Support Officer - Intercultural Education Service (IES) - 2 Posts in Belfast

REPORTS TO: Head of Intercultural Education Service

RESPONSIBLE FOR: Helping the Education Authority meet its statutory responsibility in supporting pupils from ethnic minority communities, including Asylum Seekers and Refugees, to help meet the increased demand from schools and families to educate and include these children and young people. The Support Officers are required to assist IES in the provision of educational support to our schools, our EA support services and to the families of these vulnerable children and young people.

JOB PURPOSE: This regional post is required to help the Education Authority meet its statutory responsibility in supporting pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds and to help meet the increased demand from schools for EA services to help enroll and educate these children and young people. The Support Officer is required to assist IES in the provision of educational support to our schools, our EA support services and to the families of these vulnerable children and young people. This post holder will work with the IES Adviser to:

• Build the capacity of schools to meet the needs of ASR, Roma and Traveller pupils and their families. The support for schools is aimed at welcoming, supporting and developing positive outcomes for the newly arrived pupils;
• The current support officer career breaks are within the North Eastern region including the Causeway Coast and Glens Council area, and the second post is in the South Western region, but this can change as families are regularly moved to other parts of NI;
• Provide advice and support both in school and out of school to key partners in the child and young person’s education including parents, teachers, school managers, Boards of Governors, youth workers, training providers and any other community partners who provide education for the newcomer and other BME students;
• Help to design, deliver and review school-based, cluster-based and other forms of training in response to the identified needs of schools in relation to these students;
• Promote access to early years’ opportunities, out of school hours’ learning, youth services and other external education provision which will complement the school-based education during and after school hours.

MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• To help design and deliver additional educational support programmes for minority ethnic pupils, particularly those who are newly arrived and/or in need of additional educational needs support, such as Asylum Seekers, Refugees, Roma and Travellers;
• To encourage schools to help the wider family support their children’s education through home visits; home-school liaison work and agreed transitionary arrangements to help the schools and parents improve the child’s early educational experiences in Northern Ireland;
• To promote effective communication, information sharing, cooperative learning and clustering within and across schools and/or youth organisations in geographic or thematic clusters;
• To assist schools and/or youth organisations in identifying culturally appropriate curriculum and other learning resources to help support the professional development needs of staff and to help design and deliver educational programmes aimed at addressing those needs;
• To assist schools and/or youth organisations in monitoring progress through effective target setting and evaluation procedures;
• To establish and maintain good working relationships with other EA services including EWS, EPS, Youth, SARS/SEN, EOTAS, Behaviour Support and others;
• To reflect on feedback from schools and/or youth organisations and modify support if appropriate;
• To monitor and record ASR support activities and to provide reports to the Director of Education, EA Committees and the Department of Education;
• To work in close co-operation with Health and Education colleagues to provide an effective educational support service for BME young children and their parents; to find ways of using parents as facilitators, to develop parental support plans and to assist the relevant bodies in their development work including learning support, out of school hours provision or alternative education (if appropriate);
• To provide advice and support to the relevant authorities including Voluntary Committees, Boards of Governors, Principals and teachers in schools and/or youth organisations in matters relevant to the development of positive educational experiences from early years through to school-leaving age;
• To assist as required with the development of guidelines for Boards of Governors, Principals, teachers and other support staff in schools and community settings on the nature and form of education for BME children and young people;
• To contribute to the development and production of relevant and suitable school-based or youth work focused personal development, learning support and educational materials, particularly for literacy and numeracy;
• To encourage the use amongst schools of culturally specific or intercultural materials or as appropriate;
• To assist IES in the promotion of its policies and programmes in supporting schools to improve the educational provision for BME children through fostering positive attitudes and promoting good practice among all those involved;
• To disseminate the outcomes and results of IES work through all schools and/or youth organisations in Northern Ireland to the Department of Education and to relevant regional and local steering groups.

Management and Supervision:

• To assist with IES ‘service-wide’ outcomes-based accountability workload;
• To ensure that any additional staff assigned are trained in all procedures and practice within the IES team;
• To ensure staff are appraised in line with EA Procedures and assist in compiling a staff development plan for the team in accordance with the EA’s Staff Development Policy to maximise the potential of staff.

Other Duties:

• Participation in wider EA staff training as and when required;
• Such other duties as may be required to help the EA fulfil its statutory obligation. This job description will be subject to review in light of changing circumstances and is not intended to be rigid and inflexible but should be regarded as providing guidelines within which the individual works. Other duties of a similar nature and appropriate to the grade may be assigned from time to time.

