Family Intervention Worker Elective Home Education Service

The Methodist Church in Britain; Sheffield; Hybrid; GBP 25,000 - 30,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working options

Generous holiday entitlement

Support for caring responsibilities to

Job summary

Sheffield City Council's Elective Home Education Service is seeking an officer to support families who educate at home. The role focuses on early interaction, wellbeing visits, and guiding families to services while coordinating with schools and agencies.

You will liaise with professionals, perform safeguarding-focused assessments and maintain records, with hybrid working and city-wide travel. Relevant safeguarding checks are expected.

Qualifications

• GCSE maths and English at grade 9-4 or equivalent.
• Experience with vulnerable children and families.
• Ability to engage and assess needs with safeguarding focus.

Responsibilities

• Conduct initial wellbeing visits and meetings with EHE families.
• Liaise with professionals to identify educational options and referrals.
• Signpost families to SEND, CME, admissions and SSENDIAS.
• Oversee referral documentation and EHE notifications.
• Respond to non-engagement and carry out visits.
• Attend meetings and advocate for children's educational needs.
• Maintain pupil records and reports; provide data when required.
• Keep up to date with EHE frameworks and guidance.

Skills

Engaging families

Family dynamics

Risk assessment

Education

GCSE maths and English 9-4 or equivalent

Job description

This role sits in the Elective Home Education Service at Sheffield City Council, supporting families who educate their children at home. The work centres on initial wellbeing visits and meetings that explain local authority expectations and EHE processes, then linking families to other agencies. Unlike ongoing family casework, contact is short-term and focused on the early stage of home education, with hybrid working that includes travel across the city. Applicants need GCSE maths and English and significant experience with vulnerable children and their families.

What the job involves

• Conduct initial wellbeing visits, meetings and appointments with EHE families, explaining the service, EHE criteria, processes and educational responsibilities
• Liaise with professionals to find alternative educational options and make onward referrals
• Signpost home educators to other support and agencies, such as SEND, Children Missing Education, admissions and SSENDIAS
• Oversee referral documentation and EHE notifications, identifying barriers and sharing information with schools and professionals
• Respond to non-engagement and carry out planned and unannounced visits
• Attend and contribute to professional meetings and reviews, advocating for children or advising professionals and parents
• Make contact with children and families known to the service, prioritising by safeguarding and educational need
• Complete pupil mapping and RAG rating, and contribute to child-led data using signs of safety
• Support pupil transitions between school, college or home
• Support the work of EHE Officers and other team members
• Maintain pupil records, case files and reports, and provide data when required
• Keep up to date with internal EHE frameworks, policies, DfE EHE guidance and other agencies' referral processes

Qualifications

• GCSE maths and English at grade 9-4 or equivalent

Experience

• Significant experience of working with vulnerable children and their families
• Experience of engaging families, delivering information, providing support, signposting and assessing needs

Skills & knowledge

• Promoting engagement with families
• Understanding family dynamics
• Assessing risk

Checks & eligibility

• Relevant safeguarding checks

What’s offered

• Full-time 37 hours a week, 52 weeks a year
• Generous holiday entitlement
• Flexible working options, including reduced hours, part time or job share
• Support for staff with unpaid caring responsibilities to work flexibly
• Starting pay at the bottom of the grade, or a higher point if payslip evidence shows higher basic pay