Early Help & Attendance Officer and Deputy DSL

Early Help & Attendance Officer, Deputy DSL

Location: Quidenham, Norwich, NR16 2NZ
Contract Type: Permanent
Hours: Full Time, 40 hours per week, Term time only
Hourly Rate: £14.00 - £15.28
Actual Salary: £25,015.19 - £27,302.29 per year dependant on experience

Closing Date: 12noon 27/11/24

Interviews: W/C 2nd Dec

Aurora White House School and Aurora Eccles School

Part of the Aurora Group, Aurora White House School and Aurora Eccles School in Quidenham, Norwich are looking for a Family Support Officer and Deputy DSL. The schools provide day placements for students aged 6 to 16 years primarily with communication and interaction difficulties or specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia.  Some may be on the autistic spectrum or have anxieties and difficulties that create barriers to learning.

To take a virtual look around our school please click here: Eccles Virtual Tour

Main Purpose of the Role:

To work within our Engagement Team, supporting the teaching staff in their work with students aged 7 to 16 years with communication and associated difficulties or specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia.  Some may be on the autistic spectrum or have anxieties and difficulties that create barriers to learning.

To promote positive attitudes by students and families towards education and to ensure parents are aware of statutory responsibilities.

To identify, implement and lead on the Early Help Process across the school to safeguard and protect the children, young people and staff at Aurora Eccles School.

To oversee and enforce the attendance policy and working with individual students and their families with regards to attendance issues.

To support the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) with safeguarding caseload management.   To receive safeguarding referrals via the school’s safeguarding system, My Concern, and follow school safeguarding processes and policies.

To support the Engagement Leads with behaviour management within school.

To lead on the uploading of evidence & liaisons with the Anti-Bullying Quality Mark team.

Please note that duties will vary and you will be expected to contribute to the overall aims of Eccles when required. Please see the link below for our full job description:

Job Description - Early Help & Attendance Officer

Qualifications:

• GCSE Maths and English Language qualification minimum Grade 4 or equivalent is essential.
• A relevant professional qualification or the ability to gain L3 in working with children and young people
• L3 in working with children and young people is highly desirable
• Qualifications in behavioural approaches or psychology would be desirable

Knowledge and Experience:

• Knowledge and demonstrable experience of working with Children with autism/SEND
• Understanding of the Safeguarding principles and Child Protection
• DSL training desirable but not essential.
• Early Help training desirable but not essential.
• Previous experience of working for Social Care Services desirable but not essential.
• Good appreciation and knowledge of health and safety, data protection principles and equal opportunities

Skills and Behaviours:

• Commitment to the role, the desire to put the child/young person first and treat them as an individual.
• Proven ability to solve problems quickly and decisively and able to stay calm in a crisis/emergency situation.
• Excellent communication skills both written and verbal (English).
• Be positive and creative in meeting young people’s needs.
• Work on your own as well as part of a team
• Work collaboratively with other Employees and professionals with good interpersonal skills.
• Good numeracy and literacy skills.
• Competent ICT skills.
• Punctual and reliable.
• Able to undertake the physical demands of the job role.

Due to the rural location of the school, candidates must hold a full UK driving licence and have access to their own vehicle. 

What’s on offer?

• Training and Development

          Within Aurora, we strongly believe that learning and development should not be limited to just the children and young people we support.  We offer wide range of programmes and opportunities to all our employees to improve your skills and further your career. 

• FREE Lunch! All staff are able to take advantage of school lunches whilst onsite, at no cost along with free teas and coffees 

• Save money on your bills!!

          With the cost of living rising we have a fantastic benefit through Perkbox to help with cutting costs and help make your money go further.  Perkbox is a free app for you to use on the go wherever you are.  You can get deals and discounts to save money on things like your weekly food bill, phone plans, internet, eating out, gym memberships, insurance and more.  You can also use Perkbox for our cycle to work scheme and car scheme. 

• Competitive Pay and Reward

          Every year we compare the market rates of pay and rewards to insure they are comparable or better to other similar organisations.  We also offer Enhanced Annual Leave, Company Sick Pay, Enhanced Pension Scheme and Life Assurance.

• UK Health Cash Plan

          This plan can help cover your day to day healthcare expenditure such as optician and dental bills.  You and your children are covered on this plan and you can also choose to upgrade and add a partner to enjoy the benefits with you.

• Employee Assistance Programme

          Your health and wellbeing is very important to us and we have support available on a wide variety of issues, helping you with online tools, information and via a freephone counselling service available 24/7. 

• Refer a friend for £1,000

         We’ll reward you for recommending friends and family to come and join the company (*terms apply)

• Family fun

         Family swim on site 

• Free onsite parking

How to Apply: 

You can apply online by completing our online application form.  For more information on this position please contact liz.hudson@the-aurora-group.com

Successful applicants will be subject to pre-employment safeguarding checks including an enhanced disclosure and barring service (DBS) check.

The post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and the Aurora Group is therefore permitted to ask job applicants to declare all convictions and cautions (including those which are "spent" unless they are "protected" under the DBS filtering rules) in order to assess their suitability to work with children.

The Aurora Group is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children and young adults in our care and is a disability confident and equal opportunities employer.

This advert could be taken down at any point in time without prior notice if the position is filled. 

Please note that candidates that are shortlisted might be subject to an online search.