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Achieving for Children
Job title:
Kingston Cluster SEND School Improvement Lead
Company
Achieving for Children
Job description
Achieving for Children is a Community Interest Company that has a public sector ethos, combined with the freedom to innovate enabling us to do things differently. As a not-for-profit social enterprise owned by three local authorities (Windsor & Maidenhead, Kingston and Richmond), we offer the freedoms of a social enterprise with the employment benefits of local government. To find out more about usKingston Cluster SEND School Improvement LeadKingston Cluster SEND School Improvement Lead | Salary shown is full time equivalent and will be pro-rated accordinglyWe are seeking to appoint an experienced education senior leader who has extensive SEND knowledge and experience to help us establish and lead a cluster based model of mainstream schools, developing early intervention and support for children and young people with SEND.Achieving for Children (providing Children’s Services for Kingston Council) in partnership with Kingston schools is establishing a cluster pilot across a group of six – eight local schools to set up and then lead a one year pilot to devolve SEND funding and resources to schools in the pilot. You will work alongside local headteachers, SENDCos and SEND Service leaders to establish outcomes for the pilot, expectations for schools in the pilot, processes and systems and how learning will be evaluated.We are looking for an enthusiastic and experienced education leader who is interested in this innovative project to help us set the pilot up and then lead the locality activity.By carefully leading the local school SENDCos you will ensure that funding is distributed fairly within the locality and explore innovative and creative ways of using resources within the group of schools to support early intervention, collaboration between schools and best value for money. This could be by employing specialists to work across schools, training activities, or setting up cross-school groups to tackle emerging needs.Operational areaKingston and RichmondPrimary place of workGuildhall 2, Kingston upon Thames KT1Appointment typeFixed TermLength of contract18 monthsBusiness areaEducationFull time/Part timePart-timeSalary from£78,219 (SCP62)Salary to£83,019 (SCP65)HoursAverage one day per week 7.2 hoursEstimated Interview date/sTBCClosing Date27/01/2025Ref No1840Documents(PDF, 395.15kb)About the roleKey responsibilitiesSpring term 2025 – Establish the pilot by:
- Working with the Cluster Task and Finish group to set up the pilot model, including school membership, processes for referral and pilot activity
- Working with the senior educational psychologist to agree clear outcomes and evaluation methods for the pilot
- Working with members of the working group to agree processes for terms of reference for meetings, referrals routes and expectations for the SENDCos to develop pilot activity
From April 2025 – Lead the pilot by:
- Being the point of contact for SENCos within the locality and the Local Authority in the dissemination of information across the locality group of Schools.
- Coordinate locality schools’ moderation to enable the allocation of Locality Additional Needs Funds (LAN).
- Ensuring that there is moderation of financial requests made to the High Level Needs (HLN) funding panel, as well as of any emergency HLN requests, and check the list sent from HLN panel prior to each HLN funding panel meeting.
- Ensuring that termly Locality SENDCo meetings take place.
- Contribute to SEND Strategy network events and/or delivery groups
- Coordinate the delivery of locality schools’ SEND training, including observing, teaching and curriculum delivery
- Collate monitoring data on SEND within the locality group of schools (including outcome data) and use this to inform decision-making regarding funding.
- Represent locality schools’ SEND issues at the locality group of schools’ head teacher meetings, including reporting on decisions and monitoring, and raising the profile of SEND issues
- Provide support to SENCos in particularly complex casework.
- Visit the schools in their locality to promote and share best practice for the use of SEN resources.
About youThe successful candidate will meet regularly with the school SENDCOs from the six – eight locality schools and develop a culture of trust and collaboration through strong relationships, so that children and young people can be discussed in a mutually supportive and confidential atmosphere, enabling transparent funding decisions to be made in the best interest of all children who have SEND in the locality schools.You will work alongside our senior educational psychologist to agree outcomes for the pilot, how these will be assessed, and support impact reporting to the Schools Forum High Needs sub group. You will work with the Kingston AfC lead for this pilot and members of the working group. This will help to share good practice and to learn lessons from the pilot to consider its expansion more widely from September 2026.This role is paid at 0.2 FTE which amounts to 38 days per year, which are flexible, but must include regular monthly meetings for the locality.We would welcome the opportunity for an informal chat with candidates prior to application. To arrange this, please contact Charis Penfold, Director of Education Services atAbout our benefitsWe are focused on creating a positive supportive environment, where you will have access to a really wide range of resources, as well as a competitive salary and all the perks to enable hybrid working. In AfC you will also have access to:
- 29 days annual leave, increasing to 33 days after 2 years and 35 days after 4 years with an additional day off in your birthday month(Or for term term workers, your leave entitlement consists of the non-working periods in your contract.)
- Tailored induction sessions commencing on the date you start working for AfC
- Local Government salary and pension scheme (LGPS or Teachers Pension)
- Flexible working options – helping to keep a good work life balance
- A comprehensive Employee Assistance Programme
- A range of staff benefits and discounts
- An excellent learning and development offer to support your career pathway
To find out about all of the breadth of benefits of working for Achieving for Children . For our social work offer .Important InformationStart dates: Achieving for Children have meaning successful candidates join on a set date in each month. Candidates are advised to prepare for this should a job offer be accepted to ensure eligible continuous service is not affected.Right to work: The UK has introduced a new points-based immigration system affecting EU and Non-EU workers and sponsorship requirements. We advise checking the for right to work guidance.Equality: We particularly welcome applications from sections of the community who are currently underrepresented within our teams. Achieving for Children are committed to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible for everyone. We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and developing a culture that values differences, recognising that employees from a variety of backgrounds bring important and positive contributions and can improve the way we deliver services. We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer.Safeguarding: We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. We expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. This post is exempted under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and as such appointment to this post will be conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory response to a check of police records via Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).For more information about AfC: Drop in and meet Regina on the first Wednesday of every month at Civic Centre, Twickenham.We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received. Therefore, it is strongly advised that you complete and return your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.
Expected salary
£78219 per year
Location
Kingston upon Thames – Richmond, Greater London
Job date
Wed, 08 Jan 2025 08:37:26 GMT
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