SEND Provision Lead

We're looking for a SEND Provision Lead to join us in North Locality to help us continue to deliver a fantastic service to vulnerable children and young people in Dorset. We are looking for people who can put the voice and needs of our service users at the centre of their thinking.

We offer a competitive package of pay and leave. We are committed to supporting our staff to grow and develop, and to seek new experiences within the wider Locality model of working. We support hybrid working, and have a strong team ethos with the teams coming together in our Hub offices in Ferndown & Wareham.

Dorset deliver our SEND service through our Locality Model which brings together Social Care, Inclusion & Early Help all together within their community. Relationships are at the core of what we do, providing a consistency of service. We are proud of our 'Good' Ofsted rating following the IILACS inspection of 2021.

As part of a team of specialist SEND practitioners, you would work alongside Caseworkers, Family Workers & Education Psychologists to support those with Special Educational Needs & Disabilities. You would also work closely with those within the other strands of the Locality, who share a desire to learn and support each other in the provision of services. All work to our four key behaviours:

Responsibility: We act with integrity. We are honest and we don’t attribute blame when something goes wrong. We are all part of the solution.

Respect: We are aware of our impact on others. We treat people fairly and have high expectations of ourselves and others, and value differences in approaches and opinions. We instigate and lead through positive behaviour.

Recognition: We appreciate and value the contribution of individuals and teams for work well done. We lead by taking time to provide feedback and share lessons learned and achievements to support the organisation’s development. We celebrate commitment and
success.

Collaboration: We work with colleagues, residents and partners to achieve the best possible outcomes. We feel confident to share ideas, we listen and respect other points of view and set this example to each other. We value the power in combining our personal qualities, skills and experience to achieve a shared goal.

You will take a lead on your caseload undertaking all aspects of SEND casework from drafting and finalising plans, through the reviewing process. You will be working with children and young people up to the age of 25 with a range of Special Education Needs & Disabilities.

You're key tasks will be:

• to work with the Team Manager Education and Early Help SENCO and other professionals in the team to ensure that appropriate arrangements for assessment and review are followed for children who have SEND
• to work with other professionals in the team to ensure the production of high quality EHCPs for children and that all statutory processes are followed. Team and distributed working is essential for this role and the post holder will be required to work with a wide range of professionals in a collaborative and supportive way
• to ensure that all reviews of EHCPs are attended by an appropriate professional or team
• to liaise with team members in localities to ensure the requests for EHCP assessments are processed in a timely fashion including with liaison with professionals outside the locality
• maintain meticulous high-quality electronic records of contact and case management for the EHCP process to ensure there is consistency of record keeping across the county
• work with the Team Manager SEND lead in the team and other professionals including Education Psychologists to ensure that complex cases are managed well.

• You will place quality outcomes for children at the top of the priority list.
  
• You will bring to the team experience of working with children and young people with Special Educational Needs & Disabilities.
• You will be a motivated and organised team member.
• You will be able to manage a complex caseload, with established skills in prioritising competing demands.
• You will be committed to providing a transparent and open customer service, ensuring that families and young people are included in our work, and kept informed of progress.
• You will be a resilient communicator, able to listen and challenge effectively.
• For full details of requirements for this post, please see attached Job Description. 

We’re passionate about making Dorset a great place to live, work and visit. Working for us should be no exception.

At Dorset Council we:

• provide more than 450 services to over 300,000 residents
• have ambitious aspirations
• are excited about our future
• care about Dorset and all the people who live here
• know that all roles make a difference and that our employees are key to our success

You will:

• have access to a range of employee benefits 
• be part of an organisation that supports each other to grow and succeed
• have access to range of training opportunities which will help with your personal development and career progression

We are challenging ourselves to become a more diverse and inclusive organisation.

We recognise that recruitment and inclusion of individuals with diverse skills, perspectives and backgrounds will bring real strength to the council and our communities. We have a commitment to equality and welcome applications from everyone.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. We offer an interview to everyone who declares a disability and meets the essential criteria for the role.

We are keen to make our interviews accessible. Let us know on your job application if you have a disability and need any reasonable adjustments.

We also look for applicants who share our commitment to our behaviours. We will ask you to evidence when you have demonstrated them as part of the selection process.

If appointed, the personal information we collect from you will be shared with Cifas who will use it to prevent fraud, other unlawful or dishonest conduct, malpractice, and other seriously improper conduct. If any of these are detected, you could be refused certain services or employment. Your personal information will also be used to verify your identity. Further details of how your information will be used by us and Cifas, and your data protection rights, can be found at https://www.cifas.org.uk/fpn.

This role is UK based and we will need to establish your Right to Work as part of the appointment process.

We use generic job descriptions and person specifications. This means the job title on any attachments may differ from the job title in the advert. We may provide specific information in a context statement if relevant.

Find out more about how to apply.