Children and Education – Inclusion and Empowerment/SEN Early Identification and Support

Head of SEN Early Identification and Support

Pay:   Teachers Pay & Conditions: Leadership Spine 13-18

£56,721 to £64,143

Location: Warstones/GEM Centre

Full time, Permanent - 37 hours per week

The award-winning City of Wolverhampton Council are seeking to recruiting a Head of SEN Early Identification and Support to lead and further develop our highly regarded and enthusiastic SEN Early Identification and Support Service.

This permanent position is an ideal opportunity for an individual who is looking to advance their career and join a thriving and supportive organisation.  There's never been a better time to join award winning City of Wolverhampton Council when we are at an exciting stage of transformation for the organisation and the city. We offer a wide range of benefits including competitive salaries, generous annual leave entitlement, excellent pension scheme amongst many more.

Leading the SEN Early Identification and Support Service, you will continue to grow a service that offers a range of  Specialist Advisory Services for children and young people with SEN, creating accessible options for our Wolverhampton learners to gain a good start and continued access to learning, from children in homes, settings and schools.  This will be with the support of your teams including advisory teachers, teaching assistants and support staff within the Special Needs Early Years Team, Visually Impaired Team and Hearing-Impaired Team [Sensory Inclusion Service] and Specialist Teachers Team.

The service works enthusiastically and very closely with families, health professionals, social care and other professionals to develop co-produced support packages and pathways for children and young people, ensuring a high level of service delivery and a contribution to strategic develops within Wolverhampton and the wider integrated children’s services agenda.

The post although well established, is looking at further development of the wider early intervention and support agenda through the Culture of Inclusion, working in conjunction with families, schools and a wide range of services to affect a Culture of Inclusion and Belonging across our Wolverhampton educational settings.

We are looking to appoint an enthusiastic Head of SEN Early Identification and Support to:

• ensure a high level of service delivery and a contribution to strategic develops within Wolverhampton and the wider integrated children’s services agenda.
• be responsible for performance development of the Specialist Advisory Services, including advisory teachers, teaching assistants and support staff within the Special Needs Early Years [SNEY] Team, Visually Impaired Team and Hearing-Impaired Team [Sensory Inclusion Service- SIS] and Specialist Teachers Team
• contribute to the development of the teams within the Special Needs Early years, Specialist Teachers, Sensory Inclusion Service, and Early Intervention including the on-going development of Early SEN Support work for early years and school settings.
• be part of the Inclusion and Empowerment Senior Management Team and take forward service and strategic developments within the service and the wider Children’s Services agenda.
• coordinate the day to day work of the service based at the Child Development Centre and liaise with the Royal Wolverhampton Trust regarding premises, transportation and general management issues.
• provide effective leadership in mainstreaming SEN through the Specialist Advisory Services.

We welcome applications from qualified teachers with experience of working in a leadership roles, with excellent knowledge of SEND/Inclusion in Early Years and/or Statutory Education. 

To learn more about our service please visit our service websites:

SEN Early Years: https://win.wolverhampton.gov.uk/kb5/wolverhampton/directory/service.page?id=X8MnaonRn0c

Specialist Advisory Service: https://win.wolverhampton.gov.uk/kb5/wolverhampton/directory/service.page?id=MbZdK_It6us

Sensory Inclusion Service: https://win.wolverhampton.gov.uk/kb5/wolverhampton/directory/service.page?id=OMGdgO0dqz8

Wolverhampton Outreach Service

https://www.wolverhampton.gov.uk/education-and-schools/wolverhampton-outreach-service

For an informal discussion about the role please contact Helen Bakewell (Head of Inclusion and Empowerment) at helen.bakewell@wolverhampton.gov.uk / 01902 551583

An Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check is required for this post.

INTERVIEWS:         9^th & 10^th August 2021   via Microsoft teams

City of Wolverhampton Council are committed to representing Wolverhampton’s diverse community and therefore strongly encourage applications from all applicants meeting the essential criteria.  The council operates a guaranteed interview policy for disabled candidates, those who have previously been under our care and are over the age of 25 and veterans who have served in the military, where it is evidenced that the essential criteria of the post are met.

Our application system is anonymous, this means recruitment interview panel members will not receive details of your name or date of birth unless you are invited to attend an interview. We are not able to hide personal information from any attachments that you upload so we request that you remove your name, date of birth and any personal information from any supporting documentation. The shortlisting panel will receive your candidate pack in full (including any attachments) showing your candidate number. If you are invited to attend an interview, panel members will be provided with your name.

Supporting documents
Job Description
Person Specification