Enhanced Language and Communication Support Worker

The starting salary for this position is £32,111 per annum based on 36 hours per week, across 42 weeks per year. The role is term time, plus an additional 15 days per year. The 52 week equivalent salary is £34,660.

We are excited to be hiring Enhanced Language and Communication Support Workers to join our fantastic Enhanced Language and Communication Initiative (ELCi) team!

You will have a main Surrey office base in either Woking or Reigate and will work in schools across a designated area. We support agile working and are committed to providing a healthy work/life balance, considering flexible working wherever possible.

Our Offer to You

A generous local government salary related pension
Up to 5 days of carer's leave and 2 paid volunteering days per year
Paternity, adoption and dependents leave
An Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to support health and wellbeing
Learning and development hub where you can access a wealth of resources
Wellbeing and lifestyle discounts including gym, travel, and shopping
A chance to make a real difference to the lives of our residents

About the Role

ELCi is closely aligned with the Department for Education's SEND reforms set out in the "Every Child Achieving and Thriving" White Paper, particularly the "Experts at Hand" model. It aims to strengthen the capability of mainstream education settings to meet children's needs earlier, more effectively, and inclusively.

Some children may present with short, or longer-term additional needs on school entry. Improved understanding, together with the implementation of 'whole class approaches' can make a real difference to both staff and children's experiences. These approaches, that are beneficial to all and essential for some, will form the foundation of a communication supportive environment that enhances inclusion in our reception classes.

It is expected that ALL children in reception will benefit from a language rich environment and our enhanced offer.

The ELCi team is designed to support children with a range of additional needs in their reception year. Through collaborating with key school staff, children will be supported with their communication and emotional regulation needs, so that they can learn and thrive in their local school.

You will be joining a small team of Support Workers, supported by an ELCi Coordinator and led jointly by the Clinical Lead for Speech and Language Therapy and Senior Educational Psychologist. Training and ongoing professional development will be provided to ensure that you can confidently support settings and make a real difference to children's lives.

What you'll be doing

As a Support Worker, you will be delivering weekly input in reception classes, supporting teaching staff to create a communication friendly environment by implementing whole class approaches. You will use modelling and coaching skills to give staff the confidence to embed these approaches independently. This is a great opportunity to further develop your skills and work in a more autonomous way to develop our service to those in mainstream schools with speech, language and communication needs.

Your main duties as an Enhanced Language and Communication Support Worker will include:

Assessing communication supports in Reception classes using a SCERTS framework
Delivering weekly input and coaching in reception classes to support teaching staff to create a communication friendly environment
Modelling strategies to school staff
Problem solving with the class team to meet children's needs
Supporting with target setting, monitoring and review of agreed targets for staff
Information sharing, signposting and advice
Active engagement with supervision and a commitment to continuous professional development
Contributing to project work to develop the team and evaluation data

Your Application

In order to be considered for shortlisting, your CV and personal statement will clearly evidence the following skills and align with our behaviours:

A minimum of three years' experience of working with children and young people with additional/special educational needs

Experience of working within mainstream education settings
Ability to work independently and…