Access to Education Officer

We value diverse perspectives and experiences and are striving to create a workplace culture that is inclusive, accepting of all, and free from discrimination and bias. The Education Improvement and Standards team strives to deliver outstanding services for our customers, predominately the children of Coventry, who may be requiring access to education or alternative education provision. We ensure vulnerable children are appropriately supported; have a voice, that hopefully leads to their high achievement and excellent progress. The Service is made up of a diverse range of teams all working together to recognise, support and apply innovative solutions to address the growing issues in relation to trying to educate some of our most vulnerable pupils in schools. The service is responsible for delivering statutory duties for the Council in respect of:

1. Pupil attendance enforcement
2. Children Missing Education
3. 6th day provision for permanently excluded pupils
4. The administration of the Fair Access and Supported Transfer process
5. Child licensing and employment

Our Values
In line with our One Coventry Values, we want to ensure that our communities are represented across our workforce. A vital part of this is ensuring we are a truly inclusive organisation that encourages diversity in all respects, including diversity of thinking. We particularly welcome applicants from minority ethnic, LGBT+, disabled, and neurodiverse communities to make a real difference to our residents so that equity and respect remains at the heart of everything we do.

Our Values are:

1. Open and fair: We are fair, open, and transparent.
2. Nurture and develop: We help and encourage everyone to be their best and do their best.
3. Engage and empower: We talk and listen to others, working together as one.
4. Create and innovate: We embrace new ways of working to continuously improve.
5. Own and be accountable: We work together to deliver the best services for our residents.
6. Value and respect: We put diversity and inclusion at the heart of all we do.

What is the job role?
An opportunity has arisen for the recruitment of Access to Education Officer to join our Access to Education Team within the Attendance and Children Missing Education Team. This is a Full-Time (37 hours) fixed term contract for 12 months. The Access to Education Team is seeking to recruit a dynamic Access to Education Officer to support the local authority to facilitate the admission to school of children and young people from overseas and to support the management of the local authorities’ statutory duties around Children Missing Education. The Access to Education Team covers a wide range of areas including:

1. Supporting newly arrived families to access school places.
2. Children Missing Education
3. Licensing for Children in Entertainment and Employment

This post is exempted under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and as such appointment to this post will be conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory response to a check of police records via Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).

Who are we looking for?
The successful candidate will have experience of dealing with the general public, preferably in a front-line service, with excellent communication and organisation skills and the ability to deal with clients from all backgrounds, sometimes in difficult situations. Most of our clients come from overseas, and you will need a high level of communication skills to support these families to access the service. You will have a polite and approachable manner when dealing with service users and be able to work both as part of a collaborative team and independently with minimum supervision. Accurate work, attention to detail, the ability to prioritise, and high level of computer literacy are crucial in this role. The Access to Education Officer will have responsibility ensuring that children and young people from overseas access their entitlement to educational provision in a timely manner. They will also ensure that children missing education are effectively investigated. You will have an appreciation of the need for confidentiality when dealing with a wide range of enquiries and the ability to cope with changing demands in work in a fast-paced team.

If you would like further information regarding this post please contact: helen.fox-williams@coventry.gov.uk

If you need help or support to complete your application, please visit our accessibility page to see how we can assist you.

Guaranteed Interview Scheme - As part of our commitment to inclusion, we offer guaranteed interviews for specific groups of people. To qualify, you'll need to meet the minimum requirements for the role and identify with one of the below criteria:

1. Members of the Armed Forces and veterans
2. Are currently in care or have previously been in care
3. If you consider yourself to be disabled or if you have a long-term health condition

For full details on the application process please read the attached document on our jobs page labelled 'Coventry City Council Application Process'. If there is any evidence of a candidate using AI to complete their application, then the application will be rejected unless the candidate can provide a justification which the Council considers to be reasonable.

About Coventry
Coventry has a proud, innovative and creative spirit that throughout its history has seen communities come together to tackle problems and bring about real social change. We are cutting-edge, challenging, youthful, vibrant, and diverse.

At Coventry, we are committed to excellence in everything we do. With around 5100 staff from a range of different backgrounds, our aim is to recruit and develop talented people who will focus on our customers, take responsibility, work together and find better ways of doing things.

To deliver the best services to our residents, we need the best people working for us to make a difference to our communities.

If you join us, we will provide a fantastic rewards and benefits package - to find out more please visit https://www.coventry.gov.uk/council-vacancies