Home School Liaison Worker

The Home School Liaison Worker (HSLW) is a new role for Woodeaton Manor School. We recognise the great importance of effective communication between home and school and are keen to ensure that the relationships the school has with families is productive and supportive. The HSLW will be at the forefront of building and maintaining these relationships. The HSLW will work collaboratively with families, children, and the school to provide early intervention, signposting, support and guidance. They will have strong links to other professionals and outside agencies and form positive working relationships with families to enable effective support for pupils and their families.,

• A team dedicated to making a difference to pupils who need it most.
• Employee Assistant Programme.
• Continuous CPD opportunities.
This is an outstanding opportunity for someone who wants to join a high performing school and gain significant experience to further enhance their career. Main purpose To work collaboratively with families, children, and the school to provide early intervention, signposting, support and guidance, the Home School Link Worker will need to have strong links to other professionals and outside agencies and form positive working relationships with families to enable effective support for pupils and their families They will provide focused family support to parents/carers of children with a range of needs which: · Empowers parents/carers to support their children and meet their needs · Improves educational attendance of children resulting in enhanced life-chances · Reduces the risk of behaviours which cause risk to children · Facilitates early intervention to avoid escalation of issues Key responsibilities
• Operating in a family-centred way to support children with a range of needs that are identified by pastoral/safeguarding staff in school or are flagged by other agencies
• Offering emotional and practical support to children and their families both individually and in groups, particularly focusing on parenting skills and behaviour management as well as providing support with form filling, referrals, and entitlements.
• Acting as a conduit between stakeholders, school and other agencies to promote high levels of school attendance and emotional and physical well-being
• Developing trusting relationships with families and students to help alleviate or break their social isolation and/or risky behaviours
• Building up knowledge and understanding of local resources and community and statutory services, including Mental Health Teams, Social Services, Health, CAMHS, Schools and voluntary services, and communicate effectively with them in the best interests of the child and family
• Supporting and upholding WMS values and ensure personal/institutional compliance with relevant legislation within your relevant area of responsibility
• Working alongside colleagues to assess the needs of the families referred for support and participate in the reviews and evaluation of the work.
• Helping to plan creative and innovative responses to families' needs, keeping high quality records and assisting with the preparation of reports.
• Leading Early Help Assessments, attending/occasionally leading TAF and EHCP annual review meetings. Attending conferences, supervision and training sessions as required
• Keeping up to date with current support available to families and children through the Local Offer
• Working with other professionals and colleagues such as the Lead DSL, the Out of School Liaison Officer, LCSS and Social care
• Working with the Senior Leadership Team to ensure pupils and their families receive information, advice and guidance on transition options from Year 9 upwards
• Establishing and maintaining positive and trusting relationships with students and families by attending events such as coffee mornings and parent's evenings
• Providing pastoral support to pupils as required, supporting pupils with their social and emotional development
• Attending in service training after school, whole inset days, parent meetings, staff meetings and other CPD as required.
• Providing training events for families on subjects such as understanding autism and signing
• Having the ability to work flexibly to meet the needs of children and families including responding to emergencies and able to travel to, and access a variety of, locations including safely transporting children and families
• Being proactive, motivating and creating change within complex family situations. Dealing effectively with challenging situations with resilience, confidence and the ability to listen, mediate and negotiate.
• Communicating any concerns through the appropriate channels, playing an active
• part in the team by participating in decision making as appropriate
• Dealing effectively and sensitively with difficult inter-personal and crisis situations creating opportunities to be proactive, motivating and creating change within complex family situations.
• Being committed to working with pupils with special needs who may have a wide range of learning difficulties such as autism, SEMH and challenging behaviour.
• In addition to the above, WMS employees have a legal duty under the Health and Safety at Work Act and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations to take care of their own health and safety, and that of their fellow employees, they also have a responsibility to pupils and ensure this policy to be successfully implemented.
Safeguarding
• To work in accordance with Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) safeguarding children policies and procedures and undertake the role, in liaison with the school's Designated Safeguarding Lead.
• Read and follow the relevant school policies
• Undertake training required to develop in the role
Other areas of responsibility This job description sets out the main duties of the post at the date it was drawn up. However, it is not intended to be an exhaustive or definitive list. Such duties may vary from time to time without changing the general character of the post or the level of responsibility entailed. Such variations are a common occurrence and cannot themselves justify a reconsideration of the grading of the post. You may be required to carry out other duties commensurate with your role.


• English and Maths GSCE's at grade 4-9 (A - C) or equivalent.
• Relevant NVQ at level 2 or 3 e.g. Health and Social Care (Desirable)
• DSL (or willingness to complete it)
• Driving licence (Essential)
• Minibus licence (Desirable, relevant training will be provided)
• Experience
• Evidence of being part of a successful team
• Ability to organise and manage their own time and workload effectively and flexibly
• Ability to be pro-active and creative in sourcing avenues of support for pupils and families
• Experience of supporting pupils with SEMH, SLD, PMLD, ASC or in an Early Years setting
• Experience of working in a school/special school
• Experience of using alternative means of communication e.g. signing, PECs, communication aids etc.
Skills and knowledge
• To be self-motivated, enthusiastic, creative, adaptable and solution focused
• Use own initiative as well as follow detailed instructions
• Be a car driver and with own car
• Communicate effectively with pupils and their families
• Ability to support parents and carers to improve outcomes for their children
• To be effective in facilitating parent groups and leading training events.
• Demonstrate good verbal and written communication skills
• Ability to work effectively with a range of professionals to share information and improve outcomes for pupils
• Participate and effectively lead meetings with parents and other professionals ensuring there is a clear agenda and outcomes from the meeting
• Proactive in getting to know our pupils and their families
• Awareness of Safeguarding procedures
• Knows of and how to implement the recommendations of 'Keeping Children Safe in Education' (2021/2022) Statutory Guidance for Schools and Colleges
• Secure knowledge and understanding of best practice and procedures for safeguarding children and young people (Desirable)
• Has received training in Safeguarding and Child Protection (Desirable)
• Excellent IT skills
• Excellent time management and organisational skills
• Understanding of data protection and confidentiality
Personal qualities
• Demonstrates empathy and a caring approach
• Communicates effectively
• Commitment to supporting and understanding pupil needs
• Commitment to upholding and promoting the ethos and values of the school
• Commitment to maintaining appropriate confidentiality at all times
• Commitment to safeguarding, equality, diversity, and inclusion, Experience of working with children.
• Pastoral experience / safeguarding experience
• SEN / SEMH experience
• Excellent communication skills
• Ability to work with outside agencies & signpost concerns
• Confident, personable, and determined in nature
• Effective behaviour management skills
• A background in education / safeguarding / social work
• De-escalation strategies and techniques
• Some experience of safeguarding protocols
  
  A friendly work environment and a supportive leadership team.
• A team dedicated to making a difference to pupils who need it most.
• Employee Assistant Programme.
• Continuous CPD opportunities.
This is an outstanding opportunity for someone who wants to join a high performing school and gain significant experience to further enhance their career. Further details about the role Woodeaton Manor School "Reducing Barriers to Expand Horizons"