Elective Home Education Officer

Hertfordshire County Council; Hemel Hempstead; Hybrid; GBP 34,000 - 37,000; Full time

Job summary

Hertfordshire County Council is recruiting an Elective Home Education Officer to provide advice and support to parents who educate their children at home. You will signpost families to educational resources and suggest learning activity ideas tailored to each child’s needs.

Based in Hertfordshire with hybrid working and county-wide travel, the role requires strong communication, safeguarding awareness, and the ability to work with multiple services to ensure suitable education provision and data

Qualifications

• Demonstrable experience of working with children, young people and families including those with SEND.
• Educated to degree level or equivalent and have excellent communication skills.
• Ability to listen to and support parents, whilst also sharing important information regarding expectations around home education.
• Confident to provide challenge to parents when it is unclear as to whether the education they are providing is suitable
• Ability to manage complex situations and be skilled at having difficult conversations whilst maintaining professionalism.
• Able to make independent decisions and also recognise when a collaborate approach is appropriate.
• Effective organisational skills to prioritise your workload and to manage competing demands and pressures.
• IT skills, including Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
• Able to drive and have access to a vehicle.

Responsibilities

• Advise and support parents who are home educating.
• Build knowledge to signpost parents to relevant services and educational resources.
• Gather information from parents about the education provided and request further information where needed.
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams and attend meetings to support EHE families.
• Liaise with social workers, the SEND team, the Education Hub and Services for Young People.
• Ensure system reporting is accurate and data integrity is maintained.
• Make referrals to other services for safeguarding concerns.
• Roles responsibilities may change according to team needs.

Skills

Experience with children and families

Degree level education

Strong communication

Active listening and parental support

Challenging conversations

Independent decision making

Organisational skills

IT skills (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)

Full driving licence

Education

Degree level or equivalent

Job description

Job Introduction

Job Title: Elective Home Education Officer

Starting Salary: £34,434 with the opportunity to progress to £37,280 per annum

Hours: 37

Location: Hertfordshire (hybrid - with some travel across the county)

Contract Type: Permanent

Directorate: Childrens Services

About The Team

Elective Home Education is growing within Hertfordshire County Council. Do you want to make a positive impact and be part of an area of growth and challenge?

The Elective Home Education team supports and provides guidance to parents who have chosen to educate their child outside of the school system. The team identifies those children who are not in receipt of a full time education, suitable to their age, ability, aptitude and any special educational needs. We are a very experienced team made up of Officers and a Coordinator who are all committed to achieving the best outcomes for children and young people in Hertfordshire.

You will collaborate with the other EHE Officers and will be supported by the EHE Coordinator. You will also establish excellent working relationships with a wide variety of professionals.

You will learn and develop sound practice through an established induction programme and ongoing professional support.

About The Role

This is a key role providing advice and support to parents who are home educating. You will build a bank of knowledge to be able to signpost parents to relevant services and educational resources. You may offer ideas for alternative ways in which parents could engage their child in learning, taking into account their unique needs and interests.

You will gather information from parents about the education they are providing and request further information where it is unclear that the education is suitable. You could receive information from parents in a variety of ways eg: online forms, reports, over the phone, email, Teams calls or during a home visit and you will need to be able to draw all the information together in order to gain a full understanding of the child’s provision.

You will regularly collaborate with multidisciplinary teams and attend meetings to support EHE families. You will liaise with other professionals such as social workers, the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) team, the Education Hub and Services for Young People.

You will ensure system reporting is accurate and that processes and practices are followed to maintain consistency across the county. You will also ensure data integrity and compliance.

You may make referrals to other services and take appropriate action where there are safeguarding concerns. If you identify a child who is not receiving a suitable education, you will refer them to the Children Missing Education Officer for further action.

Your responsibilities and tasks may change according to the needs of the team.

About You

Essential

• Demonstrable experience of working with children, young people and families including those with special educational needs, disabilities, or mental health difficulties in an educational setting.
• Educated to degree level or equivalent and have excellent communication skills, both written and verbal.
• Ability to listen to and support parents, whilst also sharing important information regarding expectations around home education.
• Confident to provide challenge to parents when it is unclear as to whether the education they are providing is suitable
• Ability to manage complex situations and be skilled at having difficult conversations whilst maintaining professionalism.
• Able to make independent decisions and also recognise when a collaborate approach is appropriate.
• Effective organisational skills to prioritise your workload and to manage competing demands and pressures.
• IT skills, including Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
• Able to work as part of a team and also be self‑motivated to work independently and unsupervised.
• Full driving licence and access to a vehicle.

Desirable

• Experience of working with Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCPs).
• An in depth understanding of the home education government guidance and a good understanding of CME, safeguarding, SEND and the Gypsy, Roma, Traveller (GRT) community.
• Ability to effectively assess, evaluate and problem solve and also be alert to safeguarding concerns.
• A methodical approach to information gathering, recording and reporting and able to make accurate and detailed notes.

We welcome applications from candidates who currently reside in the UK with established proof of right to work documentation. We are not able to offer sponsorship at this time for this role.

You will be part of a team who care passionately about children and their education and will be able to make a difference by supporting parents to carry out their duty under section 7 of the Education Act 1996.

EHE Officers are crucial team members helping the Local Authority to fulfil its statutory duties and responsibilities relating to Elective Home Education. You will be making an impact by supporting parents to provide a suitable education for their child and therefore improving their educational experiences and outcomes.

You will have the opportunity to contribute to making the EHE team efficient and effective in order to manage the ever‑increasing numbers of EHE children being recorded.

Interview Date: 28th and 29th September

We welcome applications from candidates who currently reside in the UK with established proof of right to work documentation. We are not able to offer sponsorship at this time for this role.

This job role is Level 9. Please locate the job profile here: Job profiles - Community services

Secondment

This role is open to secondments for eligible employees who work for HCC. If you wish to apply on a secondment basis, you must have your line manager’s approval before submitting your application. You will be asked to confirm this within your application form. If you are not eligible for a secondment (e.g., you are currently on a fixed‑term contract that would end before this positions ends) or you indicate that your manager cannot support a secondment, your application will be considered on a fixed‑term contract basis instead.

Additional Information

We are changing

Hertfordshire County Council is undergoing Local Government Reorganisation (LGR). If you are employed by Hertfordshire County on 1 April 2028, it is expected that most roles will transfer to the newly‑created unitary councils on existing terms and conditions under TUPE (Transfer of Undertakings – Protection of Employment) principles.

LGR is one of the biggest changes we will face in a generation. It will reshape how we work and how services are organised and gives us a real opportunity to build something better.

To find out more, visit https://www.hertfordshire-lgr.co.uk/

Disability Confident

We are proud to be aDisability Confident employerand guarantee an interview to anyone disclosing a disability whose application meets the minimum criteria for the post.

Safeguarding

This role has been identified as requiring a Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check.

Driving Required

You’ll need to have the ability to drive and/or travel around Hertfordshire, either using your own mode of transport or a company car to travel to other locations.

English Fluency

The ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English is essential for the post (for those whose language is a signed language the provision of a sign language interpreter who speaks English to the necessary standard of fluency will be required).Further information about the legal requirement can be found here.