Portage Team Leader United Kingdom
Job description
Department: Children’s Services & Education
Terms and Conditions: Permanent, 37 hours per week
Shortlisting date: w/c Monday 24th April 2023
Interview date: w/c Friday 28th April 2023
Are you an experienced Portage worker? Are you keen to develop a leadership role? Are you organised and collaborative? You might be just right for the newly created post of Portage Team Leader within Blackburn with Darwen’s SEND Support Service. The SEND Support Service is a friendly team of over 70 specialist staff who work with children with all kinds of SEND from birth upwards. We have specialist staff in all areas of SEN who work in schools and settings across the inclusive Borough of Blackburn with Darwen. As well as specialist teachers and teaching assistants, we have a Habilitation Officer who works with children and young people with vision impairments, and a speech and language therapist.
We have over 20 Early Years Specialist SEND Practitioners who work with staff in EY settings to model good practice in including children with the full range of SEND. This post will build on the strong multiagency links already in place to ensure that the journey of a child with SEND is as smooth as possible, from receiving a notification from Health, right through to next steps after Portage.
Our current Portage staff (6 people, 5 whole time equivalents) work very well together, are respected throughout the local authority and receive excellent feedback from the families they work with. As well as home visits, the Portage team deliver a variety of groups for young children and their families to attend. There is scope for creativity and innovation in this post; e.g., we are currently working cooperatively with a third sector music organisation to enhance some of our Portage groups. Staff access a wide range of professional development, both from internal specialists, and from a variety of external providers.
You will:
- manage our team of Portage workers,
- carry a Portage caseload
- take a lead on managing the processes involved with the notifications of children with SEND which come into the LA from health services
- work with colleagues from SEND SS and other agencies to plan each child’s post-Portage journey
- evaluate and improve our services for young children with SEND.
If you have any questions about this role please contact Robert Robinson via email or phone:
- 01254 666 520
In addition to your CV, please include supporting information which evidences how you meet the criteria detailed on the key requirements document.
Job details
