You’ll bring experience of working directly with families of children with complex needs, with a good understanding of threshold management and the importance of getting the right support in place at the right time. You’ll also have experience in an educational context, working with school leaders and understanding the pressures, procedures and challenges that schools face.
You’ll be confident working as a key lead professional with a range of agencies, bringing people together through a Team Around approach. Building relationships will be a real strength – whether that’s with families in challenging circumstances, professionals across different services, or community partners who can help support children and young people more effectively.
A strong understanding of child development, wellbeing and the issues affecting families in diverse inner-city communities will guide your work. You’ll also bring knowledge of safeguarding, child protection, school attendance, admissions, exclusions and the wider education system, as well as the legislation, policies and procedures relating to statutory school attendance.
You’ll know how to work in a strengths-based and outcomes-focused way, using evidence-informed interventions and practice models to support children, young people and families. This might include approaches such as restorative practice, motivational interviewing, parenting approaches, counselling or solution-focused work – always choosing the right approach for the family and situation.
You’ll be confident using assessment frameworks and tools to produce clear, evidence-based assessments of needs, strengths and risk. From there, you’ll be able to develop outcome-focused support plans that are reviewed and updated as circumstances change, making sure work remains purposeful and centred on the child or young person.
Working with a high level of autonomy will suit you. You’ll be able to use your professional initiative, make sound decisions with low-level support and remain accountable for the quality of your work. Strong engagement, negotiation and brokerage skills will help you communicate clearly, collaborate well and build trust with both service users and colleagues.
You’ll also understand the needs of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities, and the processes used to make sure they receive appropriate levels of support. In everything you do, you’ll bring clear communication, sound judgement and a practical, compassionate approach to helping families overcome barriers and improve attendance outcomes.
Westminster City Council is committed to supporting Care Leavers into the workplace. Care Leavers seeking their first job and who wish to be considered under our scheme will automatically be invited to interview, should they meet the essential criteria for the role.
We reserve the right to extend or close this vacancy early without warning, subject to the volume of suitable applicants.
