Participation and Co-production Officer

SEND Participation & Coproduction Officer

We are now recruiting for a Participation & Coproduction Officer to join the Family Information, Advice and Support Service 

This is a new post and we are looking for a highly creative and motivated individual who is committed to developing parental participation in developing SEND Services and ensuring Coproduction is embedded in practice.

£42,855 - £46,053

• 29 days paid holiday each year, rising to 33 days with long service plus bank holidays; 

• Pension scheme; 

• Cycle to Work salary sacrifice scheme; 

• Interest-free loans for season tickets; 

• Well-being discounts; 

• Working within a diverse and inclusive workforce 

About the Role  

To provide a quality, impartial and participatory service for parents/carers of Children with SEND to ensure their voices are heard and are involved at every level in Coproduction.

To develop with parents/carers and professionals a Tower Hamlets Coproduction Charter and ensure all relevant Education Health and Social Care Services are aware of and committed to this Charter

To help parents access the Local Offer so they can navigate it themselves more easily and to ensure through participation and consultation that it contains information that parents require

To ensure ongoing planning, delivery, evaluation and continuous development of a diverse participation offer for parents/carers of children with SEND with better access to user friendly information that informs professionals delivery of it

To enhance parents' access to user-friendly information by understanding their needs and preferences and collaborating with stakeholders to tailor the delivery of information in a clear and accessible format.

To empower and support parents to express their views and to ensure that these views are heard by relevant agencies.

This exciting new role is integral to our commitment to providing high quality information, guidance and support to local families, professionals and members of the community.  

Developing a specialist service ensuring families and stakeholders are engaged with, and enabled, to understand the SEND system and work together to ensure best outcomes for all children and young people with SEND

For an informal discussion, email jenny.miller@towerhamlets.gov.uk   

Key Responsibilities 

Working closely with Manager of SEND IASS to support parents to participate in the coproduction of the participation offer, so their voices are heard and understood, informing the delivery of high quality, individualised and responsive participation offer

You will develop an Outreach programme in schools, Family Hubs and other settings to ensure as wide a reach as possible and ensure that parents and professionals develop strong working relationships

You will support the development of the SEND Parental Engagement and Communication Action Plan working closely with SEND IASS Manager, the independent SEND Parent/Carer Forum and SEND Parent Ambassadors to deliver agreed Outcomes

An initial priority will be to develop Tower Hamlets SEND Coproduction Charter in partnership with all stakeholders – professionals, parents and young people and ensure that it is widely shared.

The postholder will be required to produce and present operational and strategic monitoring reports using electronic and manual data and to monitor and analyse progress in delivery of agreed priorities 

 Requirements 

The right candidate for this role will be passionate about improving services for Children, Young People and Families of Tower Hamlets. You will be a self-starter who is curious and inquisitive, with exceptional communication skills, both written and verbal with excellent active listening skills and experience of working directly in SEND

A highly motivated and keen learner who thrives with new challenges and likes seeking new opportunities, you will be highly competent with IT (Microsoft Office, Teams, Excel, PowerPoint, and CMS systems) and confident with management social media and organising events  

An excellent team player and ready to build relationships at all levels of our organisation and within a diverse community. You will be highly adaptable and capable of working well within a busy and fast-paced environment. The ideal candidate will be resourceful, able to self-direct and use your own initiative. 

Regular evening and weekend work. 

''Tower Hamlets vision for our borough is that: people are aspirational, independent and have equal access to opportunities; we are a borough that our residents are proud of and love to live in; and we are a dynamic, outcomes-based council using digital innovation and partnership working to respond to the changing needs of our borough. We want people who aspire to our TOWER values: Together; Open; Willing; Excellent; Respect.

Tower Hamlets has a zero-tolerance approach to, and works to eradicate, all forms of discrimination on the basis of race, sex, disability, age, religion or belief, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marital status, status as a civil partner, gender, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy and maternity and looks to employ a diverse workforce representative of those groups. We recognise that people can also be disadvantaged by their social and economic circumstances, so we will work to eliminate discrimination and disadvantage caused by social class. We are a Disability Confident Employer, which means applicants who declare a disability and meet the essential criteria for the post are guaranteed an interview. Care experience has also been adopted by the Council as an additional protected characteristic.

We welcome applicants interested in flexible working arrangements and also applicants who live in the borough.''