Virtual School Secondary Education Advisor

Seven Education has an opportunity available as a Virtual School Secondary Education Advisor with North Somerset Council in Weston-super-Mare.

The contract will last between 23/01/2023 – 21/04/2023 and the hours will be 08:45 – 17:00 (22.20 hours)

Role Purpose

• The staff of the Virtual School monitor the educational progress and achievement of children in the care of North Somerset Council     and have a focus of raising the educational achievement of these children and young people, both as individuals and as a cohort.

• The Virtual School also holds the responsibility for offering advice and guidance in respect of educational matters for previously looked after and adopted children and young people and currently a strategic role for children with a social worker.

• The focus will be on secondary aged students, but flexibility is needed to work across all key stages from Early Years through to college and university.

• To ensure that every individual secondary child in care has a robust Personal Education Plan, which will enable the young person to thrive and achieve.

• To quality assure the Personal Education Plans to ensure that targets are clear, evidence based and aspirational, and that the young person is supported and challenged to make excellent progress.

• To offer advice and guidance and to prompt interventions when difficulties arise to ensure that each child has the necessary support to ensure their health and well-being and academic progress. 

Duties 

• Monitor, track and evaluatethe attendance, academic progress, attainment, and achievement of children in care through the use of the e-PEP system and other direct interventions particularly, but not exclusively for secondary aged students.
• Work with relevant school-based staff and social workers to ensure that targets identified in the Personal Education Plan are met and that Pupil Premium Plus is effectively allocated and used. 
• Work within the Virtual School Team and with schools and other educational institutions to promote and support the educational achievement of children and young people in care.
• Support the schools’ responsibilities of identification, assessment, and provision to meet the needs of pupils exhibiting educational difficulties, delay or under-achievement.
• Organise and monitor bespoke packages of support for individual students (e.g., mentoring programmes, 1:1 tuition) under the guidance of the Virtual School Head Teacher.
• Liaise with schools and social workers in relation to providing the appropriate level of challenge regarding the progress of children in care.
• Lead and participate in school or cluster-based inset and training that seeks to promote educational achievement for children in care and adopted and previously looked after children.

Knowledge and skills

• Vocational qualification…QTS or experience to Degree Level or above, relevant to the service user group or equivalent experience to give the same level of knowledge necessary to undertake the role.
• Direct Virtual School experience and /or experience of working with Designated Teachers and other professionals who support children who have social, emotional, and behavioural difficulties or who are disaffected in an education setting
• Proven ability to identify priorities for improvement of children in care/ vulnerable learners and experience in providing advice and support to develop practice through experience of knowing the target setting process in schools.
• Hold a full UK driving licence and availability of their own car for work use.
• Approved professional qualification relevant to the area of work and practical experience of working with service user groups giving rise to a variety of technical skills and thorough understanding of the principles of the services available, legal responsibilities, work practices and processes.
• Knowledge and understanding of safeguarding protocols and the threshold levels for service user groups.  Ability to investigate and follow up on potential issues.
• Team Working ~ cooperation and flexibility, is able to give and receive constructive criticism and solicits ideas from others
• Service user/ outcome focused ~ achievement of results through appropriate decision making, evidenced based interventions, personalised care plans
• Problem solving & judgement ~ develops solutions, makes links between identified potential issues and possible solutions, is confident in making decisions within guidelines.
• Planning & Organising ~ Prioritises work, organising work for self and others to agreed deadlines
• Business Awareness ~ Understands the contribution the role makes to the service and organisation as a whole and recognises how the actions of others impact on own role.
• Leadership Standards ~ demonstrates the behaviours set out in the council’s leadership standards.

Working with Seven Education:

Established in 2011, Seven Education is a leading provider of teachers to private and public schools across the UK. We provide both temporary and permanent solutions, working with teachers and lecturers covering KS1, all the way up to KS5 and beyond.

Seven Education is the recruitment service that guarantees experienced, qualified, and available teaching staff exactly when you need them. Our expert talent acquisition team seamlessly connect professionals to all areas of teaching; including Lecturers, Head Teachers, Assistant Head Teachers, Secondary School, Primary School, Teaching Assistants, and everything in between.

After being shortlisted for multiple awards in 2022, we are proud of our nationwide reputation for providing a world-class recruitment service that is underpinned by honesty, integrity, and attention to detail.