Virtual School Education Support Officer Post-16

North East Combined Authority; Morpeth; Hybrid; GBP 9,000 - 12,000; Part time

Benefits offered by this job

26 days annual leave pro rata + public

Local Government Pension Scheme

Flexi scheme - up to 2 days flexible/4

Job summary

Northumberland Virtual School is recruiting an Education Support Officer to work with post-16 care-experienced young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) and a smaller caseload in EET. You will help them access opportunities and progress into EET, while supporting the designated teachers and care teams.

The role involves lone working with young people in the community and at their homes, building rapid relationships, and proactively supporting education and training providers

Qualifications

• Experience working with care-experienced young people, including those NEET or in EET, preferred.
• Ability to build relationships quickly and work effectively with care teams.
• Willingness to work lone and in community/home settings and manage challenging behaviours.

Responsibilities

• Support a cohort of post-16 care-experienced young people to engage with education, training and employment.
• Develop high-quality Personal Education Plans (PEPs) within statutory timescales.
• Represent the Virtual School at multi-agency meetings and coordinate with designated teachers.
• Work directly with young people, removing barriers to EET and enabling progression.
• Carry out lone working in community settings and in young people's homes as required.

Job description

Northumberland Virtual School is a multi-disciplinary team of professionals who promote and support the educational attainment and progress of Northumberland's cared for children and care leavers to improve their outcomes. We are recruiting an enthusiastic and motivated Education Support Officer to join our Virtual School, Post 16 Pathways Team.

As an Education Support Officer, you will be responsible for working with a cohort of post 16 care experienced young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET), exploring opportunities and supporting them to progress into and engage with education, training, and employment (EET) as well as a smaller caseload of young people who are in EET, and the designated teachers who support them, to ensure young people make strong academic progress and have stability in their EET placements.

Your role will include working with young people who may have complex behavioural difficulties, SEND or mental health issues, young people with high aspirations who have not yet achieved their goals, and young people who arrived as unaccompanied asylum seeking children.

Your focus will be working directly with young people, removing barriers to EET and supporting them to access opportunities. The role will include lone working with young people in the community and within their homes. The ability to build relationships with young people quickly is essential.

You must be forward thinking and be able to proactively support education and training providers so that they can maintain the young person's place and provide professional challenge and training when needed.

As part of your role you will be expected to work with care teams to create high quality Personal Education Plans (PEPs) for 16-17 year olds, within statutory timescales, which support a return to EET and, to represent the Virtual School at multi agency meetings as and when required.

This role is 18.5 hours and it is not a remote working position.

Employment Location: Virtual School, County Hall, Morpeth

Why choose us?

We have some outstanding benefits and perks to offer you, including:

• 26 days annual leave plus public/bank holidays, rising to 31 days after 5 years of service (pro rata for part-time employees)
• Automatic enrolment into the Local Government Pension Scheme
• Flexi scheme (if applicable) - up to 2 days flexible leave available per month (pro rata for part-time employees)

We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer. We operate a guaranteed interview scheme for disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria. If you have a disability and would prefer to apply in a different format, please see the alternative methods below. This information will be treated as confidential and will only be used to check that you meet the essential requirements of the post.

Alternative application format:

British Sign Language: northumberlandcc-cs.signvideo.net

For those with speech difficulties or hearing loss: Text relay service dial 018001 01670 623930