Role Title: SEND Officer
Reports to: SEND Senior Case Manager
Directorate: Children, Families and Learning
Daily rate: £160 per day
Contract: Temp
Role Purpose
To provide casework support to the Special Educational Needs & Disabilities (SEND) Team, thereby enabling this front line service to function efficiently and meet its statutory obligations in accordance with the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice (2015) and other related legislation, Government guidelines and local policy. The role holder will prioritise the statutory processes for vulnerable children and young people with Education Health and Care Plans, ensuring appropriate provision is identified without delays. They will contribute to the continuing improvement of the SEND Service for pupils and their families, promoting Surrey County Council’s values and working in collaboration with Family Resilience teams. The role holder will act as first point of contact for all general SEND calls, dealing effectively with enquiries wherever possible, or referring to the relevant officer as required.
Work Context
The SEND Management Team operates in a fast paced, complex interpersonal environment involving children and young people with significant and complex special educational needs, their parents/carers, schools, colleges and other professionals requiring an enhanced level of communication skill and strong case management. The SEND Management Team administers and is responsible for statutory functions on behalf of the local Authority, including the statutory assessment of children with SEND and Safeguarding, and has significant contact with members of the public and other professionals from within and outside of the County Council, including schools and other professional settings. There are four SEND Management Teams who cover the four areas of the County (NW, NE, SE, SW), working across 11 Boroughs and Districts, and each will need to manage crucial interfaces with support services, Children’s and Adults' Services and the Corporate Parenting Team, as well as maintaining excellent multi agency working relationships.
Representative Accountabilities
Risk Management
- Contribute to risk awareness in carrying out duties and raise issues where appropriate.
- Conduct standard assessments of service users’ circumstances and issues and contribute to reviews of individual programmes under supervision from more senior colleagues. Case Management
- Ensure individual care plans are implemented and the personal and health care needs of service users are met, working within guidelines and procedures, and record service user progress.
- Support service users to access community opportunities and work directly with users, providing advice and support to facilitate independence.Planning & Organising
- Plan, organise and supervise allocated activities within procedural and regulatory framework. Finance/Resource Management
- Make effective use of resources and provide feedback on improvements to contribute to cost effectiveness. Work with others
- Support other team members and demonstrate understanding of others’ needs and views.
- Liaise with carers, relatives, colleagues and other agencies to ensure good communication and service to users.People Management
- Assist in the induction of new staff and by sharing expertise and knowledge within the team.
- May oversee and guide more junior staff. Duties for all Values: To uphold the values and behaviours of the organisation. Equality & Diversity: To work inclusively, with a diverse range of stakeholders and promote equality of opportunity. Health, Safety & Welfare: To maintain high standards of Health, Safety and Welfare at work and take reasonable care for the health and safety of themselves and others.
Education, Knowledge, Skills & Abilities, Experience and Personal Characteristics
Vocational Qualifications Level 2 or equivalent in relevant field with practical knowledge of service user group needs, or equivalent experience.
- Awareness of relevant legislation, processes and procedures and issues relating to the service user group.
- Ability to show an understanding of the circumstances of people with social care needs, to gather appropriate information and to reach a view about the likely type and source of assistance.
- Able to present options and choices and support others to come to their own conclusions.
- Good written and oral communication skills with the ability to build relationships with a range of stakeholders.
- Competent in a range of IT tools including databases and MS Office.
- Ability to explain processes and concepts in simple terms, maintain appropriate records, and to build effective relationships with service users and others.
- Able to manage own time effectively and identify priorities.
- Ability to work effectively and flexibly as part of a team.
- Ability to guide and support less experienced or more junior colleagues
- Experience of working with the user group.
- Satisfactory DBS clearance might be required.
Details of the specific qualifications and/or experience if required for the role in line with the above description
- Good general level of education-GCSE or equivalent, including Maths and English.
- Experience of liaising with members of the public and professionals, and the ability to handle potentially difficult telephone callers in a calm sensitive manner.
- Experience of taking clear, concise and accurate notes during meetings.
- An understanding of the requirement for confidentiality and sensitivity to the needs of emotionally vulnerable parents.
- Ability to contribute to planning activities to provide positive benefits for children with special educational needs and their families, with a personal commitment to the provision of an excellent customer and public service.
- A positive outlook that celebrates success, builds on a framework of good practice and seeks constructive solutions to problems.
- Respect for human diversity and individual need for honesty, openness and dignity.
- Demonstrable commitment to learning, development and the achievement of potential of self, colleagues and customers.
- Ability to work collaboratively and co-operatively with colleagues, members of the public and partners.
- Ability to familiarise, uphold and promote the aims of the council’s Equality and Diversity policies in every aspect of service delivery
- Hold an enhanced DBS clearance.
Role Summary
Roles at this level provide practical social care services under direction to improve the quality of life of service users with a range of challenging problems. They liaise with service users, colleagues and other agencies to ensure good service to users. Some roles may oversee and guide the work of more junior staff. Role holders will typically be expected to work in terms of the vocational qualifications in social care and may be encouraged to consolidate their experience through accreditation at level 2. They will need to have the ability to acquire a knowledge of systems, procedures and good practice. They work within clear procedures and best practice guidelines. They will be subject to supervision but will be expected to organise their own workload and prioritise within short, e.g. day-to-day timescales.
If you would like to APPLY then please contact Mathure on 0203 924 9870.