Vacancy Details

Description

Directorate: Children and Family Services

Section: Education

Grade: SM4

Actual Salary: £70,999 - £74,630

Hours: 37

 

This advert is open to both Internal and External applicants.

 

Want to feel proud of your achievements every day?

 

Are you someone with a passion for ensuring children and young people with special educational needs and disability achieve their potential and aspirations into adulthood? Do you have the experience, knowledge and ability to impact on outcomes, but also the empathy to understand the pressures within the SEND sector both regionally and nationally? Do you have ideas to make improvements and the courage to lead a team to implement change through co-production?

 

We are looking for a Strategic Manager for SEND as our excellent current postholder is moving on to even bigger things.

 

It is an exciting time in Stoke-on-Trent, and you’ll be joining at a pivotal point following our recent SEND area inspection which demonstrated the progress we have made and the strengths we have. People with SEND are valued in Stoke-on-Trent, and there is a city-wide determination that they will get the support they need to thrive.

 

Ofsted said:

Across the partnership, there is a tenacious commitment to improving outcomes for children and young people with SEND. There is now a rich dialogue about individual children and young people and a drive to understand their needs to implement suitable provisions accurately. The partnership has a clear strategy for future development, and there is strong evidence of co-production in developing this vision

 

So you know you will be joining a team that is ambitious and you will have the ability to strategically influence the service and also shape a team of experienced professionals. It's an exciting time, incredibly challenging and with the opportunity to make changes building on our improvement plans. 

 

You will lead and manage a team of SEND Managers ensuring that our quality of practice is of a high standard and ensure our case work is relational, restorative, and child centred.

 

You will work closely with teams across health, social care providers and the local authority to ensure needs are identified early and appropriate provision is in place.

 

You will contribute to sufficiency planning of services and education placements and preparation for adulthood priorities across the local areas.

 

You will also ensure our SEND team works collaboratively with parents and carers, social care and health colleagues, the voluntary sector and wider inclusion services, to ensure that outcomes for children and young people with SEND are promoted and supported in all settings.

 

Close working with leaders from early years, mainstream and special school settings will form an important part of this opportunity, so the ability to form positive and constructive relationships will be key for the successful candidate.  You will also ensure strong communication and engagement with parents/carers and children and young people.

 

This position offers a unique leadership role that will allow you to continue to develop and transform services based on feedback from all partners in Stoke-on-Trent.

 

For an informal discussion please contact Delyth.Mathieson@stoke.gov.uk 

 

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and we expect all our employees and volunteers to share this commitment.  This position is exempt under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and the successful applicant will be subject to a criminal record check from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).

 

Please note that if an employee who is currently at risk of redundancy within the organisation applies for this vacancy their application will receive priority.  If this happens you will be advised accordingly.

 

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

Stoke-on-Trent City Council values the diversity of its community and aims to have a workforce that reflects this – we therefore encourage applications from all sections of our community. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees – a place where we can all be ourselves and succeed together.

 

To Apply

Please create / log into your account and then click 'apply'.  If you have any queries or want an application form in another format, please email recruitment@stoke.gov.uk or call us on 01782 238189.

 

In order to apply for this vacancy, you must be able to supply the required answers to the following questions: