Virtual School Early Years Advisor
| Posting date: | 23 June 2025 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £29,093 to £32,654 per year |
| Additional salary information: | Competitive |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 22 July 2025 |
| Location: | Staffordshire Place One, St16 2DH |
| Company: | Staffordshire County Council |
| Job type: | Temporary |
| Job reference: | staffscc/TP/552/3365 |
Summary
Staffordshire Virtual School for Looked After and Previously Looked after children is responsible for promoting and driving the educational attainment and outcomes of children who are looked after from 0 – 25 years.
We are seeking to appoint an experienced, innovative and enthusiastic person with knowledge of the early years and care systems, and how they impact on children's development and education.
You'll be contributing to raising the standards of educational attainment, achievement and attendance of our early years Looked After children.
You will need to be passionate about working with our children, with excellent communication, interpersonal and organisational skills and have experience of working with both early years education and social care professionals.
This is currently hybrid role working within the office environment but also working from home.
The position is fixed term from September 2025 till July 2026.
Main ResponsibilitiesYou'll be:
- Responsible for monitoring and tracking the attendance, achievement and Personal Education Plans of the 0-5 cohort of Children in Care.
- Attend and contribute to Personal Education Plans as directed by the Education Coordinator and ensure SMART aspirational target setting for our children.
- Work with early years leaders and other professionals to remove barriers to accessing education.
- Partner with early years settings, specialist teams, social workers and parents/carers to provide training, assessment, advice, support and challenge to settings and other professionals.
- Working in partnership with the Early Years team, Educational Psychology service, School Admissions, etc, to support the educational outcomes for our 0-5 cohort as needed.
- Be inspirational for the educational attainment, outcomes and experiences for all children and young people in the care of the LA, whether placed in or out of Staffordshire.
- Supporting the assessment of our children to promptly recognise any gaps in learning and allow the implementation of appropriate support at the earliest point.
You will:
- have substantial experience of working with children and young people in an education setting.
- have significant understanding of the barriers that vulnerable children experience in education
- have experience of assessment and the assessment tools used to promptly recognise any gaps in learning and allow the implementation of appropriate support at the earliest point.
- be passionate about working with our children,
- have excellent communication, interpersonal and organisational skills
- have experience of working with both early years education and social care professionals.
“We’re happy to talk flexible working”
For an informal discussion about the role contact Julie Roper at julie.roper@staffordshire.gov.uk
Interview dates will be held on 22nd July.
Our Recruitment Process: We anonymise applications during shortlisting to ensure only relevant information is considered. Please complete your application fully, especially the supporting statement, to highlight what you’ll bring to the role.
About Staffordshire County CouncilWe are no ordinary county council:
Our Values:
The core of who we are as an organisation. Just like we all have personal values that shape our thoughts and behaviour, organisational values drive how we think and act collectively.
Our values were created and shaped by colleague feedback and national best practice and they sit at the heart of People Strategy:
We have a real sense of community spirit that brings our people together. This feeling of belonging means we are all connected to what we do and take pride in the difference we make every day for Staffordshire people. We are ambitious and our sights are set firmly on a better future.
We look forward and race ahead - that goes for your career too.
Our benefits:
We recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive working environment where employees can achieve their full potential and achieve a healthy work-life balance.
In addition to your salary, as a member of staff, you will have access to Our rewards and benefits - Careers at Staffordshire
Our recruitment process:
As an Authority we are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
Staffordshire County Council is an equal opportunities organisation and Disability Confident employer. We encourage applications from all background and communities
As part of our commitment as a Disability Confident employer, a Gold Award Armed Forces employer and our commitment to supporting care leavers - we offer a guaranteed interview as long as your application meets the minimum criteria for the post.
As you’ll know safeguarding and promoting the welfare of our children and young people/vulnerable adults is important to us and that’s why this position is subject to a criminal record check from the Disclosure and Barring Service. If applicable you should disclose details of unspent and unfiltered spent reprimands, formal warnings, cautions and convictions in your application form.
Proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme