SENDIAS Officer

Salary: £32,597 - £36,363 per annum for 37 hours/week.

30 days annual leave, excluding bank holidays.

Progression/development opportunities or significant impact of role.

Hybrid working - office and working from home.

Regretfully, we are unable to offer sponsorship for this role. We are only able to proceed with candidates who already have the right to work in the UK without the need for visa sponsorship.

What will I be doing?

We're working to improve the lives of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) from 0 up to 25 years of age. You'll be joining Somerset SENDIAS (Special Educational Needs and Disability Information, Advice and Support) Service. Somerset SENDIAS is an arm's length, free, impartial service to provide parents, carers and young people with information, advice and support with children or young people with SEND in Somerset and you'll be a key part of that.

• Provide impartial, information, advice and support around SEND processes such as Education, Health & Care plans, Annual Reviews, Mediation, and SENDIST Tribunal in line with the Children & Families Act 2014 and the SEND Code of Practice.
• Lead and support young people (16-25) through SEND disagreement resolution, mediation and tribunal processes, including evidence preparation and hearing support.
• Work with SEND parent groups to deliver training on SEND legislation.
• Supervise a small number of support workers.
• Work to the National Minimum Standards for SEND Information, Advice and Support Services.
• Promote equality, diversity, and inclusion and challenge discrimination where it arises.

What kind of experience or qualifications do I need?

We offer ongoing support, training and guidance to help you be the best you can be. But it will really help if you:

• Have experience of working directly with families of children and young people with SEND, ensuring their views and voices are clearly understood and represented.
• Can demonstrate the ability to work with families on complex cases, offering tailored support and helping parents prepare for and attend key meetings and tribunals.
• Sound knowledge of SEND legislation and statutory processes.
• Able to build effective relationships with families, professionals and partners, using strong communication and influencing skills to achieve positive outcomes.

We're proud to be here for the people of Somerset. And that means everyone in Somerset. An important part of this is ensuring that we are as diverse and inclusive as the people and communities we serve.

We welcome applications from a diverse range of backgrounds and experiences to enrich our team.

Benefits

We offer great training and development opportunities, with supportive management. As well as this, we have some fantastic employee benefits available:

• We promote a healthy work-life balance and offer flexible working arrangements wherever possible, including working from home.
• Generous annual leave allowance, with the opportunity to purchase additional leave.
• Staff discounts in gyms.
• Employee Assistance for the times you may need some support and a variety of employee wellbeing services.
• Auto enrolment onto our generous Pension Scheme and optional pension enhancement through our Additional Voluntary Contribution scheme.
• A Flexible Benefits Scheme via salary sacrifice to obtain a cycle for work and health screenings.
• My Staff Shop offering discounts in shops, online shopping, restaurants, cinema tickets, insurance benefits and more.

DBS information

This role requires a criminal background check via the Disclosure procedure.

Supporting documents and information

Please read any attached documents before applying for this job.