Swindon Borough Council Hiring for Education Welfare Officer, Attendance and Inclusion Job at Swindon, Wiltshire, South West England, England Full Time

Securing high levels of school attendance is a major governmental and Council priority. This is particularly important in the period following the Covid 19 pandemic.

We are looking to appoint an Education Welfare Officer (term time plus one week) on a fixed term contract until the end of July 2023 in order to provide ongoing support to families and children. This post will cover a maternity leave and other staffing adjustments within the service. The Education Welfare Service is based within the Attendance and Inclusion Team within the Inclusion and Achievement Directorate of Children Services.

Your next role

The successful candidate will work as part of a multi-disciplinary team supporting the delivery of both the statutory responsibilities and the traded service functions for the service. This will involve direct work with children, young people and families, using the Early Help Assessment (EHA) and a case management system. The focus will be to remove barriers to accessing education and to ensure good attendance for all pupils. A key element of the role is to support parents/carers in meeting their legal obligations regarding the education of their children.

For this role you will need to demonstrate good communication skills, be able to work in partnership with schools, education settings and all stakeholders, including parents and children/young people to secure regular attendance at school. As part of the role you will be required to chair Team Around the Family (TAF) meetings which can be complex, as well as case discussion meetings which are a part of the legal process. You will also be involved in preparing evidence files for court as well as attending court on behalf of the Education Welfare Service.

You will work in close partnership with other members of our team. This will include following the agreed pathway for all statutory responsibilities undertaken by the Education Welfare Service including; children identified as missing education (CME); children whose parents opt for Elective Home Education (EHE); Child employment and performance licenses. You will also work alongside colleagues whose role it is to support children and families who are excluded or at risk of exclusion from school.

Ideally you will have previous experience of working as an Education Welfare Officer, but experience of working within the education sector will be an advantage.
You will be aware of education issues and of the challenges that families face that may lead to poor school attendance. You will have excellent interpersonal skills including the ability to support and challenge schools and families as appropriate. Our aim is to support the highest standards of efficiency and professionalism within our service.

Excellent IT skills are essential for this role. You will need to be able to work flexibly and creatively in order to work collaboratively with families and others to produce positive outcomes.

An ability to travel throughout the Borough will be required. Candidates must be fluent in the English language (as a requirement of Part 7 of the Immigration Act – for the effective performance of a customer-facing role).

An enhanced DBS disclosure will be required.

Your next package

Please see our Rewards and Benefits offer for more details.

For Swindon to thrive in the future, we need to lay the foundations now. It’s why our regeneration and transformation programmes are already underway. So, you’ll be joining us at an exciting time on our journey. We’ll look to you to share your knowledge, influence decisions and drive real, positive change. With your contributions, we’ll achieve our vision of a prosperous, re-vitalised Swindon by 2030 together. And you’ll be proud to say it was made better with you.

Your next steps

Read the role profile and select the Apply button above to start an application.

For further information about the role, please contact Nigel Pickering, Service Lead for Attendance and Inclusion on 07919 113054 or Samantha Chivers, Senior Attendance and Inclusion Officer, on 07973 969512.

If you are experiencing technical issues submitting your application please email [email protected]