Temporary SEND Operations Assistant

Temporary SEND Operations Assistant

Temporary (6 months), Full Time

Pay Rate: £14.15 Per hour

Location: Colchester

Working Style: Operational field-based worker

Closing Date: 20th August 2025

Essex County Council (ECC) is seeking individuals to join our SEND Operations Team across our four quadrant locations:

• South(Basildon and surrounding areas)
• West(Harlow and surrounding areas)
• North(Colchester and surrounding areas)
• Mid(Chelmsford and surrounding areas)

Essex County Council is one of the largest and most dynamic local authorities in the UK, serving a population of 2 million residents, and has a very successful track record of delivering transformational change.  ECC anticipated change was needed in the public sector and has worked to deliver better quality at lower cost.  We have an ambitious transformation agenda – one with the scope to reach every part of the council.  We are changing the way we think, the way we work, and the ways in which we deliver our services.  We are committed to becoming a place where individuals, partners and communities feel proud to play their role and genuinely want to belong.  We’re immensely proud of our flexible working options.

The Opportunity

Essex County Council has embarked upon a programme of change for provision and services with the ambition to profoundly improve the outcomes and life experience of children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).  Our vision is 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.  

The SEND Operations Assistant provides administration and support to the statutory SEND processes such as the Annual Review Process, issuing proposed and final EHCPs, liaising with schools as well as providing a triage service for all contacts received by the SEND Operations Team.

With an RQF level 2 and thorough knowledge of the SEND Code of Practice 2015 and knowledge or experience of working with young people with SEND. 

Accountabilities

Receive, log and co-ordinate responses to incoming Section 23 and 24 notifications from Health Colleagues regarding children with SEND. Liaise with Senior Inclusion Partners to ensure effective monitoring, provision development and signposting systems are in place.

Receive, log and co-ordinate all incoming post 16 requests for assessment, liaising with schools, settings and other key stakeholders including the Preparing for Adulthood Team.

Support the preparation of papers for and co-ordination of the Annual Review process, ensuring that schools and settings are informed of who annual reviews should be held for during each academic term, and that appropriate people are invited to attend.

Provide triage of all incoming contacts to the SEND Operations team, acting as the first contact for parents/carers, CYP, school settings and other partner agencies. Signposting service users to relevant teams where appropriate and responding to queries wherever possible.

Provide administrative Support to SEND Operations Co-Ordinators by sending formal consultations to schools and settings as part of the Education Health Care (EHC) Assessment Process and co-ordinating responses.

Receive, log and direct inward transfer notifications, liaising with SEND Operations Partners and SEND Operations Co-ordinators to ensure that statutory processes and timescales are fully complied with.

Maintain tracking systems for all students who are at the point of phase transfer each year and provide support to SEND Operations Partners and SEND Operations Co-ordinators to ensure that statutory processes and timescales are fully complied with and that, where appropriate, Education Health Care Plans (EHCPs) are ceased in a timely manner.

Taking responsibility for ensuring that data is recorded accurately and in a timely manner to enable the Local Authority to report to stakeholders on a range of subjects including statutory timescales, out-of-authority placements and Children and Young People with alternative education offers. The data will also be used monitor and track pupil records. 

The Experience You Will Bring

• Educated to RQF level 2 or equivalent by experience.
• Evidence of continuing professional development and expert knowledge in relevant professional area
• Thorough working knowledge of SEND Code of Practice 2015
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Effective time management and prioritisation skills with the ability to manage own workload and adapt quickly and effectively to changing circumstances/situations.

To read more about us please visit: Education

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 about us.

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.

What you should do next

If you are interested in finding out more about this role, we would love to hear from you. Please apply via the Working for Essex website.

Please note that Essex County Council has determined that the off-payroll working rules will apply to this assignment and where a worker elects to provide their services through an intermediary (such as a personal services company) then income tax and primary national insurance contributions will be deducted at source from any payments made to the intermediary.

As part of employment with Essex County Council (ECC) should your role require a DBS check you will be required to register with the DBS update service.  The DBS update service ensures all registered DBS certificates are kept up to date and allows authorised parties to view the status of your certificate.  This is an annual subscription, and you will be responsible for ensuring this is maintained.  For further information on the DBS update service please go to https://www.gov.uk/dbs-update-service

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.

If you would like to be kept up to date on other relevant opportunities, blogs, news, events and industry related news at Essex County Council, please join The Essex Talent Community

If you have queries on this role or require anything further, please email essexsharedservices@essex.gov.uk