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Job Information

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 us click here.

This is a very exciting role to lead SEND Transformation and drive forward our ambitious SEND Reform plan across Kingston and Richmond. The reforms will deliver lasting, system-wide change, working in partnership with our schools, the SEND Service, parents and carers, children and young people, and Health colleagues.

The first year priorities are to develop our innovative ‘specialist expertise at hand’ offer through a multi-agency early intervention model and to strengthen inclusive, high-quality mainstream provision. You will play a pivotal role in shaping and delivering these priorities, working collaboratively with school leaders and their teams, parents and carers, children and young people, and partner agencies. Building strong relationships and inspiring engagement across all SEND partners will be critical to success.

You will lead the SEND Reform Team, ensuring high-quality delivery, robust performance monitoring, and evidence-based evaluation of impact, while reporting progress to the DfE, stakeholders, and our SEND Partnership.

If you are passionate about making a difference, thrive in complex partnership environments, and are committed to improving outcomes for all children and young people with SEND, this is an exceptional opportunity to lead transformational change.

About the role

• Provide strategic and operational leadership for the practice elements of the government’s SEND reforms programme in Achieving for Children.
• Provide expertise on designing, shaping and implementing the infrastructure and to deliver our model to implement specialist expertise at hand, establish local SEND groups and strengthen inclusive mainstream expertise, during the first tranche of transformation
• Work closely with local and regional partners to create practice guidance, pathways of support and support the SEND workforce through a training programme and implementation of the local SEND reforms and national expectations.
• Lead the SEND Reform team, overseeing performance against national and local performance indicators and evaluating impact across our local area.
• Co-design and develop services in partnership with children, young people and families, ensuring that their voices, experiences, aspirations and needs remain at the heart of service development, decision-making and delivery.

For further information about this role, please contact Charis Penfold by email charis.penfold@achievingforchildren.org.uk for an informal discussion.

About you

• You are motivated by the opportunity to deliver system-wide, transformational change and improve outcomes for children and young people with SEND.
• You have significant leadership experience within education or SEND services, with a track record of delivering change and improvement.
• You are a skilled partnership leader, confident in building credibility, influencing stakeholders and bringing diverse partners together around a shared vision.
• Championing the voice of children and young people with SEND and their families is central to your values, leadership approach and professional experience.
• You are an excellent communicator with the ability to inspire others, navigate complexity and drive delivery in a collaborative environment.
• You are enthusiastic, resilient and solution-focused, with a genuine passion for inclusion and improving life changes for children and young people with SEND.

About our benefits

We 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-time 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 click here. For our social work offer click here. For our Recruitment Journey, click here.

Important Information

Start dates: Achieving for Children have set start dates 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 GOV.UK website 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).

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.