Early Years Inclusion Mentor

Warwickshire County Council; Nuneaton, Warwick; On-site; GBP 32,000 - 42,000; Part time

Job summary

Warwickshire County Council is recruiting four Inclusion Mentors to join the Early Years Inclusion and SEND team. You’ll mentor and coach staff, build capacity in early years settings and contribute to inclusive practice across cognition, SEMH and communication needs.

Roles cover North, East, Central and South Warwickshire with bases in Kings House, Nuneaton and Saltisford, Warwick. This is a fixed-term position with potential to travel county-wide.

Qualifications

• Qualified to at least NVQ Level 3 or equivalent in a relevant field.
• Recent successful experience as a teaching assistant or similar role.
• Up-to-date SEND knowledge and ability to support early years settings.

Responsibilities

• Mentor and coach early years staff to strengthen inclusive practice.
• Deliver capacity-building activities and practical advice on strategies and resources.
• Work with schools to ensure effective SEND support and early intervention.

Skills

NVQ Level 3 or equivalent

Teaching assistant experience

Coaching and mentoring

Influencing staff in schools

Education

Recognised qualification relevant to role

Job description

We are looking to recruit four experienced and skilled practitioners to join Warwickshire's Early Years Inclusion and SEND team as Inclusion Mentors. The Early Years Inclusion and SEND team has considerable experience of working with schools and settings to strengthen inclusive practice to support learners with cognition and learning, social, emotional and mental health, and communication and interaction needs.

The Role

Working hours:Full time – 37 hours per week, 52 weeks.

Contract type: Fixed-term (until 31 March 2028)

Posts available: Four roles to cover North, East, Central and South of the County with bases in Kings House, Nuneaton and Saltisford, Warwick with the ability to travel across the County as required.

This post requires a skilled, organised and flexible practitioner who is able to work effectively in a high-pressure environment. Inclusion Mentors will play an important role in the Experts at Hand offer, working alongside early years settings to build confidence, capacity and inclusive practice. The role will include capacity-building work with early years settings, mentoring and coaching staff, providing practical advice on strategies, resources and ordinarily available provision.

The successful candidate will have experience of working with Early Years settings and schools staff to strengthen early intervention, develop inclusive approaches, and support learners’ needs through ordinarily available provision and effective SEND Support.

Key skills and requirements

You will hold a recognised qualification relevant to the role, equivalent to NVQ Level 3 or above. You will also have recent successful experience of working as a teaching assistant, or in a similar role, with pupils who experience barriers to learning, ideally in early years or similar setting.

You will also have:

• significant and successful post-qualification mainstream experience, with up-to-date knowledge and understanding of effective SEND practice and current issues;
• the ability to influence, coach and support staff and leaders in schools and early years settings, promoting evidence-based SEND support practice to meet an increasingly diverse range of need and influence practice at an earlier stage;
• the experience and expertise to work positively with early years setting staff and a range of other professionals;
• the ability to work under pressure, meet unpredictable deadlines and manage competing demands effectively;
• the ability to work as part of the team around the child, developing and sharing creative approaches and positively influencing the practice of others through training and coaching.

For further information please see the Job Description and Person Specification.

Working for Warwickshire – This is the difference you make

Warwickshire County Council is a place where everyone feelsvalued, included, safe, supported,andwelcome. Our people are at the heart of this vision, could you be one of them!

At Warwickshire County Council we are committed to ensuring Warwickshire’s economy is vibrant and supported by the right jobs, training, skills and infrastructure. Our people vision for Warwickshire County Council is a great place to work where diverse and talented people are enabled to be their best.

Your future matters to us, we provide a generous pension scheme which includes an employer contribution rate of typically around 19 percent per month, to help support your financial security during retirement. The scheme also offers a valuable package of benefits for members and their dependants. To find out more please visit: Warwickshire Pension Fund homepage – Warwickshire Pension Fund

The benefits we offer include agile working, a valuable part of the pay and reward package for employees working in local government, generous annual leave entitlement, plus bank holidays and an additional day at Christmas, and access to Vivup benefits and discounts platform.

Additional Information

Warwickshire County Council are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults. Please be advised successful applicants will be subject to a range of pre-engagement checks, including a relevant Disclosure and Barring Service check (DBS). In accordance with the DBS code of practice and our own policy, should an individual have a declared criminal offence an individual assessment will be completed. Warwickshire County Council adheres to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.

The Fluency Duty is outlined in the Code of Practice on the English language requirements for public sector workers. The Fluency Duty for this role is Required. You must be able to speak and provide advice in accurate spoken English to the public.

If you are applying for this role on a secondment basis please ensure you have permission from your line manager.

To discuss the role please contact Clare Woodman, Area Lead via [e-mail]

Closing date: midnight on 29th October

Should you require application forms in an alternative format / language or any adjustments to be made throughout the application process or upon appointment, please contact [e-mail] and we will make every effort to meet your specific requirements.

Warwickshire County Council is committed to equality of opportunity for all employees and is keen to address areas of under representation in its workforce.