Schools Planning Officer SEND in Chichester

The Opportunity

Salary: NJC Grade 11 £45,529 to £48,738 per annum

Contract Type: Permanent

Working Pattern: Full Time – 37 hours per week

Location: County Hall, Chichester

Interview date: Monday 28th September and Thursday 1st October

Do you have an in-depth knowledge of the education sector? Are you passionate about supporting inclusion and special educational needs? Are you comfortable at working with and presenting to headteachers and senior officers to develop new processes and solutions? Do you enjoy advising and influencing others and creating something new?

The School Organisation and Planning Service is responsible for various functions, including the planning of places for SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) provision in mainstream and specialist schools or colleges. We are looking for a Schools Planning Officer (SEND) to join the team based in Chichester.

As a Schools Planning Officer for SEND, your role will involve creating school place plans primarily for SEND provision. You will develop strategies and initiatives which balance the needs of West Sussex residents, the economy, the environment, and national government priorities. You will work alongside another Schools Planning Officer for SEND together with colleagues involved with mainstream school place planning, school admissions and capital programme and share skills and experience across the wider team.

You will support the implementation of the SEND Reform Plan from a pupil place planning perspective and be responsible for the annual place planning process for special schools, specialist inclusion bases and local college provision. Opportunities to use evidence of SEND need and secure financial contributions from developers, DfE and other institutions will be encouraged.

This is a unique and exciting opportunity to play a central role in shaping the future of SEND across West Sussex. As we deliver our ambitious SEND Reform and Transformation Programme, we are redesigning how support is provided to children, young people and families through our developing Experts at Hand (locality inclusion networks) model. This approach brings together expertise from across education, health and care to create a system that is proactive, preventative and rooted in strong relationships with children, young people and families.

As a key member of the Organisation and Planning Service, you will be at the forefront of driving meaningful change. Your work will directly influence how effectively we identify needs earlier, intervene sooner and ensure that children and young people receive the right support at the right time. Through your leadership, expertise and collaboration, you will help create the conditions for children and young people to thrive, achieve their potential and experience greater inclusion within their local communities.

About You

Please refer to the key skills in your cover letter as these will be used for shortlisting criteria.

• Ability to demonstrate higher level thinking skills, in order to think through issues, make connections and establish solutions.
• Able to make connections between disparate issues and creatively combine solutions to solve multiple problems.
• Ability to work independently and proactively, along with the ability to prioritise.
• Able to make decisions and think through complex and conflicting issues.
• Able to manage competing activities.
• Ability to communicate verbal messages (which may be complicated or sensitive) clearly, concisely and at a level appropriate to the audience, who may not be specialists in school planning.
• Ability to represent the service at highly challenging internal/external meetings, with integrity and confidence.
• Able to demonstrate a high level of verbal communication and reasoning and the ability to put forward persuasive and compelling arguments.
• Excellent writing skills including the ability to write clear, basic and appropriate information reports, articles, and briefing papers, including technical and Cabinet reports as necessary.
• Excellent numeracy skills to monitor budgets and negotiate financial settlements.
• Well-developed project management skills, including skills for co-ordination, liaison and the ability to plan and monitor project plans in order to achieve major projects on time and within budget.
• Ability to build credible working relationships, building rapport and developing positive partnership ways of working with a range of stakeholders.

About Us

The team is responsible for providing an effective schools’ planning service through the coordination of school places and identifying the need to add or remove school places due to housing developments and socio-demographic changes. We identify the impact on schools of house building and develop proposals to mitigate the impact of development and to negotiate with developers, schools and District or Borough Councils to achieve these improvements. Increases or reduction in school places are often subject to statutory consultation and the requirement to commission capital projects to ensure sufficient places are available as required.

Benefits

As an employer we recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive and dynamic working environment where employees can achieve their full potential, achieve a healthy work-life balance, and are rewarded for the work they do. For a full list this can be found at our Rewards and Benefits page. Upon joining us you will have access to a range of benefits including the following: Annual leave: 30 days holiday + Bank Holidays = 38 days.