Children & Young Persons Participation & Engagement Officer

Team: Co-production & Engagement Team, SEND.

Job Family: Supporting - CBG9

Salary: £32,441 - £35,107 per annum pro rata

Hours: 37 hours per week, Monday – Friday with flexibility subject to business needs with some evening working

Location: You will be expected to attend a CBC office location as often as needed to carry out your role, which will be no less than once per month.

Contract Type: Hybrid - Fixed Term until December 2025

Closing Date: 11th November 2024 

Interview Date: 2nd December 2024

About the role

We are looking for a motivated and highly organised individual with an excellent understanding and experience of co-production  and  demonstrable experience of engaging with children and young people to develop consistent engagement and participation opportunities for children and young people with SEND, to ensure their voice, views and ideas are central to continuing SEND improvements.

Our Team

The Co-production & Engagement Team sit within the Children and Families  Services Education, SEND and Inclusion Directorate and work to ensure that co-production is central to improving SEND services. The team is also responsible for maintaining and developing the Local Offer Website. We work with all key stakeholders including our Parent Carer Forum, Education, Health and Care. In order to continue our co-production journey, we want to create further opportunities to empower children and young people as key stakeholders to be involved in decision-making about their lives and services that affect them. Our ambition is that we will capture the voices of children and young people with SEND, including those who we often don't hear from, producing powerful new insights and recommendations that shape and improve our SEND services and effect change.

About you

We are looking for someone who has the following experience, knowledge and skills and personal qualities:

• Demonstrable experience of engaging and working with children and young people with SEND with the ability to create opportunities , prepare and facilitate them to provide their voice independently at strategic and operational levels ,  as well as build a positive rapport .
• A excellent understanding  of co-production and its practice at individual , operational and strategic levels ,  including  co-production values and legislation , and how this applies to children and young people’s  engagement & participation with the ability to understand and communicate the voice of children and young people with SEND  to a range of stakeholders within the Local Area SEND Partnership
• Empathy for and understanding the needs of children and young people , with understanding and experience of  communicating with different audiences , taking into account communication preferences and additional needs, including experience of using digital platforms to build and engage networks and communities  ensuring a culture equality , diversity , belonging and  inclusion .
• A commitment and understanding of  safeguarding principles and  Health and Safety policies and practices in the workplace as well as discretion and judgement, and experience of dealing with sensitive  and confidential information . A concrete understanding of consent and how this applies in practice for children and young people with SEND   
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, time management and organisational skills with a strong attention to detail ; enabling you to handle matters efficiently and proactively with IT skills including Microsoft Outlook, Excel, Word and PowerPoint .
• An understanding and belief in the inclusion of all and Children and  young people with SEND  irrespective of race, gender, sexuality, age, religion, ability, identity, and experience
• A Team player  who is solution focuses and can  embed the values of the team: being empowering, trustworthy, honest, collaborative and inclusive and ensuring co-production values are central to your practice
• A pro-active approach, self-motivated and enthusiastic with very high levels of initiative, innovative and imaginative thinking, excellent interpersonal skills and a track record of developing collaborative good working relationships with a good understanding of different audiences and needs.
• A passion for children and young people and ensuring their voice is heard and strengthening their input into the SEND agenda at local and regional levels
• Ability to work well under pressure, a ' can do ' and flexible approach  with good organisational  skills and ability to adapt to changing priorities, attention to detail, robust decision making  and time management skills, including a willingness to travel and work out of regular service hours and at weekends occasionally

Travel : Car user essential

As the Participation & Engagement Officer for Children and Young People with SEND you will :

• Champion co-production with children and young people to ensure Children and Young People with SEND voices , including those who are seldom heard from, are captured to provide recommendations that shape and improve SEND Services and demonstrate impact
• Set up a young people's reference group to co-produce and engage with joint commissioning priorities and delivery of the SEND Strategy
• Establish and coordinate regular engagement opportunities with schools for children and young people with SEND
• Identify and create opportunities to share insights in key decision-making forums to embed positive change from children and young people feedback across SEND Services
• Assist with further development of the Preparing for Adulthood Offer
• Assist with further development of the Local Offer , including a dedicated area for  young people
• Assist with development of the Children and Young People Participation Strategy
• Use a variety of channels ( including digital) to engage and involve stakeholders
• Work with the Local Offer Information and Engagement Officer to ensure continuity in local offer website communication for families, children and young people
• Write reports for internal and external use, and present insights in engaging, compelling and accessible formats

Our Offer 

We have a number of rewards and benefits available to our staff, to view these please visit our Rewards and Benefits page  

Our aspiration is to be a truly flexible employer.  We welcome discussion on location, hours and working pattern as part of the application process. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

You will be expected to demonstrate how you meet the key accountabilities and competencies in this Recruitment Pack. 

Our Competency Framework and Qualification Guidance are to be read in conjunction with our Recruitment Pack. 

For an informal discussion about this position, please contact: Stephanie Phillips , Co-production and Engagement Lead at stephanie.phillips@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk or call 0300 300 4298

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Safeguarding: 

Central Bedfordshire Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all employees, volunteers and contractors to share this commitment. This post is subject to the disclosure of criminal records.   

To maintain a fair and consistent approach for applicants, it is Central Bedfordshire Council's policy to only consider applications made via our online application system and we therefore thank you for not submitting your application offline. 

Our National Careers Service team offer a free weekly workshop covering CV writing and how to complete the statement sections of the Central Bedfordshire Council online application form. This MS Teams workshop is open to anyone from the UK and lasts around 1.5 hours. Please book your place here.

More information about this service can be found here: Support getting into work or learning | Central Bedfordshire Council