OR103192 – SEND Caseworker

PAYE: £27.00 per hour

KEY TASKS

• Act as the main point of contact for parents/carers and young people wishing to engage in the Education Health Care (EHC) assessment process.
• Co-ordinate the EHC assessment process for children and young people (0-25).
• Ensure that the parents, children or young persons are included in the assessment process and their views are accurately recorded.
• Work closely with families, schools and a range of service providers, including education, health, social care and voluntary sectors.
• Ensure that the Council complies with the statutory timetable for the completion of statutory assessments/reviews.
• Prepare draft Education, Health and Care Plans.
• Facilitate meaningful reviews of existing Education, Health and Care Plans.
• Attend mediation sessions as and when required.
• Support managers to represent the Council before the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal (SENDIST).
• Model best practice in accordance with part 3 of the Children and Families Act 2014 and the supporting code of practice.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• People: Support the Council to identify pupils whose needs require specialist provision. Act as the experienced main point of contact for parents/carers and young people wishing to engage in the EHC assessment process. Network with a variety of services, agencies and providers, including parental support services, to gather information and support the family to make well-informed choices. Work with professionals to ensure their knowledge, experience, skills and relevant assessments inform the EHC plan. Liaise with other services to assist in determining the most appropriate provision to meet need. Support less experienced or newly recruited EHCP Co-ordinators to drive the service forward.
• Financial: Ensure that EHC plans and the support identified meets the needs of the child/young person whilst ensuring the most efficient use of the Council's resources.
• Strategic: Work closely with colleagues in the SEN team, including maintaining regular communication and updates, reporting issues, meeting deadlines, and feeding back to help inform further development and improvement in service delivery. Contribute to the development of SEN policy/procedure in the Council.
• Resources: Maintain accurate electronic files and records. Use IT and case management systems where appropriate. Manage and maintain information, data and Council records to ensure that client confidentiality is maintained in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998/2018 and GDPR.
• Planning and Organising: Plan and organise own workload and manage conflicting priorities based on mitigating risk, statutory requirements and key performance targets. Adapt a flexible approach ensuring the ability to adapt to changing priorities as required. Plan own diary and work schedule taking responsibility for delivering tasks within timescales. Work closely with schools and Specialist Services to ensure effective and timely delivery of the EHC process. Ensure the EHC Plan clearly details the child/young person's needs, contains SMART targets with realistic and specific timescales in order to meet the child/young person's identified outcomes.
• Decision Making: All decision making to be supported by SEN Managers, however as an experienced EHCP Co-ordinator, you will support less experienced staff in their decision making of lower level activities.

EXPERIENCE, QUALIFICATIONS, KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS

Essential Criteria

• Qualifications: Educated to degree standard.
• Knowledge & Skills: Detailed knowledge of part 3 Children & Families Act 2014, subordinate legislation and supporting code of practice; Detailed knowledge of the SENDIST Tribunal procedure; Understanding of SEN issues as they affect parents, children, young people and educational settings; Good oral and written communication skills; Good interpersonal and negotiating skills; Good organisational skills; Good IT skills; Effective organisational and time management skills.
• Experience: Experience of working with children/young people with special educational needs and disabilities; Experience of leading multi-agency meetings; Experience of writing person-centred plans and preparing reports; Experience of communicating using a variety of different methods including the use of non-verbal communication; Experience of partnership working.

Desirable Criteria

• Qualifications: Teaching and/or SENCO qualifications or evidence of professional development in education, teaching and SEN.
• Knowledge & Skills: Good knowledge and understanding of the local authority's duties around SEN; Good knowledge and understanding of parents/children/young people's rights regarding SEN; Understanding of the role of other agencies (schools, health and social care) in meeting SEN.