Specialist Teacher in Coventry

In line with our One Coventry Values, we want to ensure that our communities are represented across our workforce. A vital part of this is ensuring we are a truly inclusive organisation that encourages diversity in all respects, including diversity of thinking. We particularly welcome applicants from minority ethnic, LGBT+, disabled and neurodiverse communities to make a real difference to our residents so that equity and respect remains at the heart of everything we do.

Our Values are:

• Open and fair: We are fair, open, and transparent.
• Nurture and develop: We help and encourage everyone to be their best and do their best.
• Engage and empower: We talk and listen to others, working together as one.
• Create and innovate: We embrace new ways of working to continuously improve.
• Own and be accountable: We work together to deliver the best services for our residents.
• Value and respect: We put diversity and inclusion at the heart of all we do.

About The Team We Are Recruiting To: The Coventry Special Educational Needs & Disabilities (SEND) Support Service exists to deliver the aspirational challenge set to us by young people with SEND and their families: 'To Lift the Cloud of Limitation and enable them to enjoy an ordinary life'. We are a creative, connected and forward-thinking service. Together with our families and partners in schools, settings, the NHS and third sector, we have driven change that has pushed us to the cutting edge of SEND. This includes embedding co-production across all areas of service delivery, investing in our SEND workforce, and pioneering new initiatives such as the award-nominated 'Together We Can' partnership group to engage Early Years children and their families and 'My Support Plan', a family-centred approach to understanding children's strengths and needs and tailoring their support.

When Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) completed a Local Area inspection of Coventry in October 2019, they commended our "genuine passion and commitment to get things right for children and young people with SEND and their families"; our respect for the "lived experiences of children and young people with SEND and their parents" and the "strong partnership between school settings and education service providers, with a high level of buy-back of specialist services".

The Social Emotional Mental Health and Learning team is a busy and highly valued service which supports and promotes inclusion across the city. We are a traded service working within primary, secondary and special schools as well as offering interventions such as The Key. We value diverse perspectives and experiences and are striving to create a workplace culture that is inclusive, accepting of all and free from discrimination and bias.

What is the job role? An exciting opportunity to join the specialist teacher's peripatetic team within the Social, Emotional, Mental Health and Learning Team (SEMH&L). This is an opportunity to work in the well-regarded SEMHL Team as part of Coventry SEND Support Service. The team are committed to securing good and outstanding SEN practice, supporting pupils, families, SENCos and all school staff to meet the increasingly diverse range of needs and competing challenges around SEMH&L. This role is 20 hours per week over 4 days.

All candidates must have the Right to Work in the UK. We are currently not offering sponsorship for this role. This post is exempted under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and as such appointment to this post will be conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory response to a check of police records via Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).

Who are we looking for? You should be a good to outstanding practitioner with a passion for SEN, have a genuine interest in achieving the best outcomes for pupils with SEND, have a flexible, creative, solution-focused approach, be able to both work well in a team and to work independently using your own initiative, and be committed to the inclusion of all pupils. You should also be able to work across primary and secondary schools.

In your personal statement, you should focus on:

• Your expertise and experience in both learning and wellbeing support.
• Your understanding of what inclusive practice is and your approach to enabling and supporting others to develop their inclusive practice within an educational setting.
• Your experience working with colleagues in education and families and the sensitivities needed to enable successful cooperative working.

Please contact Kathy Gardner for further information or to arrange an informal conversation.

For full details on the application process please read the attached document labelled 'Coventry City Council Application Process'. Interview date: 2nd February 2026.

About Coventry: Coventry has a proud, innovative and creative spirit that throughout its history has seen communities come together to tackle problems and bring about real social change. We are cutting-edge, challenging, youthful, vibrant and diverse. At Coventry, we are committed to excellence in everything we do. With around 5100 staff from a range of different backgrounds, our aim is to recruit and develop talented people who will focus on our customers, take responsibility, work together and find better ways of doing things. To deliver the best services to our residents, we need the best people working for us to make a difference to our communities. If you join us, we will provide a fantastic rewards and benefits package - to find out more please visit Coventry City Council.