Relational and Restorative Practice Advisor

Job Introduction

Staffordshire Virtual School is responsible for promoting and driving the educational attainment and outcomes of children who are looked after from 0 - 25 years. We also have statutory and non-statutory responsibilities to offer advice and guidance to support children with a social work involvement, previously looked after children and children who reside under Kinship Care arrangements.

You will be part of a team within the Virtual School, working with education and social care colleagues to develop Relational and Restorative practice, with the aim of raising the attainment of care experienced children and children who fall under the Extended Duties remit.
This is a hybrid role, with travel across the whole of Staffordshire, working across a range of settings, including Local Authority premises and education settings.

This role is fixed term, for a 12 month period and will be based at Castle House, Newcastle under Lyme. Travel across the whole of Staffordshire will be expected.

Main Responsibility

You will:

• Provide information, advice and guidance to individuals at risk of exclusion, with unmet emotional wellbeing or SEND needs, attendance concerns or challenges accessing appropriate education.
• Supporting children who are not achieving their potential through direct work with pupils and key adults.
• Leading solution focused circles and restorative conferences to address barriers, resolve conflict and develop effective plans.
• Work to support schools and social care colleagues, with the aim to increase the educational attainment of children previously in care, those subject to a plan, and children living with friends or family under Kinship or SGO arrangements.
• Respond confidently to support requests from parents and carers, social workers and education staff.
• Support education settings to develop relational and restorative practice as part of the Staffordshire Pathway.
• Work with settings to audit practice, identify training and development needs, and provide practical advice on implementing relational and restorative approaches.
• Deliver training sessions to adults across education settings and the Children and Families directorate.
• Support a broad range of education providers, from early years through to post‑16.

The Ideal Candidate

The minimum criteria that will be used to shortlist for this role will be:

• You will need to be a great advocate for improving educational outcomes for young people who have a social care experience or are living under Kinship Care/SGO arrangements. You will have excellent communication, interpersonal and organisational skills and experience of working with both teaching and social care professionals.
• Experience of working with schools in a support and challenge role would be desirable.
• You will be a confident practitioner able deliver practical support, training to adults and children as well as offering consultation and advice to school staff and partner agencies. You will be willing to undertake training to ensure that Relational and Restorative Practice is delivered to an exceptional standard
• You will bring experience of working with groups of children in an education setting with a range of strategies to engage children and ensure that their voice is heard.
• You will be a great team member working in a solution focused way to help us achieve great outcomes for our children.

Successful candidates will be asked to apply for an Enhanced Disclosure from the Disclosure and Barring Services.

Shortlisting is scheduled for Monday 23rd November.

Interviews are scheduled for Tuesday 1st December and will be held in Stafford.

Additionally, you are invited to attend an online half-hour information session where you can listen to what we do and ask any questions you may have. This is your opportunity to ensure you understand the role fully. To book onto one of these sessions or arrange an informal chat about this role, please email the recruiting manager Lisa Wood at: lisa.wood1@staffordshire.gov.uk

Our Recruitment Process: We anonymise applications during shortlisting to ensure only relevant information is considered. Please complete your application fully, especially the supporting statement, to highlight what you'll bring to the role.

Please note: The minimum criteria in the ideal candidate section detailed above will be used if you are applying under one of our Interview Guarantee Schemes detailed below.

About Staffordshire County Council

We are no ordinary county council

Our Values

The core of who we are as an organisation. Just like we all have personal values that shape our thoughts and behaviour, organisational values drive how we think and act collectively.

Our values were created and shaped by colleague feedback and national best practice and they sit at the heart of People Strategy:

We have a real sense of community spirit that brings our people together. This feeling of belonging means we are all connected to what we do and take pride in the difference we make every day for Staffordshire people. We are ambitious and our sights are set firmly on a better future.

We look forward and race ahead - that goes for your career too.

Our benefits

We recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive working environment where employees can achieve their full potential and achieve a healthy work-life balance.

In addition to your salary, as a member of staff, you will have access to Our rewards and benefits - Careers at Staffordshire

Our recruitment process

As an Authority we are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

Staffordshire County Council is an equal opportunities organisation and Disability Confident employer. We encourage applications from all background and communities

As part of our commitment as a Disability Confident employer, a Gold Award Armed Forces employer and our commitment to supporting care leavers - we offer a guaranteed interview as long as your application meets the minimum criteria for the post.

As you'll know safeguarding and promoting the welfare of our children and young people/vulnerable adults is important to us and that's why this position is subject to a criminal record check from the Disclosure and Barring Service. If applicable you should disclose details of unspent and unfiltered spent reprimands, formal warnings, cautions and convictions in your application form.

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Salary

£34,811 - £39,481

Working conditions

Contract: Fixed Term Full Time

Working hours: 37

Pay frequency: Annual