Early Years SEND and Inclusion Mentor

The Opportunity

Salary: NJC Grade 7 £30,515 to £33,119 per annum

Contract Type: Permanent

Working Pattern: 37 hours per week, full time, Monday to Friday, 9:00am - 17:00pm

Location: Your base location will be from County Hall North, Horsham, predominately covering Mid-Sussex. Please note countywide travel is expected

Closing date: 17 September 2026

Interview date: 23 and 24 September 2026

Do you have experience in child development in the early years?

Are you passionate about inclusion and supporting children with SEND?

An exciting opportunity has arisen to work as part of our Education and Skills Service as an Early Years Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Inclusion Mentor.

You will work closely with Early Years and Childcare Advisors to put children first and improve outcomes for children and families across West Sussex.

We are seeking an Early Years SEND and Inclusion Mentor who will use their skills and knowledge to identify and support appropriate provision is in place to secure the best outcomes for children with SEND. You will support practitioners to follow a graduated approach in line with the SEN Code of Practice.

Key responsibilities of the role include:

• Ensuring that all children with SEND have their needs met in early years setting alongside their peers, enabling them to fulfil their potential before they start school.
• Supporting settings to use a person-centred approach.
• Providing practical support, advice and guidance to early years settings in your allocated locality to enable effective inclusion of learners with a broad range of identified SEND needs, including children with complex needs.
• Providing targeted support to individual children where necessary.
• Supporting settings with a Quality First teaching approach to support inclusive practice.
• Identifying delays in children’s learning and how to address these delays within an early years setting.

About You

We are looking for someone who has clear communication skills to offer advice and guidance to settings. You will be confident in challenging existing practices and identify innovative solutions to a variety of problems.

Most importantly, you will demonstrate passion, drive, and enthusiasm to improve outcomes for children with SEND.

Qualifications:
• Full and relevant Early Years Qualification to at least Level 3.

Please refer to the key skills in your cover letter as these will be used for shortlisting criteria.

Key Skills to succeed in this role:

1. Comfortable to work independently and as part of a team.
2. Skills to build effective relationships with children and practitioners.
3. Time management and personal organisational skills to organise own workload and meet deadlines.
4. Flexibility and creativity.
5. Analytical skills to interpret information and situations.
6. Keep up to date with service policy, procedures, and professional codes of conduct.
7. Reflect and evaluate your own performance.
8. IT skills to complete work tasks, such as using Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams).

For more information on the Responsibilities of the role, Key Skills, Qualifications and/or Experience required, please refer to the Job Description attached.

About Us

The Early Years SEND and Inclusion Mentors work with Early Years and Childcare Advisors (EYCAs) SEND and Inclusion. Both roles sit within Children’s Services which groups together all services, including Early Help, Children’s Social Care and Education and Skills, that work together to put children first and improve outcomes for children and families across West Sussex.

The West Sussex Early Years Team operate within our “Right from the Start: West Sussex Early Years and Childcare Strategy 2024-2027”. Our Vision is that “From birth every child is nurtured, supported, and given the opportunity to develop well and achieve their full potential in inclusive, safe, inspiring environments. The voice and needs of children and their families is sought and acted upon with holistic needs being identified early and effectively met, enabling children and families to be healthy and thrive.”

Benefits

As an employer we recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive and dynamic working environment where employees can achieve their full potential, achieve a healthy work-life balance, and are rewarded for the work they do.

For a full list this can be found at our Rewards and Benefits page.

Upon joining us you will have access to a range of benefits including the following:

Employer Pension Contribution: 15% (this alters per annum on the 1 April each year)

Annual leave: 25 days holiday + Bank Holidays = 33 days

How to Apply

The reference number for this role is CAFHE06470

For an informal conversation or for further information regarding the role, please contact Anna Parsons (Early years team Manager – SEND and Inclusion) at anna.parsons@westsussex.gov.uk.

To apply, please follow the links below to upload your CV and Cover Letter.

In your cover letter please outline your motivations for applying and explaining the skills and experience you can bring to the role (please refer to the key skills) ensuring that any gaps in employment are covered in your CV.

Please ensure you have saved the job description attached to the main advert on our website as, once the job has closed, you may not have the opportunity to download again.

Safeguarding statement

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people, and vulnerable adults.

This post is subject to an enhanced DBS check, five years referencing, and an occupational health check.

Equity, inclusion, and accessibility is very important to West Sussex County Council. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, as this helps us build a diverse and talented workforce, that reflects the communities we serve. We ensure our approach to recruitment is flexible and supportive to enable all applicants to be at their best and to ensure they have the best possible chance of success.

We operate a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants that have a disability, are a veteran or are a care leaver. More information can be found on our application helppage.

If you require any reasonable adjustments to support your application, please contact Natalie Greene, Recruitment Specialist, at Natalie.Greene@westsussex.gov.uk