Overview
Role Full time — £20.93 an hour
Role Purpose SEN casework officer has responsibility for a specified caseload with regard to the Education, Health and Care (EHC) assessment and review process for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, across the 0 – 25 year old age range.
Job Context (Key outputs of team / role)
With supervision from the SEN Senior Professional, the officer oversees the co-ordination of the statutory assessment process for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, across the 0 – 25 year old age range.
The officer is responsible for preparing draft, final and amended EHC Plans, attending annual reviews and presenting case specific requests to the weekly assessment and review panel.
The officer provides advice and guidance to parents, children and young people with SEN, schools and other professionals regarding the requirements of the SEND Code of Practice 2015.
The officer works closely with a range of service providers including education, health, social care and the voluntary sector to ensure effective and timely delivery of the EHC process and EHC Plans.
Generic Duties
* To demonstrate a commitment to the Council’s Equal Opportunities Policy and the ability to understand and implement the policy in relation to the job responsibilities.
* To ensure compliance with your responsibilities as laid out in the council’s health and safety policy and take an active role in promoting a positive health and safety culture.
* To promote and participate in the council’s individual performance appraisal and development initiatives and information management best practice.
* To ensure compliance with the council’s information security policies and maintain confidentiality.
* In accordance with the Immigration Act 2016, where the role is customer-facing and the post holder is required to speak to members of the public, the ability to converse at ease with customers and provide advice in accurate spoken English is essential for the post.
Values, Behaviours and Equalities
We want our colleagues to live our values. These values describe what we stand for and how we do things at Harrow whilst inspiring, challenging and guiding us towards the delivery of our organisational ambitions and goals. Our three values are: Be Courageous, Do It Together and Make It Happen.
These values will also help us to achieve our equalities vision of being a proud, fair & cohesive Harrow, a great place to live, work & visit.
Main Duties / Accountabilities
1. Day-to-day responsibility for the co-ordination of the Education, Health and Care assessment and review process for children and young people (0-25) with special educational needs, within the scope of a defined caseload.
2. To draft initial and amended Education, Health and Care Plans reflecting the views of parents, advice of professionals, and in line with the requirements of the SEND Code of Practice 2015.
3. To work within a statutory timescale and keep accurate files and records.
4. To work with professionals to ensure their knowledge, experience, skills and relevant assessments inform the Education, Health and Care Plan.
5. To network with a variety of services, agencies and providers to gather information in order to support the child/young person and their family to make well informed choices.
6. To present cases to the weekly multi-professional panel meeting, to assist panel members in determining the appropriate educational, health and care provision and arrangements for children and young people.
7. To arrange for the implementation of the provision specified in final Education, Health and Care Plans through liaison with parents, young people, and providers across health and social care.
8. To work with other SEN casework coordinators in considering the recommendations submitted by educational settings following annual reviews. To make initial decisions regarding requests for changes to provision and placement and to refer cases to the weekly panel, as appropriate.
9. To assist with the discharge of duties as above with regard to pupils placed within schools outside of the Harrow Council area and for those pupils who are Looked After Children and/or attending the Helix (alternative provision for pupils out of school in Harrow).
10. To attend annual reviews where particular issues are arising regarding the continued appropriateness of existing provision and placement for children and young people with Education, Health and Care Plans.
11. To support and challenge schools, with regard to the requirements of the SEND Code of Practice 2015 and Part 3 of the Children and Families Act 2014 and associated regulations.
12. To liaise with the SEN administrative officer, to ensure that the Education Management System (database) is maintained with accurate data. To assist the SEN Senior Professional with the production of management information from this system, to inform workload planning and monitoring of performance against statutory timescales.
Selection Criteria – Knowledge, Skills and Experience
Role requirements
Essential | Desirable
* Detailed knowledge of the EHC assessment process and annual review process, as set out in the SEND Code of Practice (SEN COP) 2015 and the Children and Families Act 2014.
* Demonstrate an awareness of equality issues in service delivery and commitment to Harrow Council’s equal opportunities policy.
* Experience of working within a casework function, managing caseloads and competing priorities.
* Ability to assess the key elements within a range of professional advice, to assess and interpret recommendations required for the drafting of EHC Plans.
* Ability to provide advice and guidance at meetings with parents and professionals in line with the SEND COP and relevant local guidance.
* Experience of, and ability to, work collaboratively within a team environment and with a range of professionals from other agencies.
* Good literacy skills, with the ability to produce standard correspondence which incorporates statutory guidance and council policies and including writing outcome focused reports.
* Excellent communication and interpersonal skills with the ability to deal with parents and a range of professionals. Highly organised with the confidence and ability to facilitate multi agency meetings.
* IT skills that enable access to management information systems and common software packages e.g. word, outlook, excel.
* Able to travel to meetings independently.
* Willingness to learn new skills and attend courses as appropriate.
Qualifications
Role Requirements Job specific examples
* A good standard of literacy and numeracy – GCSE English and Maths or equivalent (A- C)
Application
If you think this job role is for you, please send your CV to rebeccabentum@carringtonblakerecruitment.com
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