Virtual School Officer Early Years & Primary

Full Time / 37 Hours Per Week / Permanent

The Virtual School for Looked After Children oversees the learning and progress of Leicester's looked after children and young people, wherever they are placed. Looked after children and young people tend to do less well at school than their non looked after peers and therefore, we aim to close the attainment gap and remove any barriers to learning.

The Virtual School Team has 15 members of staff in a range of roles to oversee the education of looked after children and young people. We ensure our young people all have access to full time education. All whilst supporting the delivery of the key priorities of the Virtual School for Looked After Children.

This is a full-time, permanent role working 37 hours per week from Monday to Friday. Occasionally you may need to attend events outside usual office hours.

What you'll be doing

Working closely with the Virtual Head Teacher and Virtual School Team Leader, you'll act as the link officer and be responsible for the promotion of the educational achievement of a case load of looked after children and young people. Some of your time will be spent in the office, some time out in schools or meeting with carers, young people, Social Workers, school staff or other professionals. Each day might be different, depending on what needs to be done, and you'll be expected to manage your own diary. You'll attend meetings with members of the Local Authority, with your own team and with schools, carers and learners as required. You'll develop strong working relationships with schools and other professionals to identify and respond to queries in relation to the education of children and young people. You'll organise and oversee the running of Personal Education Plan meetings for the young people on your case load.

What you'll need

With experience of working with professionals to support looked after children and improve their educational attainment, you'll have the confidence to provide support and challenge in schools or settings. Having experience of making complex decisions which had a profound impact in relation to services for children and young people, you'll be able to effectively promote a range of interventions designed to address the complex needs of these young people. Using proficient IT skills, you'll be able to use of applications such as Word, Excel, Outlook etc. With excellent verbal, written and interpersonal skills, you'll be able to present complex issues and clear and well-reasoned reports. You'll be able to evidence effective partnership working with a range of agencies including working with multi-agency teams.

What we can offer you

As well as the satisfaction of helping to improve thousands of lives across Leicester, you can look forward to a work environment that encourages a healthy work/life balance. You'll enjoy generous annual leave, membership of the Local Government Pension Scheme and the option of flexible working. We'll also give you the chance to develop your skills and expertise with a variety of training and development opportunities. In addition, you can choose from several flexible benefits, including discounts on city buses and trains. For an illustrative value of your benefits package, take a look at our benefits calculator.

Join us

We're committed to recruiting a diverse and highly-talented workforce as we continue to build a council that is fitting and representative of our great city. That's why we've designed our recruitment process to put you at your ease, make you feel welcome and bring the best out of you. We'll do all we can to make our recruitment process as fair as possible. To help you with your application, take a look at the 'our approach to recruitment' page.

For an informal discussion about this post, please contact either Esther Popp, Virtual School Headteacher via email to esther.popp@leicester.gov.uk or Kevin Kinsella, Virtual School Deputy Head via email to kevin.kinsella@leicester.gov.uk

Leicester City Council delivers public services including education, social services, planning, waste management, libraries and health across the city of Leicester, England.