Early Years SEND Advisor

About the job

Salary: £33,143 – £36,363 a year plus £963 essential car user allowance
Hours per week: 37
Contract type: Permanent

As an Early Years SEND Advisor, you will lead and take responsibility for the planning, delivery, and evaluation of Early Years educational programmes across Luton, including the Portage service. You will train, support, and supervise Portage practitioners within the borough and other local authorities through regular meetings, professional guidance, and quality assurance, and provide statutory data and reports to the National Portage Association.

You will promote and support high-quality inclusive practice across private, voluntary, and independent early years settings by working closely with Inclusion Co-ordinators and Children’s Centre Advisory Boards, advising on service delivery to disabled children and their families. This will include planning, writing, and delivering training for Inclusion Co-ordinators and early years staff, in line with DfES and Children and Learning guidance.

The role involves providing written guidance and professional advice to settings on observation, assessment and monitoring tools, reviewing the progress of children with SEND and supporting the review, development and implementation of inclusive policies and practice. You will identify, assess, and support pre-statutory school-aged children with SEND, developing and reviewing Individual Education Plans in collaboration with parents, early years providers and partner professionals, while maintaining accurate and up-to-date records.

You will initiate and manage statutory assessments under the Education Act 1996 and contribute high-quality educational advice for Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) as requested by the local authority, including attendance at week 14 EHCP meetings when required. You will provide advice and support to families of children with SEND below statutory school age, including guidance on appropriate provision and the effective management of transitions from non-maintained settings into maintained schools, ensuring positive and smooth transition experiences for children and families.

You will develop and maintain strong multi-agency partnerships with professionals such as Educational Psychologists, Advisory Teachers, and health colleagues, and contribute to multi-disciplinary assessments at the Child Development Centre. As part of the wider Early Years SEND service, you will manage referrals and caseloads and participate in decision-making processes.

The post also involves supporting the Government’s two-year-old funding programme by contributing to policy development and best practice. You will manage submissions to the Early Years Panel in relation to funding, monitor the Early Years budget in collaboration with the Senior Advisory Teacher, attend Early Years Panel meetings, and communicate funding decisions to relevant agencies.

Please note this role does not attract sponsorship.

About you

You will have substantial experience of working with pre-statutory aged children and their families, developing, and maintaining positive, supportive relationships with parents and carers. You will have significant experience of supporting young children with special educational needs using the Portage model, working collaboratively with families, and engaging effectively with relevant agencies.

You will bring in-depth experience of multi-disciplinary working and be confident in assessing special educational needs and producing clear, accurate reports for a range of professional purposes. You will be able to work autonomously within policy and procedural guidelines, demonstrating sound judgement, initiative, and the ability to manage conflict and pressure effectively and diplomatically.

You will have proven experience of planning, delivering, and evaluating high-quality training for professionals and early years staff. You will be skilled in observing and assessing pre-school children with special educational needs and in developing and maintaining effective professional relationships with colleagues and partner agencies.

You will be able to write clear, well-structured, and objective reports and contribute constructively to the work of a multi-disciplinary team. You will be organised and self-motivated, with the ability to manage your own workload, meet deadlines and respond flexibly to service priorities. You will demonstrate a strong commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion, with the ability to recognise and appropriately challenge discrimination.

You will have demonstrable knowledge of current SEND legislation, including the SEN Code of Practice, alongside a sound understanding of the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum and Early Support materials. You will also have substantial knowledge of child development.

You will hold a relevant qualification such as Nursery Nurse, NNEB, BTEC or equivalent, be Portage trained, and have undertaken additional training in SEND. You will be adaptable and willing to meet service demands, including working occasionally outside normal contracted hours (up to once per month).

About us

Our ambitiousLuton 2040 Vision– that no-one in Luton will have to live in poverty – is at the heart of everything we do. We recognise that our people are remarkable, talented, committed and passionate about serving our residents.

The people of Luton depend heavily on this council – and that means our workforce! Are you ready to realise the remarkable and help us deliver our vision?

We welcome applications from all sections of the community and are committed to developing a workforce that reflects the diversity of our borough

Application Process

Because of the nature of this job, it will be necessary for the appropriate level of criminal record disclosure to be undertaken. This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore applicants are required to declare all unspent cautions and convictions; and also any adult cautions (simple or conditional), and spent convictions that are not protected as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2020). A person’s criminal record will not in itself prevent a person from being appointed to this post. Applicants will not be refused posts because of offences which are not relevant to, and do not place them at or make them a risk in, the role for which they are applying. However in the event of the employment being taken up, any failure to disclose such offence, as detailed above, will result in dismissal or disciplinary action by the Authority.

On occasions, we may close a vacancy early due to a very high number of applications being received.

Benefits

We offer a range of excellent staff benefits which include:

- From 25 to 32 days’ annual leave: linked to length of service and grade
- Buying annual leave scheme: buy up to 20 days additional annual leave
- Career Pathways: step up in your career or move into a specialist area
- Pension scheme: with generous employer contributions of up to 20.2 per cent (at July 2023) and 3x salary death in service grant
- Generous relocation package: up to £8,000 (subject to eligibility)
- Employee Assistance Programme: a free, 24/7 confidential counselling and wellbeing support service available to all employees, their partner or spouse and dependent children over 16 still living at home
- Work/life balance: flexible working options including working from home where possible. We welcome requests for flexible working arrangements including part-time hours and alternative working patterns
- Training and support: unlimited access to development courses, mentoring and support and clear career pathways
- Staff offers: includes discounts on your MOT, gym and fitness, restaurants and salons
- Arriva Travel Club: great value savings on local bus travel

How to apply

We understand that job applications take time and effort, but a high-quality application shows that you are professional with a good attention to detail. The recruiting manager may receive a number of applications for each job advertised so you want yours to stand out!

Our ‘How to apply' page has more tips to help with your application: How to apply

Available documents

Attached documents are available under links. Clicking a document link will initialize its download.

• download: Luton_Values_Flyer.pdf
• download: 6708574BUV 201307 L6 Special Education Needs SEN Advisor Early Years.docx