Description Organisation: Leicestershire County Council Work Location: County Hall, Glenfield, Leicester LE3 8RA Worker Category: Hybrid Worker Salary: £33,060 - £36,660 per annum (pro-rata for part-time) Working Hours: 25.9 hrs per week Contract Type: Permanent Closing Date: 19th September 2024 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. https://resources.leicestershire.gov.uk/leicestershire-virtual-school We wish to appoint a Casework Officer to have responsibility for promoting the education of looked after young people by working collaboratively with a range of partners and agencies, including social workers, education settings and foster carers. You will coordinate the statutory Personal Education Plan process across age ranges, thereby ensuring good quality planning leading to positive educational outcomes. Understanding the barriers faced by children in care and care leavers 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 of a caseload of children and young people in care. 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. 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 policy statement. About You To apply for this post, you must have: Level 6 qualification Or Demonstrable experience identified below Experience of working in a school / college / alternative curriculum environment / local authority supporting vulnerable learners Knowledge of attachment and trauma theory and/or practice Excellent understanding of the barriers children in care may experience in accessing educational opportunities Knowledge of legislation and guidance relating to education and specifically to children in care e.g. School admission, SEND procedures and processes An understanding of current UK qualification system, data analysis and its uses. Excellent communication skills, both written and oral, across the full range of audiences Able to self-organise and meet strict deadlines You must also have an understanding of, and commitment to, equal opportunities, and the ability to apply this to all situations. In addition, we also expect you to share our commitment to our values 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 Our Working Styles page on our career site. For more information or an informal discussion, please contact: Donna Chapman - Virtual School Head and Service Manager Telephone: 0116 305 2174 Email: Donna.Chapmanleics.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 'Apply Now'. 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 How to Apply 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: https://emss.freshdesk.com/support/home. 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