Coventry City Council Hiring for Access to Education Officer Job at Coventry, England Full Time

The Education Entitlement Service (EES) strives to deliver outstanding services for our customers, predominately the children of Coventry, who may be requiring access to education or alternative education provision. We ensure vulnerable children are appropriately supported; have a voice, that hopefully leads to their high achievement and excellent progress.

The EES is made up of a diverse range of teams all working together to recognise, support and apply innovative solutions to address the growing issues in relation to trying to educate some of our most vulnerable pupils in schools.

The Ethnic Minority Achievement Service (EMAS) supports newly arrived children in the admission process into Education and monitors Children Missing Education (CME). Officers may make home visits to investigate family circumstances, with special attention given to safeguarding concerns.

Multilingual Assistants work directly with children in both primary and secondary schools providing bilingual support for children who speak English as an Additional Language.

What is the job role?

We are looking to appoint a temporary Access to Education Officer to support the Local Authority with the process of admitting newly arrived children to Coventry schools and Early Years settings. Many of these families will be arriving from Afghanistan. We are based in One Friargate and travel across the city in order to ensure families receive the help and support they require.

The EMAS service covers a wide range of areas including:

• supporting newly arrived families to access school places.
• Children Missing Education.
• Licencing for Children in Entertainment and Employment.

EMAS is a renowned provider of expertise, support, and advice in respect of young people from a minority ethnic heritage. The service employs over 75 specialist staff speaking in excess of 60 different languages. They include experienced teachers, highly trained Multilingual Assistants and Access to Education Officers.

This post is exempted under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and as such appointment to this post will be conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory response to a check of police records via Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).

Who are we looking for?

• Be able to communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.
• Have some understanding of the needs of newly arrived children from overseas, the English education system and the statutory rights of children and their parents/carers.
• Be well organised and IT literate.
• Have a good understanding of Safeguarding responsibilities.
• Be confident and pro-active when contacting families and visiting them in their homes to gather key information that will assist them to gain access to their educational entitlements and opportunities.

You will be well-supported by friendly, experienced colleagues and can expect to be fully involved in the work of the team.

We work collaboratively to achieve the highest quality and most cost-effective service in accordance with the Council’s policies and statutory requirements.

You will work 22.5 hours per week term time only plus 4 weeks. Salary will be pro-rata to the hours and weeks worked. This is a fixed term contract initially to 31st March 2023.

If you are interested in this exciting opportunity, please apply and clearly demonstrate how you meet the above criteria.

For full details on the application process please read the attached document on our jobs page labelled ‘Coventry City Council Application Process’

Interview date(s):18th March 2022

Introduction to Coventry City Council

Coventry is a lively, multicultural city, which embraces old and new. Around the modern city centre there are traces of history everywhere – in the old city walls, the timber-framed buildings and the reconstructed medieval Spon Street. But Coventry has always had an eye on the future, and is now firmly focused on regenerating and re-inventing itself to meet the challenges of the 21st Century. With major developments and new projects taking place right across the city, Coventry City Council is the place to be!

There’s a huge buzz about the city – Coventry ranks as the 8th best city to live, work and do business in the UK, and is the UK City of Culture 2021 ! We believe this will help put Coventry on the map for all the right reasons. You can feel the sense of local pride throughout the city as we build towards this momentous year. It also offers a unique, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to those joining us to play their part in it.

We genuinely believe that Coventry City Council is a special place. You will be joining Coventry City Council during an exciting time to become part of a team that contribute to achieving our visions for the city. We have made our council a place where we look after our people, making sure you’re happy in your work and given everything you need to succeed. We’ve created friendly, welcoming workplaces where everyone is working towards the same cause, providing the best possible services for the city of Coventry.

As a council with improvement at its heart, we’re committed to making life better for the people who live and work in Coventry. We’re equally concerned with the quality of life enjoyed by our people, so by joining us, you won’t just be helping the community, you’ll be helping yourself too.

Not only do you get to work alongside great people that are helping to improve services for our community we offer great benefits too! For your valued contribution we will provide a fantastic benefits package including;

• Flexible working arrangements
• Generous annual leave allowance starting at 27 days and rising to 32 days
• Pay progression through multiple increments
• Outstanding local government pension scheme
• Learning & Development with access to certified courses.
• Access to an award winning Occupational Health Team
• Vibrant employee networks

Our Values

It’s great to know that you are interested in working with us at Coventry City Council. As a prospective employee, it is important that everyone who works for us is committed to our One Coventry values and shares our commitment to becoming a more diverse and inclusive organisation.

Our Values are: