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Job Description
Organisation: Leicestershire County Council
Work Location: County Hall Glenfield
Worker Category: Hybrid Worker
Salary: £43,860 - £47,829 per annum (pro rata for part-time)
Working Hours: 37 hours per week
Contract Type: Fixed term for 9 months, starting in February 2026
Closing Date: 02 November 2025
Interview Date(s): TBC
This is a full time, maternity leave cover for 9 months, starting February 2026.
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 Senior Education Advisor (SEA) 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 specifically for Secondary age phases, thereby ensuring good quality planning leading to positive educational outcomes.
This role will involve advising schools/colleges, settings and key professionals on strategies that address emerging educational and behavioural issues and lead to improved outcomes for Leicestershire children in care and/or care leavers and previously looked after children resident in Leicestershire.
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.
An enhanced DBS check 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:
* A relevant Level 6 qualification e.g. qualified teacher status
or
* Substantial experience of working in a school / college / alternative education / local authority education service/ Early Years setting
* Excellent knowledge of attachment and trauma theory and/or practice and behaviour management strategies across age ranges
* Excellent understanding of the barriers children in care may experience in accessing educational opportunities, across both primary and secondary age phases.
* Knowledge of legislation and guidance relating to Primary and secondary education, specifically to children in care
* Able to influence and persuade in order to negotiate successful outcomes.
* Excellent communication skills, both written and oral, across the full range of audiences
* Experience of delivering high‑quality training to peers and professionals
You must also have an understanding of, and commitment to, equality, diversity and inclusion.
In addition, we expect you to share our commitment to our values and will ask you to evidence when you have demonstrated them as part of the interview 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
Telephone: 0116 305 2174
Email: donna.chapman@leics.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 the apply button. 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.
By applying for this post, you agree to our Terms and Conditions.
About Us
About Leicestershire County Council
Leicestershire County Council is a Disability Confident, Menopause Friendly, Mindful Employer, Fostering Friendly, Forces Friendly, and Cycle Friendly organisation. In August 2021, we also signed up to the Race at Work Charter. We are strongly committed to promoting equality and opportunity, championing employee wellbeing and investing in staff training and development.
Our aim is to work with communities and partners to deliver public services that make Leicestershire the best possible place to live and work for everyone. Our employees play a key role in supporting this goal and helping us deliver the vital services we provide to the people of Leicestershire.
For further information on what it's like to work for us and the benefits we offer, please refer to the following:
* Our Recruitment Process
* Our Organisational Values
* Our Employee Benefits
* Working for Us
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