Access Casework Officer

• There are 2 positions available, one with a primary work location in County Hall, Taunton, and another in North Sedgemoor/West Mendip. There will be opportunities for hybrid work, as per manager approval
• Permanent role, 37 Hours per week.
• 30 Days Annual Leave, not including bank holidays.

As an Access Casework Officer for the Preventing Exclusion Team, you will be part of a team providing guidance within your designated locality to aid the prevention of exclusion and reduce suspensions.

This will include

• Working with families and children in the locality.
• Providing a solution focused approach to prevent exclusion from school and reduce suspensions for pupils
• Ensuring DfE Guidance and procedures are followed for suspensions and permanent exclusions.
• Coordinating the admission back into education of vulnerable children and young people including those who have been permanently excluded.
• Building strong relationships in your designated locality with professionals, schools and the voluntary sector to ensure support for families and children remain at the centre of our work.

What will you be providing:

• Close working with colleagues in health, children services and education
• Support early interventions by attending Team around the Child meetings and tracking of children at risk of exclusion in the locality.
• Provide advice to parents, children, schools and partner agencies on matters relating to exclusions and pupils missing out on their full educational entitlement.
• Complete home visits and gain pupil voice/views.

We offer ongoing support, training and guidance to help you be the best you can be. However for this role you will need to have:

• A Levels or equivalent / Level 4 NVQ standard with GCSE Grade A-C/ 4-9 in Maths and English, or equivalent.
• An understanding of working with education settings and exclusion procedures,
• An ability to engage with families and children.
• A knowledge of practices around safeguarding.

We’re proud to be here for the people of Somerset. And that means everyone in Somerset. An important part of this is ensuring that we are as diverse and inclusive as the people and communities we serve.

We welcome applications from a diverse range of backgrounds and experiences to enrich our team. You can always contact the hiring manager for a chat if there’s anything you want to talk about before you apply.

We are proud to offer an environment that is supportive and rewarding, working as part of a team who are passionate about the work they do to improve the lives of people in Somerset.

We offer great training and development opportunities, with supportive management. As well as this, we have some fantastic employee benefits available:

• We promote a healthy work-life balance and offer flexible working arrangements wherever possible, including working from home.
• Generous annual leave allowance, with the opportunity to purchase additional leave.
• Staff discounts in gyms.
• Employee Assistance for the times you may need some support and a variety of employee wellbeing services.
• Auto enrolment onto our generous Pension Scheme and optional pension enhancement through our Additional Voluntary Contribution scheme.
• A Flexible Benefits Scheme via salary sacrifice to obtain a cycle for work and health screenings.
• My Staff Shop offering discounts in shops, online shopping, restaurants, cinema tickets, insurance benefits and more.

The Salary for the Access Case Worker is Grade 11, ranging from £32,597 to £36,363 per annum.  

For further information about the role, you can contact Jane Weatherill, Service Manager, Preventing Exclusion Service at  jane.weatherill@somerset.gov.uk

Interviews are due to take place w/c 17^th November.

If you have everything you need, just hit the apply button. We can’t wait to hear from you.

This job requires a criminal background check (DBS) via the disclosure procedure.