JOB ROLE PROFILE AND PERSON SPECIFICATION

Post Title and Number: Head Teacher of the Virtual School for Looked After Children

Present Grade:Head of Service 1 Dept: Children’s Services_

Service/Section/Team:Children’s Services Division. Looked After Children Service

Reports to : Head of Service Looked After Children

Purpose of the Role:
  • To provide professional leadership and management to the multi-disciplinary and multi-agency Health and Education Access and Resources Team (HEART)
  • To ensure that the Council meets its statutory responsibilities to promote the educational, social and emotional and physical health needs of its looked after children
  • To fulfil the statutory role of Virtual Head Teacher and to be accountable for the allocation of significant resources to improve educational outcomes for looked after children
  • Toensure that the work of the HEART CAMHS and Educational Psychology elements is closely aligned with the generic CAMHS and EPS services in Enfield to ensure that the needs of looked after children are prioritised
  • To maintain, review and analyse performance information relating to the education of looked after children and to provide regular reports to senior officers and elected members

Dimensions including Structure Chart:

The post holder will be responsible for the quality of educational support to the Council’s looked after children. They will be located in the Looked After Children’s Service and will report directly to the Head of Service.They will link into the generic Enfield Educational Psychology and CAMHS services through regular liaison with the Principal Educational Psychologistand attendance at relevant management briefingsand service development events.This is a senior management position and the post holder will need to operate with a high degree of autonomy.

Job Role Profile and Person Specification

Published18/10/2010

Revised 20/12/2010

Revised 28/5/13

Job Role Profile and Person Specification

Published18/10/2010

Revised 20/12/2010

Revised 28/5/13

In addition to the posts in the established staffing structure, there is some flexibility to use the PPG to take on sessional staff and learning mentors.

The post holder will manage the core HEART budget of £341,000.

The Virtual School Head has the statutory responsibility of allocating the Pupil Premium Grant, both to individual schools to promote the educational attainment of each Enfield looked after child, and to projects which support the educational attainment of the cohort as a whole.. While the total of this grant will differ year by year dependant on the number of children looked after by the Council, in 2014/15 it totalled £460,000.

Key Accountabilities:

Insert the most important and frequent accountabilities first.

Accountabilities / Percentage of Time (%)
  1. To develop and support initiatives and interventions to improve the educational outcomes of Enfield looked after children and young people wherever they may be placed
/ 20%
  1. To manage both the Virtual School and the wider HEART service
/ 15%
  1. To work with schools, colleges and other educational settings both within and outside the Borough to ensure that the head teacher and designated staff in each setting know which children on their roll are in care and that Enfield looked after children and young people are receiving an appropriate education relevant to their specific needs
/ 15%
  1. To improve the knowledge and skill of social workers, foster carers and designated teachers in relation to improving educational outcomes for looked after children
/ 5%
  1. To champion the needs of looked after children across the local authority and spread effective practice, particularly in relation to improving behaviour and attendance, promoting placement stability and school stability through admissions policies and use of school transport
/ 5%
  1. To ensure that the Pupil Premium Grant is only allocated when it links directly to the aims of the Personal Education Plan and that it is spent as agreed
/ 15%
  1. To attend management and service development meetings with the generic CAMHS and Education Psychology Service and to ensure that the needs of looked after children are prioritised and to take management responsibility for the delivery of educational psychology and CAMHS services within HEART
/ 15%
  1. To represent the Council on sub regional and national groups relating to the role
/ 5%
  1. To develop and implement a training plan across Children’s Services to improve the quality of Personal Education Plans and Pathway Plans
/ 5%
Key Relationships (Internal and External):

Key relationships include looked after children, HEART team members, social workers, managers and senior officers responsible for looked after children as well as elected members. There will be frequent contact with the Virtual School and SEN teams in Enfield and other boroughs, designated teachers, head teachers, college principals and academy governing bodies. There will also be significant levels of contact with educational psychology and CAMHS teams both within Enfield and in other boroughs

Equality and Diversity:

The Council has a strong commitment to achieving equality in its service to the community and the employment of people and expects all employees to understand, comply with and promote its policies in their own work.

