Education Inclusion Officer

Staffordshire County Council; Stafford; Hybrid; GBP 30,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

Staffordshire County Council is recruiting two Education Inclusion Officers to travel to district locations and work with schools and families to address exclusions and promote inclusion. The roles are permanent with a January 2027 start date, offering hybrid working and school-hours availability with occasional after-hours meetings.

You will provide specialist information on exclusions, support services, and SEND pathways, and work with partner agencies to ensure early intervention and

Qualifications

• Degree in an appropriate discipline or a professional qualification at an equivalent level (such as social work or teaching) or equivalent experience.
• Sound understanding of exclusion procedures and safeguarding in education settings.
• Ability to work in partnership with families, professionals and schools.

Responsibilities

• Travelling to district-based colleagues, local schools to establish data collection and monitor information on exclusions.
• Provide specialist legislative information and guidance to head teachers, governors, parents, and staff.
• Challenge school leaders on unlawful or poor practice within DfE guidance and criminal law.
• Signpost schools and parents to relevant support services and pathways.
• Collaborate with Alternative Provision Panel to agree provision for children including those with SEND.
• Provide high-quality information and advice to the Council and Senior Officers.
• Represent the Local Authority at disciplinary committees, mediation meetings and tribunals related to permanent exclusion.
• Manage and document excluded children using the MRI database, ensuring data accuracy.

Skills

Education setting experience

Exclusion procedures knowledge

Safeguarding knowledge

Partnership working

Initiative

Collaborative

Education

Degree or equivalent

Tools

MRI database

Job description

In Staffordshire we want our children to have the best opportunities to be successful in education, through being supported by people who have high aspirations for them at all stages of their education.

We want our young people to have a good education experience, in great settings where they understand the impact and potential barriers to attending and achieving in education due to the life experiences that our children may have had. As a team we work closely with our partners to ensure that they understand and support us in our role to address the barriers to education and promote a positive culture towards inclusion and attainment.

Due to an expansion within the service an exciting opportunity has arisen within the Education Inclusion Team for two new Education Inclusion Officers who will be travelling to various locations.

You will be required to work in close partnership with education providers to address the complex issues of school inclusion and exclusion. You will mainly be working with schools and families so need to be available during school hours and occasionally after 5pm to attend meetings. You will be able to work flexibly, including hybrid working.

The roles are permanent within an expected start date of January 2027, subject to references and checks.

Main Responsibilities

You will:

• travelling to various district-based colleagues, local schools, in establishing appropriate systems of data collection and on-going monitoring of information relating to fixed-term and permanent exclusions
• provide specialist legislative information and guidance to head teachers, governors, parents, LA colleagues, and appropriate staff from other agencies
• provide challenge to school leaders in respect of any unlawful or poor practice e.g., Parent Partnership, Social Care and Health etc. about the county’s procedures on fixed term and permanent exclusion, (within DfE guidance) and criminal law
• signpost schools and parents to relevant support services as per Staffordshire’s Local Offer and/or resources and where applicable to the SEND Pathway when an Education, Health and Care Assessment is appropriate
• work with service leads in the Alternative Provision Panel to agree provision for children and young people including those with SEND, offering challenge alongside specialist information advice and guidance
• provide high-quality information and appropriate advice to the Council and Senior Officers
• represent the Local Authority at schools’ governors’ disciplinary committees and independent review panels, SEND mediation meetings and Local Authority SEND tribunals with specific regard to the permanent exclusion process
• manage and document a number of excluded children and young people, utilising the MRI database ensuring data is up to date and accurate at all times

The Ideal Candidate

You will have :

• relevant educational qualification and/or experience as a caseworker, EWO or other similar role within an education setting
• a thorough understanding of the complex factors which may influence behaviour in educational settings and have a sound knowledge of strategies to support early intervention and positive change
• understanding of exclusion procedures, legal framework, Fair Access Protocol, DfE Guidance on Exclusion from Schools and Pupil Referral Units.
• ability to work in partnership with families, professionals and schools to bring about positive change
• a sound working knowledge of safeguarding children, with an emphasis in education settings
• an ability to use own initiative and take responsibility
• an ability to lead and/or work collaboratively with a wide range of professionals from both statutory and voluntary agencies
• an ability to interpret complex situations and offer a solution focused approach to problem solving

The minimum criteria that will be used to shortlist for this role will be:

• Degree in an appropriate discipline or a professional qualification at an equivalent level (such as social work or teaching) or equivalent experience
• A relevant educational qualification and/or experience as a caseworker/EWO/other. Within an education/education support setting
• Demonstrate an understanding of exclusion procedures, legal framework, Fair access Protocol, DfE Guidance on Exclusion from Schools and Pupil Referral Units.
• A sound working knowledge of safeguarding children, with an emphasis in education settings.

If you would like to discuss the role further, please contact Neil Dutton (Service Manager Inclusion):

• Telephone - [phone]
• Email – [e-mail]

In person interviews will be held week commencing 09/11/2026.

Our Recruitment Process

We anonymise applications during shortlisting to ensure only relevant information is considered. Please complete your application fully, especially the supporting statement, to highlight what you’ll bring to the role.

Please note: The minimum criteria in the ideal candidate section detailed above will be used if you are applying under one of our Interview Guarantee Schemes detailed below.

About Staffordshire County Council

We are no ordinary county council:

Our Values

The core of who we are as an organisation. Just like we all have personal values that shape our thoughts and behaviour, organisational values drive how we think and act collectively.

Our values were created and shaped by colleague feedback and national best practice and they sit at the heart of People Strategy:

We have a real sense of community spirit that brings our people together. This feeling of belonging means we are all connected to what we do and take pride in the difference we make every day for Staffordshire people. We are ambitious and our sights are set firmly on a better future.

We look forward and race ahead - that goes for your career too.

Our benefits

We recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive working environment where employees can achieve their full potential and achieve a healthy work-life balance.

In addition to your salary, as a member of staff, you will have access to Our rewards and benefits - Careers at Staffordshire

Our recruitment process

As an Authority we are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

Staffordshire County Council is an equal opportunities organisation and Disability Confident employer. We encourage applications from all background and communities

As part of our commitment as a Disability Confident employer, a Gold Award Armed Forces employer and our commitment to supporting care leavers - we offer a guaranteed interview as long as yourapplication meets the minimum criteria for the post.

As you’ll know safeguarding and promoting the welfare of our children and young people/vulnerable adults is important to us and that’s why this position is subject to a criminal record check from the Disclosure and Barring Service. If applicable you should disclose details of unspent and unfiltered spent reprimands, formal warnings, cautions and convictions in your application form.