Assistant Team Manager Full Time

Reigate, Surrey
Surrey County Council

This role has a starting salary of £43,923 per annum, based on a 36-hour working week.

We are excited to be hiring a new Assistant Team Manager to join our fantastic Inclusion Service. The team is based in Woodhatch Place, Reigate.

We offer remote and agile working solutions; however, our Inclusion Team spend a lot of their time in schools and meeting with families. The Assistant Team Manager will be expected to attend the office regularly (2-3 times per week) to provide support and oversight to the team.

Rewards and Benefits

• 26 days’ holiday (prorated for part time staff), rising to 28 days after 2 years’ service and 30 days after 5 years’ service
• Option to buy up to 10 days of additional annual leave
• An extensive Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to support health and wellbeing
• Up to 5 days of carer’s leave per year
• Paternity, adoption and dependants leave
• A generous local government salary related pension
• Lifestyle discounts including gym, travel, shopping and many more
• 2 paid volunteering days plus 1 team volunteering day per year
• Robust induction programme
• Learning and development hub where you can access a wealth of resources

About the Team

There are four Inclusion Teams across the county. This vacancy is for the South-East Quadrant (covering the districts/boroughs of Tandridge, Reigate and Banstead and Mole Vally). We are a small, friendly, and diverse team made up of colleagues with varied employment history including teachers, police officers, youth workers, social workers, and mental health roles.

Our aim in the Inclusion Service is to make sure we are doing all we can to improve outcomes for vulnerable learners and ensure that all children are able to fulfil their potential through regular school attendance.

We’re looking for people with drive, great communication skills and initiative to help us in our mission. This is a challenging, but genuinely rewarding area of work where you will have a direct impact on the educational outcomes of Surrey’s children and young people.

About the Role

As an Assistant Team Manager, you will provide day-to-day support and supervision to a team of Inclusion Officers who are working with parents to ensure they are fulfilling their legal responsibilities to ensure their children attend school. You will interview parents under caution in accordance with PACE 1984 and make decisions regarding whether legal interventions are appropriate to improve school attendance. You will have strong communication skills to liaise with Inclusion Officers, schools, parents and other relevant professionals to assess cases of absenteeism. You will need to use your own drive and initiative to develop strategies to return pupils to school and be prepared to challenge attitudes which may hinder this objective. Collaboration is key to ensure positive outcomes are secured.

You will need a good understanding of the statutory nature of school attendance as you will be supporting Inclusion Officers to negotiate school attendance agreements/plans, hold review meetings, produce reports and prepare court files.

You will be providing support and advice in relation to the investigation of Children Missing Education (CME), children who have been permanently excluded and those being removed from roll to be Electively Home Educated (EHE). You will also be responsible for conducting Attendance Audits and supporting schools to develop strategies and action plans to improve their whole school attendance. This may include providing training to schools and other professionals on request.

Shortlisting Criteria

To be considered for shortlisting for this position, your application will clearly evidence the following:

• A good standard of education and excellent communication skills, both verbal and written as you will need to be comfortable and confident communicating with parents, children and other professionals
• Relevant experience in this area and evidence of recent career development
• Good knowledge of relevant legislation, including the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006, Education Act 1996 and Children Act 1989 & 2004, PACE 1984
• Experience of working with parents, children and families
• Leadership and supervisory skills will be an advantage.

Your career as an Assistant Team Manager within the Inclusion Service will be rewarding as mentioned by our team that the direct impact they have on improving school attendance, through building strong relationships with schools and other professionals, motivates them every day. If you’d like to join our small and friendly team – we’d love to hear from you!

The job advert closes at 23:59 on 4th February 2024 with interviews planned for 21st February 2024.

We look forward to receiving your application, please click on the apply online button below to submit

Our Commitment

Surrey County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. A guaranteed interview will be offered to all disabled applications where:

• The candidate has evidenced the minimum criteria for the role through their application
• The candidate has chosen to share that they have a disability on the application form

Our application form and onboarding process will provide an opportunity to request any reasonable adjustments for the interview and/or the role.

We want to be an inclusive and diverse employer reflecting the community we serve and particularly welcome applications from all underrepresented groups.