Health and Safety:

The post holder shall ensure that the duties of the post are undertaken with due regard to the Council’s Health and Safety Policy and to their personal responsibilities under the provisions of the Health and Safety at work Act 1974 and all other relevant subordinate legislation.

For a more detailed definition of these responsibilities, refer to the current versions of the Corporate Health& Safety Policy, Group Safety Policy and employee information leaflet entitled "Health & Safety Policy; Guidance on Staff Health & Safety Responsibilities".

Corporate Health and Safety Responsibilities

All employees have personal responsibilities to take reasonable care for the health and safety of themselves and others. This means:

1. Understanding the hazards in the work they undertake;

2.Following safety rules and procedures;

3. Using work equipment, personal protective equipment, substances, and safety devices correctly; and

4. Working in accordance with the training provided and only undertaking tasks where appropriate training has been received.

Employees shall co-operate with the Council by allowing it to comply with its duties towards them. This requires employees to:

  • take part in safety training and risk assessments and suggest ways of reducing risks; and
  • take part in emergency evacuation exercises.

Employees shall report all accidents, ‘near miss’ incidents and work related ill health conditions to their manager/supervisor/team leader.

Employees shall read the Corporate Health & Safety – Organisation Part B Policy to ascertain and understand their responsibilities as an employee, line manager, Assistant Director or Director of the Council.

Information Security:

In order to protect the confidentiality, integrity and availability of Council information, including information provided by customers, partner organisations, and other third parties, where applicable, employees will comply with the Council’s Information Security Policy.

Statement of Commitment to Safeguarding of Children and Vulnerable Adults through safer employment practice:

Enfield Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults. Safe recruitment of staff is central to this commitment, and the Council will ensure that its recruitment policies and practices are robust, and that selection procedures prevent unsuitable people from gaining access to children, young people and vulnerable adults. All staff employed to work with or on behalf of children and young people in the Council must be competent.

All staff working with Children & Vulnerable Adults should be aware of, and share the commitment to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults when applying for posts at Enfield Council.

Job Role Profile and Person Specification

Published18/10/2010

Revised 20/12/2010

Revised 28/5/13

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Job Title: Virtual Head TeacherGrade: HOS1

Department:Schools and Children’s ServicesTeam: Looked After Children

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS & ABILITIES(You are not restricted to 2 criteria for each category) / HOW TESTED
Application – A
Test – T
Interview – I
Job Specifics – Skills, Experience

(In this section you should list between 4 and a maximum of 8 essential recruitment and selection criteria and 2 desirable criteria). The information you provide in this section will be used in the recruitment application process to assess the suitability of job applicants.

Essential:
  • Direct experience of delivering education
  • Significant experience in a leadership role in an educational setting
  • Experience of working with partner agencies to deliver an holistic approach to promoting improved outcomes
  • A proven track record in improving outcomes for vulnerable children
  • Experience of working with young people to ensure that their views inform service development and delivery
  • Experience of budget management
/ I A
Competencies*:
Please choose a maximum of 6 most important competencies for the role from either theStaff Competency Framework (up to SO2)Leadership Competency Framework (PO1 and above) and list here in ranked order. Candidates will be asked to address these when making their application.
1. Technical and professional expertise
2. Planning and managing resources
3. Driving success
Knowledge*
1. Knowledge of the needs of looked after children and the statutory framework surrounding the provision of services
2. Knowledge of the local and national educational systems including alternative provision
3. Knowledge of local and national SEND pathways / A I
Qualification(s)*
  1. A qualified teacher

Other Special Requirements*
1.
2.

*If you want specific knowledge assessed to determine the suitability of a job applicant, or a specific qualification is required for the postholder to undertake the job role, or there is a special requirement that needs to be assessed, you must also include these requirements in the Job Specifics – Skills, Experience and Competencies section.

HR will use a competency assessment tool to ensure that individuals matched to jobs under the Redeployment process (or shortlisted & you choose to assess candidates using a competency assessment tool e.g Facet 5 psychometric assessment) achieve the highest ratings for your ranked competencies. Those candidates that require development in some areas will be discussed with you.

Job Role Profile and Person Specification

Published18/10/2010

Revised 20/12/2010

Revised 28/5/13