Inclusion Officer – Pupil Advocate

Our benefits

We offer a wide range of benefits to our employees, these include:

• Generous annual leave entitlement starting at 28 days annual leave per year, 29 days for senior managers (pro rata, depending on how many hours per week you work), plus bank holidays. An additional 5 days, linked to continuous service, and ability to purchase up to 6 weeks additional leave per year.
• Cycle to Work scheme. 
• Local Government Pension Scheme plus immediate life cover (3 times your annual salary from day one) and ill-health protection.
• Employee discounts with local and national retailers, days out, finance, health and beauty, travel and eating out plus lots more.
• Car Lease scheme
• Payment of professional subscription / membership - If your job description requires that you are registered with or are a member of a professional body, WNC will pay for your professional subscription or membership fees.
• Employee Assistance Programme - We have an employee support programme run by Health Assured, an independent, external organisation. Health Assured is available for you and your immediate family members, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year and includes telephone counselling, legal advice, bereavement support and medical information.
• Ongoing training and development opportunities.
• A variety of flexible working options to support your work/life balance, including full or part time, term time, 9-day fortnight, etc. (subject to business needs).
• Our West Ways of Working – We want our workforce to thrive, and we equip our employees with the right technology to support hybrid and collaborative working, on or off site, depending on the role.
• Making a difference - If you want to use your skills and experience with an organisation that are genuinely invested in making a difference, are committed to improving people's lives, and whose success has a direct impact on the wellbeing of your family, friends and people in your local area, then West Northamptonshire Council is the place for you.

About the role

We are looking to recruit an Inclusion Officer: Pupil advocate to join our highly motivated and committed team.

The role of Pupil Advocate will include working with pupils that have been permanently excluded, and their families, to gather pupil voice and to seek alternative provision which best fits need.

The Advocate will also work closely with alternative providers within and outside of West Northants to ensure that progress is regularly monitored, and suitability of placement is maintained, challenging where this is not.

What will you be doing?

You will have oversight of all pupils that have been permanently excluded from school. You will liaise directly with the pupil and their family to enable you to advocate for them within the Social Inclusion panel meetings where decisions are made about placement within an alternative provision.

You will also link closely with the alternative providers about placements, advocating for the pupil and ensuring that needs are met. As part of the role, you may be required to attend multiagency meetings and to feed back to senior leaders.

We are committed to ensuring that pupils have full access to and are safe in education and to achieving positive educational outcomes.

About you

Experience of working with children in an educational setting would be an advantage. We want talented, ambitious, and passionate people like you to come and take on this challenging and rewarding role. The ability to foster and develop strong collaborative relationships is essential and must be resilient and tenacious in seeking the best outcomes for pupils. You will be a clear thinker and outcome focussed.

We are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workforce which reflects the community we serve.  We aim to create a workplace that celebrates diversity as we know our greatest strengths are the people who make up our team.

For an informal discussion about the role please contact the Recruiting Manager Katie.Morlidge@westnorthants.gov.uk

About us

At West Northants Council, it’s about our people. People who thrive with ambition, bubble with new ideas, demand better ways of working, caring about every detail, and who never shy away from a challenge. Our culture is a gateway for new experiences. A place to forge new opportunities. To empower you in your career and unite you with like-minded people.

Our vision is ‘to make West Northants a great place to live, work, visit and thrive’. We truly stand by this and work hard every day to make this a reality. Our corporate values, THRIVE, stand for: Trust, High Performance, Respect, Innovate and Empower, they underpin everything we do and how we deliver services. 

Hear more from our Chief Executive, Anna Earnshaw, about what it's like to work at West Northants Council https://youtu.be/lV0EfeUF4aU  

We are committed to ensuring diversity, equality, equity, and inclusion is woven into the fabric of WNC and everything we do, to enable all colleagues to develop and maximize their full potential.  We are a disability confident employer, a member of the Armed Forces Covenant, and a Care Leaver Covenant partner

The following film was created by us to communicate our intentions - watch WNC colleagues explain what DEI means to us.

If you need additional support or reasonable adjustments during the application process, including needing the job description in another format or language, please email careers@westnorthants.gov.uk for support.

West Northants Council, where careers thrive.