Welfare & Safeguarding Officer - Inclusion Support in Colchester

Join Colchester Institute - Where Your Career Makes a Difference. At Colchester Institute, we believe in the power of education to transform lives and communities. As one of the leading providers of education and training in the region, we are proud to offer a dynamic, supportive, and forward-thinking working environment.

We are seeking a Welfare and Safeguarding Officer to join our team. In this role you will be the first point of contact for students with recognised barriers to learning, providing advice, guidance and practical support to help them thrive throughout their time at College. Working closely with curriculum teams and internal and external partners, you will help remove barriers to learning and participation, ensuring students have access to the support they need to achieve their full potential.

As part of the Welfare and Safeguarding Team, you will also play a key role in responding to safeguarding and welfare concerns, delivering a frontline support service that promotes student wellbeing, safety and inclusion. This is an exciting opportunity to make a meaningful difference to the lives of vulnerable learners by helping them overcome challenges and succeed both personally and academically.

About the role:

• To deliver a first response welfare and safeguarding support to enrolled students.
• Working collaboratively with internal curriculum and support teams, the virtual school, social workers, support workers, parents/carers, and any other support agencies working with the student to support emotional wellbeing and mental health, ensure a smooth transition to College and removing barriers to learning and participation.
• To promote and advise on all aspects of Safeguarding and Child Protection.
• To act as a first response to referrals regarding learner welfare issues including homelessness, bullying and harassment, anxiety, signposting to other teams, liaising with the course area and external agencies as appropriate.
• To arrange, co-ordinate and chair support meetings, safety meetings and TAF (Team around the Family meetings) for students with welfare and safeguarding concerns including parental/NOK contact, hosting the meeting with parents/NOK, external agencies and course areas.
• Contribute to and attend Professional Meetings and reviews concerning enrolled students including Team Around the Family, Child in Need meetings, Child Protection Conference, Strategy meetings.
• Comply with requests for information regarding students including the attendance and progression of learners and timely completion of Section 17 and Section 47 requests.
• Maintain accurate and timely records of all learner interventions, and record on college systems including Intuition.

Essential Experience:

• Experience of working with welfare issues, such as homelessness, emotional and behavioural issues and mental health concerns.
• Experience of dealing with and case management of safeguarding cases, following policies and procedures.
• Recent experience of working with, and supporting vulnerable young people aged between 16-19 years old in a similar role.

Essential Qualifications:

• Minimum of Level 2 qualification in English and Mathematics GCSE 4+ or C and above / CSE Level 1 / O-Level C or above / Level 2 Adult Numeracy or Literacy or equivalent.
• Education to level 3 or above and/or a professional qualification in relevant subject area or equivalent.

Why join us?

At Colchester Institute, we value our staff and invest in their growth. Joining us means becoming part of a vibrant community dedicated to excellence in education and training. If you are passionate about making a difference and inspiring the next generation, we would love to hear from you.