In accordance with Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act (1998), the post-holder is expected to promote good relations, equality of opportunity and pay due regard for equality legislation at all times.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

NOTES TO JOB APPLICANTS:

1. You must clearly demonstrate on your application form under each question, how, and to what extent you meet the required criteria as failure to do so may result in you not being shortlisted.
2. You must demonstrate how you meet the criteria by the closing date for applications, unless the criteria state otherwise.
3. The stage in the process when the criteria will be measured is outlined in the table below.
4. Shortlisting will be carried out on the basis of the essential criteria set out in Section 1 below, using the information provided by you on your application form.
5. Please note that the Selection Panel reserves the right to shortlist only those applicants that it believes most strongly meet the criteria for the role.
6. In the event of an excessive number of applications, the Selection Panel also reserves the right to apply any desirable criteria as outlined in Section 3 at shortlisting, in which case these will be applied in the order listed. It is important therefore that you also clearly demonstrate on your application form on how you meet any desirable criteria.

Section 1 - Essential Criteria

The following are essential criteria which will initially be measured at the shortlisting stage and which may also be further explored during the interview/selection stage. You should therefore make it clear on your application form how, and to what extent you meet these criteria. Failure to do so may result in you not being shortlisted.

• Hold a relevant bachelor’s degree (UK Qualification and Credit Framework Level 6) or an equivalent or higher qualification in teaching, social work or youth work and have three years’ demonstrable experience planning and reviewing children and young people’s support planning in early years, teaching, social work or other relevant education settings; OR have five years’ demonstrable experience planning and reviewing children and young people’s support planning in early years, teaching, social work or other relevant education settings.
• Demonstrable experience of teaching, youth work or social work support at pre-school, primary or post-primary levels for children and young people with additional educational needs from minority ethnic communities.
• Demonstrable experience of collecting and reporting on educational data such as attendance and attainment.
• Demonstrable experience of innovation and creativity in the approach to delivering pupil and family support services.
• Demonstrable experience of high-level communication skills including one-to-one and small group meetings, multi-agency meetings face-to-face and on-line via Teams and Zoom.

Knowledge:

• Knowledge of educational and welfare support provision for pupils with additional educational needs and disrupted education such as Asylum Seekers, Refugees, Roma, Traveller and Children Looked After.
• Knowledge of personal data security, family support referrals, confidentiality and other child protection requirements.
• Knowledge of One Live/EMS, SharePoint or other educational systems to record and track pupil data.

Other:

• The successful candidate will be required to have access to a suitable vehicle (appropriately maintained and insured for Education Authority business) that will enable them to carry out the mobility requirements of the post in an efficient and effective manner and thus meet this essential criterion; OR be able to provide sufficient information on the application form that will satisfy the employer that he/she has access to an appropriate alternative form of transport that will enable them to carry out the mobility requirements of the post in an efficient and effective manner and thus meet this essential criterion.

Section 2 - Essential Criteria

The following are additional essential criteria which will be measured during the interview/selection stage in line with EA’s Game Changing People Model.

• Display of strong cultural knowledge and/or experience of working with children and young people from a Roma, Traveller, asylum-seeking or refugee-experienced background.

Skills/Abilities:

• High degree of problem solving and analytical skills.
• Effective communication and negotiation skills, including conflict-resolution.
• Demonstrate high levels of confidentiality when dealing with family support issues.
• Ability to prioritise tasks and work under pressure.

Values Orientation:

• Evidence of how your experience and approach to work reflect EA’s ethos and values.

Section 3 - Desirable Criteria

Some or all of the desirable criteria may be applied by the Selection Panel in order to determine a manageable pool of candidates. Desirable criteria will be applied in the order listed. You should make it clear on your application form how, and to what extent you meet the desirable criteria, as failure to do so may result in you not being shortlisted.

• Demonstrable experience of Asylum Seeker and Refugee support for children and families.
• Demonstrable experience in recording and reporting on pupil support data including school enrolments, transfers and progression monitoring.
• Demonstrable experience of desktop/web-based applications including MS Excel.

Our Values: Through the selection process we will also seek evidence that the personal values of candidates align with those of the EA. This will include evidence of commitment to equality and excellence in service delivery. These reflect our aim which is to meet the needs of all our children and young people equally, removing barriers to learning and ensuring equality of access to excellent education services so that every child can develop to his or her full potential.

DISCLOSURE OF CRIMINAL BACKGROUND: The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups (Northern Ireland) Order 2007 defines working directly with children or young people or in specified places as ‘regulated activity’. In the event that you are recommended for appointed to a post that involves ‘regulated activity’, the Education Authority will be required to undertake an Enhanced Disclosure of Criminal Background. Please note that you WILL be expected to meet the cost of an Enhanced Disclosure Certificate. Details of how to make payment will be sent to you at the pre-employment stage. Further information can be accessed at NI Direct or the Department of Justice.

APPLICANT GUIDANCE NOTES: To view the applicant guidance notes, please click here. To learn about the many great benefits of joining the Education Authority, click here. The Education Authority is an Equal Opportunities Employer.