Autism Outreach Service Practitioner

Leicestershire County Council; England; Hybrid; GBP 28,000 - 32,000; Full time

Job summary

A local government council in England is looking for a specialist practitioner teacher to join the Autism Outreach Team. The role focuses on enabling educational settings to support pupils with autism through coaching and modeling effective practices. The ideal candidate will have substantial experience with autism and strong interpersonal skills. This hybrid position offers competitive salary and flexible working arrangements.

Qualifications

• Evidence of further training and development in Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.
• Substantial experience of working directly with pupils with autism.
• Good interpersonal skills to relate positively to children and parents.

Responsibilities

• Provide casework responsibility under the supervision of a specialist teacher.
• Engage in professional development to promote curriculum access for autistic learners.
• Maintain thorough records and contribute to Education, Health, and Care Plan assessments.

Skills

Interpersonal skills

Time management

Knowledge of effective teaching approaches

Ability to manage a caseload

Education

NVQ 3 level qualification or equivalent

Job description

Organisation: Leicestershire County Council

Work Location: County Hall, Glenfield, Leicester LE3 8RA

Worker Category: Hybrid Worker

Salary: Grade 8 - £28,605 - £31,029

Working Hours: 22.2 hours per week (3 days) - term time only

Contract Type: Permanent

Closing Date: 16 November 2025

Interview Date(s): 26 November 2025

About the Role

The Autism Outreach Team has an exciting and interesting opportunity for an enthusiastic and committed specialist practitioner teacher to join the Team.

The Autism Outreach Team is a well‑regarded and welcoming team, consisting of specialist teachers and practitioners with a wealth of knowledge and experience and a passion for Inclusion. We work with mainstream education settings across Leicestershire to support positive outcomes for autistic pupils in Key Stages 1‑5.

We are committed to understanding autism as difference rather than deficit and as part of Specialist Teaching Service, we aim to improve opportunities, outcomes and experiences for children and young people with SEND in partnership with families, educational settings and organisations.

The successful applicant will have casework responsibility, under the supervision and support of a specialist teacher, which will focus on enabling schools to implement a range of teaching and learning strategies to support the progress and inclusion of pupils with a diagnosis of autism or communication and interaction needs. You will provide support for educational settings through coaching, modelling of good practice, sharing knowledge, approaches, and resources as well as contributing to the APDR cycle of support.

The role involves maintaining thorough records of work undertaken and contributing to Education, Health and Care Plan assessments and annual reviews, when appropriate. In addition, you will engage with ongoing professional development to identify, develop and deliver resources that promote curriculum access for autistic learners.

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:

• NVQ 3 level qualification or equivalent in a study related to the role, with evidence of further training and development in Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.
• Substantial experience of working directly with pupils with a diagnosis of Autism or communication and interaction needs, including knowledge of effective teaching and learning approaches and resources to support the attainment and inclusion of autistic pupils
• Good interpersonal skills, with the ability to relate positively to children, young people, parents and other professionals and establish effective working relationships with colleagues, educational settings and partner agencies
• Ability to manage a caseload effectively, prioritise work and demonstrate effective time management, using own initiative to plan and work in an organised manner
• Significant experience of working appropriately in accordance with relevant statutory and local policies and procedures for SEND and the ability to carry out all duties in line with LCC Safeguarding policies and procedures and fulfil relevant safeguarding competencies
• Ability to actively demonstrate the values of the authority: Positivity; Trust and respect; Flexibility; Openness and Transparency
• Must be able to perform all duties and tasks with reasonable adjustment, where appropriate, in accordance with the provisions of the Equality Act 2010. This will include requirements to work flexibly around holiday periods in line with the service requirements and access to a vehicle with the ability to travel to temporary bases such as schools, touch‑down bases etc.

We are looking for an individual who celebrates equality, diversity and inclusion, challenging discrimination at every level, together as a service and a Council. We warmly welcome those from all cultures, ethnicities, and beliefs.

Interviews for this post will take place in person. Shortlisted candidates will be provided with further information.

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.

Contact

For more information or an informal discussion, please contact:

Angela Shipley, Autism Outreach Team Manager

Email: [e-mail] or Tel: [phone]

or Vanessa Foulds, STS Team Manager

Email: [e-mail]

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.

If you have any technical problems when applying 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.org.uk/support.

By applying for this post, you agree to our Terms and Conditions.