Education Welfare Officer in Derry, Londonderry

Delivering a service to children and young people, their families and schools/EOTAS that ensures positive school attendance and effective early intervention to addressing barriers to school attendance.

Supporting parents/carers and schools to fulfil their statutory obligations regarding school attendance.

Providing intervention strategies to vulnerable young people to meet their social and emotional needs supporting engagement in education.

Working in collaboration with other education, health and social care, and voluntary and community sector agencies to provide a network of support for young people, families and schools to promote positive attendance and support vulnerable young people in engaging with education.

Participating within the Team around the School, Team Around the Child or Team Around the Family approach to ensure improved outcomes for children and young people in attending school/EOTAS, where appropriate.

JOB PURPOSE

To fulfil the Education Authority’s (EA) duties in supporting families and schools to ensure that all children of compulsory school age can engage regularly with education and promote a culture of positive school attendance, resolving issues that present as barriers to attending education. The service delivery model within which EWOs operate will offer a tiered approach to delivery: preventative universal support to children and young people, direct support programmes targeted at need and implemented as early as possible, and support for children and young people requiring intensive intervention. Education Welfare Officers (EWOs) will focus on prevention and early intervention regarding attendance issues to improve educational outcomes for children and young people.

MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• In partnership with schools, implement Department of Education (DE) policy, circulars and strategies related to school attendance and improving attendance.
• Promote a range of interventions including trauma informed practice for children and young people, families and educational settings that promotes positive school attendance and supports young people to overcome barriers to attending school.
• Develop and deliver a range of evidence-based training and capacity building programmes for staff in schools and EOTAS relating to themes supporting school attendance, promoting a positive culture and ethos of attendance, prioritising the impact of positive relationships.
• Develop and deliver a range of evidence-based informative and preventative programmes directly to parents and carers, to support and enable positive school attendance.
• Facilitate a range of evidence-based informative and preventative programmes for groups of young people to promote and support their attendance and engagement in education prioritising the impact of positive relationships.
• Provide advice, guidance and improvement work with school leaders and pastoral staff regarding a positive culture on school attendance, including dissemination and implementation of effective attendance policy and practice.
• Deliver evidence-based programmes tailored to effective transitions at all key points in a child’s educational journey.
• Work in partnership with principals and teaching staff in the identification of attendance, wellbeing, and welfare issues in the setting, leading or contributing, to interdisciplinary working through multi-disciplinary meetings (such as MAST) regarding challenges faced by schools/educational settings in pupil’s attendance, welfare, and wellbeing.
• Support schools with the referrals process to the service for individual and group support and intervention, and following this, undertake an initial assessment and implement an appropriate action plan with the young person designed to ensure their return or maintenance at school.
• Be responsible for the delivery of the continuum of support and interventions from the service to a number of school and EOTAS Centres, as and when required, in relation to identified needs of the school community, to include those in special schools with complex needs.
• Deliver programmes of intervention and support to parents/carers and families to support positive school attendance.
• Participate in Team around the Child/School meetings and deliver on action plans in accordance with the Team around the Child/School Framework.
• Deliver intensive support programmes to children and families and school settings, as required, to support significant change with school attendance and to avoid need for legal interventions.
• Chair and report on Education Support Meetings (ESMs) as part of the service and statutory processes and contribute to Education Planning meetings and the outworkings of any agreed plan.
• Liaise with legal services and identify appropriate legal action in relation to non-attendance and education process and make written assessments and presentation of cases to the service’s Complex case, Court, and other relevant panels.
• Prepare and collate information for prosecution cases and provide evidence, reports and other requisite documentation for Magistrate/Youth/Appeals or Family Proceedings Courts, and attend court hearings, as necessary.
• Provide advice and guidance and support to expelled children and young people and their families around alternative school provisions and school placements.
• Work with partners to facilitate and implement community development opportunities relevant to need and supportive of improved school attendance.
• Work in partnerships with relevant EA services identifying a range of initiatives to target key groups, issues impacting on attendance such as bullying, anxiety-based school refusal, drugs and alcohol, poverty, refugee/newcomers to improve the school outcomes for young people.
• Support parents and carers to promote resilience and their capacity to achieve school attendance using a range of established interventions.
• Mediate and facilitate communication between pupils, parents, and schools for the purposes of positive school attendance using a range of skills, restorative, mediation, advocacy, and child centred interventions.
• Advocate for young people within restorative practice solutions, peer mentoring and connection with community support services through Family Support Hubs, suspension and repeat suspensions, consultation meetings/expulsion processes and other appropriate processes.
• Proactively engage with EOTAS and youth provisions and other settings where children are at risk of disengagement from education and work on collaborative approaches to promote school attendance.
• Provide support, guidance and direction to staff in other roles within EWS, as appropriate.
• Work in collaboration with post-16 providers to support improved outcomes for individual and groups of young people.
• Contribute to the protection of children and young people from abuse and harm, being fully conversant of NI regional child protection legislation and guidance identifying signs of abuse and responding appropriately to signs or disclosures.
• Represent the EA at formal meetings and contribute to case conferences and multi-disciplinary forums, ensuring the welfare of the child/young person is paramount in line with The Children Order (NI) 1995.
• Advise employers, pupils, parents, and schools of relevant regulations to promote the protection of children and young people from abuse or exploitation.
• Develop close working relationships with Trusts, CAMHS, Family Support Hub, Justice Services and other voluntary and community partners working in interdisciplinary practices and multi-systemic approaches to support improved outcomes for young people, representing at service in Case Conferences and Core group meetings as required.
• Participate in Team Around the Child, Team Around the Family, and Team Around the School Frameworks in promoting effective multi-systemic and interdisciplinary working with schools, education, health, justice, and community partners.
• Deliver the continuum of support from the service within appropriate outcomes-based accountability frameworks for the Service.
• Maintain contemporaneous, accurate and complete written records of all interventions in accordance with education welfare service policy and procedures.
• Implement appropriate evaluation procedures in assessing the impact and conclusion of interventions and supports with young people, families, and schools.
• Promote and maintain good working practice by regular review and so contribute to the evaluation of the effectiveness and efficiency of the education welfare service in line with the EA corporate and resource allocation plans.
• Uphold and promote the United Nations Rights of the Child (UNCRC).
• Comply with EA’s duty to cooperate as per Children's Services Co-operation Act, 2015.
• Promote service users’ rights to the confidentiality of information in accordance with GDPR.
• Contribute to effective team practice, training, and keep informed of best practice, actively participate in the development of good practice and to take individual responsibility for service improvement and the promotion of regionally consistent practice with EWS.
• Ensure continuous professional development in line with professional requirements fostering a supportive learning environment across the service and ensuring adherence to any professional registration requirements.
• Take appropriate action to maintain personal safety and security and identify the hazards and evaluate the risks in your workplace.
• Ensure that the EA’s policy on Data Protection (processing sensitive personal information) is properly complied with.
• Ensure that the EA’s Equal Opportunities Policy, relevant Codes of Employment and Practice and other relevant legislation are adhered to.
• Undertake other related duties within the grade and competence of the post-holder as required.

This job description will be subject to review considering changing circumstances and the EWS Transformation programme and is not intended to be rigid and inflexible but should be regarded as providing guidelines within which the individual works.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Essential Criteria

• Hold a professional social work qualification.
• Be registered or provide evidence of their application to register with NISCC.
• Have access to a suitable vehicle (appropriately maintained and insured for Education Authority business) that will enable you to carry out the mobility requirements of the post in an efficient and effective manner; OR 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.

Desirable Criteria

• Have experience of working in an educational setting.
• Have experience of working with young people/families in a caring capacity.

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.