Virtual School Education Advisor

Peterborough City Council; Peterborough; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A local government authority in Peterborough is seeking an experienced Education Advisor to improve outcomes for vulnerable students, particularly those known to social care. The successful candidate will provide supportive and challenging guidance to schools and community partners while collaborating with a dedicated team. This role offers hybrid working opportunities and the chance to make a significant impact in the educational sector. Strong communication skills and up-to-date educational knowledge are essential.

Benefits

Generous annual leave starting at 25 days + bank holidays

Access to Employee Benefits Platform

Paid volunteering hours

Development opportunities through apprenticeships

Qualifications

• Up-to-date knowledge of the education system.
• Experience working in a school or virtual school.
• Knowledge of legislation and national guidance relevant to children in care.

Responsibilities

• Provide high quality support to education providers.
• Work collaboratively with schools and various stakeholders.
• Participate in training specific to children with social work involvement.

Skills

Communication

Motivation

Inter-agency partnership

Knowledge of educational interventions

Education

Experience in education or related field

Job description

All about the Role

Are you an experienced education professional, passionate about improving outcomes for the most vulnerable students?

Peterborough Virtual School is looking for a highly motivated and innovative individual to join our aspirational team as an Education Advisor who can work collaboratively to influence, challenge, engender motivation and support a range of stakeholders to make a positive contribution to educational outcomes for children who are, or have previously been known to social care.

This is a great opportunity to join a successful team and to have a significant impact on the lives of young people across a wide range of settings.

What will you be doing?

To maximise education outcomes for children who are known to social care, you will:

• Provide high quality support and challenge to schools, settings and other education providers in relation to children known to social care, to ensure school leadership, culture and curriculum design promotes high quality educational experiences and outcomes.
• Actively participate in approaches which specifically impact on provision for children who have or have had a social worker from 0-18 years, through child and/or school level targeted support. This will include delivering training.
• Work in partnership with the networks of professionals around children and schools including colleagues within the education and social care directorates, carers and partners beyond the local authority.
• Contribute to the City Council's effective delivery of its statutory and associated obligations in relation to care experienced children.

All about our Team

All local authorities in England have a statutory duty to promote the educational outcomes of children in care and children previously in care. Additionally, the Virtual School has a non-statutory strategic leadership role for children who have or have had a social worker (Ever-CiN) and children living in kinship care (from September 2024).

To find out more about the Virtual School please visit our website: Welcome to Peterborough Virtual School

All about You

The successful candidate must be passionate about and have experience of improving the educational experiences of vulnerable young people. You will be a confident communicator who is outcomes driven. You will have knowledge of key performance indicators and effective interventions relevant to children known to social care and the breadth of assessment systems within education. You will have the ability to form and maintain positive working relationships with a range of professionals. Alongside this, knowledge of specific barriers and vulnerabilities faced by children known to social care and experience of inter‑agency partnership work would be beneficial.

You will have up to date knowledge of the education system, recent experience of working in a school or virtual school and will be able to offer support and challenge to ensure that educational outcomes are maximised.

You will be familiar with legislation and national guidance relating to the education of children in care and children who have or have had a social worker. Knowledge of SEND and recent experience of delivering training and effectively supporting children in transition would be beneficial.

You will be efficient, organised and be able to work using your own initiative within a wider team.

This role is hybrid working - office and home working are supported in line with the needs of the service. Additionally, it is expected that there will be time spent visiting schools.

You must be able to drive.

This a fixed term post until March 2027.

The closing date is Wednesday 21st January and interviews are likely to take place week beginning 26th January 2026.

For further information and an informal conversation please contact: [e-mail]

All about our Benefits

We value our colleagues and have developed a number of benefits in addition to our generous annual leave starting at 25 days + bank holidays, sick pay and local government pension scheme.

• Access to a range of benefits via our Employee Benefits Platform, including in-store and online discounts as well as our Cycle to Work and Home & Electronics schemes
• Buy up to 10 days additional annual leave (pro-rata)
• Access to car lease scheme
• Take your bank holidays flexibly to better suit your personal circumstances
• Make Additional Voluntary Contributions (Shared Cost AVCs) to your pension with tax and National Insurance savings
• Access to development opportunities including apprenticeships to support your personal and professional growth
• Paid volunteering hours each year so you can make a positive impact on our community during your normal working day
• Access to our equality, diversity and inclusion network
• Opportunities to receive Employee Recognition Awards

All about our Commitments

We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer, dedicated to fostering diversity, advancing equity, and building an inclusive workplace for everyone. We welcome applications from individuals of all backgrounds and particularly encourage those from underrepresented groups, including disabled people, care leavers, and individuals from minority ethnic communities. Your unique perspectives and experiences are encouraged and valued and will play a vital role in our success.

We are committed to making our recruitment process as accessible as possible. If you are disabled and require any reasonable adjustments during the application or interview process, please contact [e-mail] we will work with you to meet your needs.

Appointment to this post will be subject to the outcome of an Enhanced Disclosure obtained through the Disclosure and Barring Service. The Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

If you've already applied and completed the recruitment process for this position within the last three months, there's no need to reapply. We really appreciate your interest and thank you for considering us.