Assistant Director for Education

Assistant Director for Education

Permanent, Full Time

£97,874 Per Annum

Location: Colchester

Working Style: 

Closing Date: 07/07/2024

This role is based in North Essex. Interviews will be held on Monday 24th July

We are currently recruiting for an Assistant Director to join part of the Essex Education leadership team where you will have the opportunity to influence both strategy and the delivery for children and young people within Essex.

As an Assistant Director you will lead on the strategic delivery of educational outcomes for all children and young people, within a geographic locality and you will be responsible for the continuous improvement of performance within education, early years, attendance and SEND delivery.

About Essex

At Essex County Council, are passionate about ensuring all children and young people in Essex receive the best possible high quality and inclusive education. We strive for an education for all children which identifies and meets their individual needs successfully; enabling them to achieve their ambitions and prepare successfully for transition onwards into adulthood and pathways to independence, employment and enterprise.

The Education Directorate in Essex is split into four quadrant teams serving North East, Mid, South and West Essex plus centralised strategic, planning, performance and specialist services. This role will specifically cover North East Essex and there will be an expectation to travel within this area as required, with monthly team meetings and other meetings and training at the County Hall office in Chelmsford

The quadrant teams are responsible for statutory and early intervention services that drive improvement in the outcomes for children and young people and the performance of schools and early years settings. Essex County Council has a statutory duty to secure high quality education across all LA maintained schools, but we also work in partnership with all academies and multi academy trusts and colleges within the county..

Within the quadrant teams we manage our work collaboratively in multi-professional teams, aligned to a specific geographical cluster of schools and settings. Bringing SEND and School Effectiveness services together to drive whole school improvement and inclusive..

Essex County Council is currently embarking on a 'Whole Council Transformation’ approach to enable the council to deliver the highest quality of services to residents and partners. This work is shaping our update to the Education Vision for Essex including prioritising our approach to developing and leading a inclusive education system and transforming the delivery of SEND services across Essex.

The Role

As the Assistant Director you will influence complex system-wide cultural change across a dispersed team, to achieve a joined-up approach to education, SEND and early years services.

As a senior leader within the education function, this role requires significant influencing skills to build effective partnerships and work collaboratively with stakeholders, whilst taking a strategic overview of all activities across the quadrant, to ensure the highest quality of service is delivered to schools, children, young people and their families.

Together the SEND team delivers all statutory responsibilities around Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) for children and young people, as well as driving improvement in inclusive practice in schools, early years settings and colleges for the benefit of all children and young people.

The role involves the ongoing development and implementation of our vision for a SEND system which identifies and assesses need at an earlier stage and which provides appropriate and impactful support without such high dependence on Essex County Council’s statutory services. This involves a full commitment to the delivery of the Essex County Council Inclusion Strategy and significant multi-agency working to improve practice and operational performance across the local area Education, Health and Care landscape.

The post holder is responsible for ensuring that our SEND services are effectively managed and deployed to meet our SEND responsibilities to a high standard within a quadrant-based model, in line with the strategic county wide approach.

You will be responsible for developing and leading on the strategic oversight of the quadrant together with the corporate perspective to ensure education meets ECC strategic priorities and statutory duties and accountable for ensuring that all children with SEND have appropriate assessments to identify their specific needs and ensure the support specified is delivered and effective.

The NE quadrant has circa 150 schools and 500 EY settings. The post holder will need to build relationships with schools working with the headteacher associations and cluster meetings. The postholder also needs to strategically lead the work of the Tendring Education Strategic Board.

What do I need to be successful in the role

Key to success will be the ability of this leader to engage and inspire colleagues from across Essex and the wider system in a shared vision, understanding prevention and need, in order to deliver innovative education and early years solutions which maximise the use of shared resources and digital technologies and promote commercial opportunity for the service.

You will be educated to degree level or equivalent and have extensive knowledge and understanding of the education environment and its challenges. You will need to be creative and innovative and have demonstrable experience of delivering continuous improvement within the education sector. Relationship building and excellent communication skills will be fundamental to your success.

Why Essex?  Essex County Council has a location to be proud of. Our 1,300 square miles stretch from Constable Country to the Thames Estuary, from the dynamic M11 corridor to the traditional seaside resorts of Clacton and Walton. England’s oldest town, Colchester, and two of its newest – Basildon and Harlow – are right here. Along with the City of Chelmsford, the county town, they form our major population centres. It means real choice and makes Essex the ideal place for your career. Read more

Essex County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We’re committed to interview all disabled applicants who choose to apply under our Job Interview Scheme if they meet the minimum requirements of the job. Please speak to our Recruiters if you require any reasonable adjustments during the process.

We’re also committed to interview all veterans and care leavers, who meet the minimum requirements of the role for which they are applying.

Essex County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults, and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.

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