HLTA Link Tutor - Gloucestershire Hospital Education Service (GHES)

We are looking for a highly experienced Link Tutor to join our pastoral support team.

The role of Link Tutor is hugely rewarding and the successful candidate would find themselves working within a team of highly motivated and creative staff. The role has a pastoral focus, providing support to enable our students to access educational provision whilst they are with us, and to aid transition back to their main school or other identified setting.

The role is peripatetic and county wide. Regular contact and visits to the home of our students is fundamental to the role. The visits enable our link tutors to work with our students to identify barriers to learning, key milestones, develop strategies and skills, and work on aspects of the wellbeing curriculum.

They have responsibility for liaising with Social Care, medical professionals, parents, the mainstream schools, and the academic teachers at GHES. Attendance at TAF, CIN, CP, PEPs and Graduated Pathway meetings are also part of this role. As a short-term service, re-integration back into the student's mainstream school, alternative provision or post 16 destination is a key feature. The link tutor is responsible for facilitating carefully planned and supported reintegration or transition.

We are looking for an individual who has experience of working with children with additional needs and professionals involved in the education system.

Understand the graduated pathway and the need for a student-centred approach
- Have experience of, or a good working knowledge of the other professional agencies who provide support for young people of school age
- Have experience of and good working knowledge of Special Educational Needs
- Place high value on the importance of safeguarding.
- Be well organised, able to work on their own initiative and manage their time well
- Be flexible and creative to achieve successful outcomes for all of our students

Excellent communication skills and the ability to build strong working relationships with students, parents, staff at GHES and professionals are all important qualities for this role. A firm belief that a medical condition should not stop a child reaching their full potential is essential., We are looking for a staff member who:
- Takes pride in their work and thrives in a busy environment
- Has the ability to organise themselves and plan their week
- Ensures student voice is at the heart of every decision
- Provides the right level of support and challenge to access education
- Is willing to be flexible and adaptable with tasks as they arise
- Is able to confidently communicate with students, parents, professionals through the main schools in Gloucestershire and NHS professionals
- Has good ICT skills, especially with Microsoft and SIMS, This Position is subject to a Enhanced DBS check. Please be aware as part of safer recruitment we will review all shortlisted candidates online presence and activity on social media platforms

We want to be an employer of choice, attracting and retaining excellent people to work for us, so that we can best serve all of Gloucestershire's diverse communities. Our promise to you is that we will provide an inclusive and supportive working environment that enables you to bring your whole self to work and realise your full potential.

It is a legal requirement, under the Immigration Act 2016, that anyone appointed to a 'customer facing role' must be able to demonstrate an ability to fulfil all spoken aspects of the role with confidence in fluent English.

Hybrid working arrangements are available for the majority of our roles, giving teams the opportunity to work in a way that suits them, balancing service need and individual choice, with a mix of both remote and office working.

This is a fantastic opportunity to join the hospital education team. You can be confident of joining a highly professional, passionate, supportive and very experienced team of teachers, pastoral and administrative team working tirelessly to ensure the best outcomes can be achieved for every individual despite the health barriers they may be facing.

Working Arrangements
The role is a permanent, term-time only role, 36 hours per week (39 + 5.55 holiday weeks), at Grade 6. This works out as being approximately 0.87FTE. Work would be a blend of working from home, travelling to student homes or their main schools, and working from our county office space in Cheltenham.

GHES is a school and a service within GCC and as such employees are entitled to many benefits within GCC:
- Membership of a Local Government Pension Scheme
- Discounts at a number of major supermarket chains and high street retailers
- Access to our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) that provides free, confidential, counselling and advice for employees