SEND Parent Navigators

JOB DESCRIPTION

Organisation: London Borough of Waltham Forest

Directorate: Stronger Communities

Salary: PO1 38,364 - 40,833 ( pro rota)

Retention Bonus/ Market Supplement: n/a

Contract Type: Term Time only , 1 Year Fixed term Contract

Working hours per week: 36 hrs per week, flexible working available. Job share application encouraged.

Weeks per year: Term time only - 39 weeks

Application Deadline: 13/09/2024

Proposed Interview Date: TBC

Reference:1356

About Us:

Bursting with culture, energy, and opportunity, the London Borough of Waltham Forest is a fantastic and exciting place to work.

We are a highly ambitious borough. Driven by culture and the innate creativity of our residents, we have developed new and innovative ways to build our communities. Our Council is relentlessly resident-focused, insight-led, digitally driven and commercially minded; a Council focused on meeting the needs of our existing and future residents.

London Borough of Waltham Forest is one of the Mayor of London's Good Work Standard employers. This accreditation is a proof of our commitment to creating a healthy, fair and inclusive workplace. This includes fair pay and conditions, workplace well-being, skills and progression and diversity and recruitment.

Here at Waltham Forest, we understand the power we have to inspire and create opportunities that have a transformative effect on the unique people that make up our borough.

Waltham Forest is a vibrant borough, rich in culture and diversity. It is nationally recognised as a great place to live and for businesses to call home. In every corner of our borough you will find people coming together and contributing to their communities in different ways.

However, nationally, and locally we recognise the challenges we all face are growing in complexity. Rising costs of living, demand for housing, economic uncertainty, and higher mortgage rates are making it harder for our residents to live in good quality affordable homes or to have access to the help and services they need locally.

We are keen to hear from all applicants who fit the criteria. Because we are clear that a combination of difference in our teams producesthe best team performance, we are particularly keen to make sure that applicants with protected characteristics, including women, people from the global majority, LGBTQIA+ identifying genders and sexualities, neurodivergent or who identify as disabled, impaired, or differently abled. We recognise that what people bring through their personal experiences, background and identity significantly enhances the Council's ability to deliver to our staff and residents.

If you are interested in being part of this exciting opportunity and working for an employer with flexible working options and award-winning family friendly policies, please apply

About the role:

SEND Parent Navigator

It can be a daunting prospect for any parent or carer who thinks their child might need additional help, which is why this role is vital so they know who they can talk to and how to find and access the right support.

The Parent navigator role will help families with SEND children have someone readily available to listen to their concerns and offer support to enable families to access the right support at the right time to achieve positive outcomes for their family.

As a Parent Navigator you will help families to:

• Understand their entitlements and access good quality information
• Signpost families to people who can help, like SENDIAS, Waltham Forest Parent Forum
• Support parents to prepare for meetings and appointments
• Help parent/carers understand the help they can get
• Support the completion of forms , such as DLA, PIP, Short Break Forms
• Help parents /carers build confidence in understanding and supporting their child's needs
• Support parent carers to find a positive way to moving forward
• Facilitate Parenting Support programmes i.e Cygnet or Early Bird and develop Parent support groups where there are gaps with the current offer within Waltham Forest.

We are looking for a motivated individual with experience of supporting families with SEND children, with an excellent knowledge of the SEND pathways , an excellent knowledge of services available to children with SEND, and who can demonstrate a commitment to improving outcomes for the families they have supported. Individuals with lived experience of being a parent/ carer of a child or young person with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities are particularly encouraged to apply

This new role is initially funded for 12 months as a pilot project to test the validity of this new position and measure the outcomes of building effective relationships and working partnership with families and professionals to improve outcomes for children and families.

This role is a term time only appointment . Job shares are welcome to apply

>> Click here to download the Role Profile <<

Qualifications and Requirements

Experience

• Have experience of working with children and young people with SEND and their parents/carers.

Knowledge

• Strong understanding of SEND and systems that parents of children with SEND may interact with organisations such as Education and SEND services.
• Knowledge and awareness of safeguarding and health and safety policy and abiliyy to apply to working practice

Skills and aptitudes

• Strong motivation to contribute to improving outcomes for families.
• Ability to motivate others, share feedback and inspire excellence.
• Commitment to reflective practice and ongoing learning and development.
• Excellent communication skills (verbal, written and IT).
• Ability to prioritise and multitask
• Able to use own initiative and work on their own if needed.
• Good listening skills.
• Well-developed interpersonal skills with an ability to communicate with professionals, colleagues, and parent carers.
• Ability to facilitate training sessions and develop support groups
  

Terms and conditions:

The below terms and conditions apply to this role:

• Satisfactory employment references and CIFAS identity checks;
• Satisfactory declaration of interest;
• This role is subject to safer recruitment practices as it involves work with children and/ or vulnerable adults;
• Satisfactory DBS check;

As a public authority, we must ensure that members of staff in public-facing roles are able to speak fluent English. This means that they must have a command of spoken English, with confidence and accuracy, sufficient for the effective performance of their role. This requirement does not refer to any particular English language qualifications, regional or international accents, dialects, speech impediments or the tone of conversations. It does not require staff to speak only in English.

How to Apply:

The Council's preference is for online application. However, if you have a disability and are unable to complete an online application, please email recruitment@walthamforest.gov.uk so we can arrange an alternative application method.

Interested candidates are invited to submit their applications online by pressing the 'Apply' button below. This includes a supporting statement that outlines to us how your skills and experience make you a good candidate for this vacancy.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.

Equal Opportunity Employer:

Waltham Forest is a diverse borough where diversity is valued and is integral to both, service delivery and employment of its staff. The Council is proud of its rich mix of communities and as the largest employer in the area, it works hard to respond to the changing needs of its population. We use our statutory duties on race, gender and disability equality and best practice in respect of age, faith and sexual orientation to ensure equality of opportunity in the workplace. The Council is committed to meeting its 4 equality objectives: - Promoting equality of opportunity - Opposing all forms of discrimination, intolerance and disadvantage - Ensuring our workforce reflects the diverse communities of Waltham Forest at all levels. - Providing fair, appropriate, accessible and excellent Services to all. Respecting Diversity is a core Council value.

To support the above and reduce the risk of bias in its recruitment activities, the council is operating an anonymous shortlisting process, which hides personal information that can identify individuals until their application has been considered for shortlisting. The council also operates a scheme whereby, for jobs graded up to and including scale SO2, internal candidates are considered first. This includes those candidates who self-identify as having a disability for the purposes of the Disability Confident scheme. For more information, please refer to our recruitment and selection policy.

We are keen to support employees to balance their working life with other commitments. Therefore, wherever possible, we will consider working arrangements that suit an individual's personal circumstances whilst still meeting the needs of the Council. If you would like to discuss the possible flexible working options that might be applicable to this role, please contact the person named below or feel free to discuss this during your interview.

For more information on the benefits of working for the Council, please visit https://www.walthamforest.gov.uk/jobs-and-training/find-jobs-and-other-opportunities/working-us.

Contact Information:

If you have any questions about this vacancy or the application process, please contact Julia Burns at julia.burns@walthamforest.gov.uk.

If you have any technical issues when trying to apply for this post, please contact our Recruitment Team via email at recruitment@walthamforest.gov.uk.

Click here for further information on the Human Resources recruitment privacy notice.