leicestershire County Council
Work Location: County Hall Glenfield LE3 8RA
Worker Category: Field Based Worker
Salary: 39,939 - 42,699 per annum (pro rata for part time)
Working Hours: 37 Hours per week
Contract Type: Permanent
Closing Date: 24th September 2025
Interview Date(s): TBC
About the Role
The Leicestershire Virtual School supports our looked-after children and care leavers to access high quality education and achieve their potential. We are firmly focused on raising aspirations and narrowing attainment and progress gaps to improve outcomes and life chances. We also offer advice and advocacy to previously looked after children and all those with a social worker.
We wish to appoint an Extended Duties Education Advisor to have responsibility for promoting the education of previously looked after young people and support our senior education advisor for all children with a social worker, by working collaboratively with a range of partners and agencies, including social workers, education settings and adaptors. You will coordinate the duty desk in order to provide timely support and advice to professionals and families.
This role will involve advocating for parents and advising schools/colleges, settings and key professionals on strategies that address emerging educational and behavioural issues and lead to improved outcomes for children who are previously looked after and resident in Leicestershire. The role involves leading work on Trauma informed practice, including projects and direct work with schools to develop policy and practice across Leicestershire.
Understanding the barriers faced by previously looked after children and children with a social worker is key to successful delivery of duties. The Leicestershire Virtual School is at the forefront of promoting understanding of attachment theory and trauma-informed practice which will enable you to support, challenge and advocate on behalf these young people. In addition, you will be supported to acquire in-depth knowledge and understanding of DfE statutory guidance as it relates to the education of looked after children and previously looked after children, alongside the Virtual schools extended duties to support all children with a social worker.
You will be confident at communicating effectively and accurately both in writing and orally, chairing and attending meetings delivered online or face to face. You will be efficient and organised, yet keen to bring innovation and creativity to deliver service improvements. You must be able to work on your own initiative, but with the support from our caring, supportive and committed team..
A DBS enhanced check for a regulated activity is required for this post.
For information on our approach to the recruitment of ex-offenders, please see our .
About You
Please refer to the 7 point criteria giving examples of how you meet the criteria below

• A relevant Level 6 qualification e.g. qualified teacher status or Substantial experience of working in a school / college / alternative education / local authority education service
• Experience of providing attachment and trauma strategies to support with children and young people and/or care leavers in education.
• Excellent understanding of the barriers children with a social worker and previously looked after children may experience in accessing educational opportunities.
• Knowledge of legislation and guidance relating to education and specifically to children in care and extended duties.
• Able to develop and maintain good working relationships and professional partnerships with a range of stakeholders.
• Able to influence and persuade in order to negotiate successful outcomes.
• Experience of supporting, signposting and giving advise to peers and professionals

You must also have an understanding of, and commitment to, equality, diversity and inclusion.
In addition, we also expect you to share and will ask you to evidence when you have demonstrated them as part of the selection process.
Reasonable adjustments will be considered for applicants with a disability.
Interested in Flexible Working?
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. This may include requests for term-time working, part-time hours, compressed hours, flexible start and finish times, home/remote working, etc.
Every role within the Council has a defined working style which determines where they can work. The worker category applicable to this post is detailed in the above advert. You can find out more about our worker categories in the page on our career site.
For more information or an informal discussion, please contact:
Donna Chapman - Virtual School Head and Service Manager
Telephone: 01163052174
Email: Donna.Chapman@leics.gov.uk
How to Apply
Leicestershire County Council is an inclusive organisation which is on a journey to embed and celebrate equality, diversity and inclusion at every level. We warmly welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds, as having a diverse workforce with different perspectives and ideas is fundamental to our values and enriches the services we offer our communities. We particularly welcome applicants from Ethnically Diverse and LGBTQ+ communities and people with disabilities to create a balanced workforce and one that reflects the communities we serve. Applicants with a disability who meet the criteria listed in the 'About You' section above will be offered an interview under the Disability Confident Employer Scheme.
To apply for this job, please click on the apply button. You will need to upload a supporting statement as part of your application which explains how you meet the criteria listed in the 'About You' section above. For more information, see the section on our career site.
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.
If you have any technical issues when trying to apply for this post or you want to request an application pack in an alternative format, please contact our Employee Service Centre by telephoning 0300 3030222 (select option 2) or raising a ticket via our online portal: .
By applying for this post, you agree to our .
About Us:
About Leicestershire County Council
Leicestershire County Council is a and organisation. In August 2021, we also signed up to the . We are strongly committed to promoting equality and opportunity, championing employee wellbeing and investing in staff training and development.
Our aim is to work with communities and partners to deliver public services that make Leicestershire the best possible place to live and work for everyone. Our employees play a key role in supporting this goal and helping us deliver the vital services we provide to the people of Leicestershire.
For further information on what it's like to work for us and the benefits we offer, please refer to the following:

Skills Required