Senior Inclusion Lead - Transitions and Flexible Education

Salary: Grade 8, £50,908 per annum.

Contract: Permanent

Hours: 37 Hours a week.

Closing date: 1st December 2026

About the Role

As a Senior Inclusion Lead within Somerset's Transitions and Flexible Education Team, you will play a key role in promoting inclusive educational practice and improving outcomes for children and young people who face barriers to education.

You will lead and support a team of Inclusion Leads while providing oversight and guidance on the most complex and challenging situations. Working closely with schools, families and multi-agency partners, you will help identify solutions where children and young people are at risk of exclusion, children not attending provision, placement breakdown and poor educational outcomes.

This is not a direct delivery role with children and young people. Instead, you will use your knowledge and influence to support schools, contribute to multi-agency planning, participate in Team Around the Child (TAC) and Team Around the Family (TAF) meetings, and work collaboratively with partners to ensure needs are understood and appropriate support is in place.

A key aspect of the role is supporting schools to identify and respond effectively to special educational needs, including situations where needs may be unmet or not yet formally identified. You will champion inclusive practice, promote early intervention and work collaboratively with schools and partners to develop sustainable solutions that enable children and young people to remain engaged in education.

A core focus of the role is providing high-quality advice, support and professional challenge to education settings and professionals, helping to identify need at the earliest opportunity, remove barriers to learning and participation, and ensure the right support is in place to improve outcomes for children and young people.

How You'll Make a Difference

• Lead and support a team of Inclusion Leads, providing professional supervision, guidance and quality assurance.
• Provide oversight and leadership for the most complex situations across the service.
• Support schools to develop inclusive practice and meet the needs of children and young people with identified and emerging SEND.
• Work collaboratively with schools and partners to promote engagement in provision.
• Participate in TAC, TAF and multi-agency meetings, contributing to solution-focused planning and coordinated support.
• Provide advice, challenge and support to education settings where barriers to learning and inclusion are evident.
• Promote early identification of need and timely intervention to prevent difficulties from escalating.
• Support successful transitions between educational phases for vulnerable learners.
• Build effective partnerships across education, health and social care to improve outcomes for children and young people.
• Contribute to service development and the continuous improvement of inclusion practice across Somerset.

What You'll Bring

• Significant experience working within education, working with children and young people with SEND and a solid understanding of the SEND Code of Practice.
• Expertise in identifying and addressing a range of complex needs of children and young people.
• Experience of leading, supervising or managing practitioners.
• Strong knowledge of SEND, inclusive practice, attendance, behaviour and exclusion processes.
• Experience supporting schools to meet the needs of children with complex, emerging or unidentified special educational needs.
• The ability to effectively challenge and support professionals to improve outcomes.
• Experience of working within multi-agency partnerships and contributing to complex plannng and decision-making.
• Excellent communication, influencing and relationship-building skills.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to navigate complex situations.
• A commitment to ensuring that children and young people receive the right support at the right time.
• A degree and Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) demonstrate equivalent relevant professional qualifications or expertise.
• Remains calm and solution-focused when managing complex issues, conflict or differing professional opinions.
• Skilled in facilitating difficult conversations, helping schools, families and professionals feel heard and understood while maintaining a clear focus on outcomes for children and young people.
• Demonstrates a strong understanding of safeguarding responsibilities and statutory guidance, ensuring the safety and wellbeing of children and young people remains central to all discussions, planning and decision-making, while appropriately challenging and supporting professionals to act in the best interests of the child.

Why Join Us?

At Somerset Council, we're a progressive organisation committed to improving lives and shaping better services for our communities. Based in one of England's most beautiful counties, it's a great place to build your career and enjoy an excellent quality of life.

• Generous annual leave plus bank holidays, with the option to purchase additional leave.

• Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS), one of the UK's most enhanced and secure pension schemes.

• Flexible and hybrid working arrangements to support work-life balance, where service needs allow.

• Health and wellbeing support, including access to confidential employee assistance services.

• Paid volunteering opportunities, helping you make a difference both inside and outside of work.

Find out more about working at Somerset Council:
https://www.somerset.gov.uk/jobs-and-careers/working-at-somerset-council/

Further Information

• 30 day’s annual leave (additional to bank holidays).
• Flexible working available, using a Hybrid model – working from home and your contracted work base.
• Linked to locality but with the expectation that casework is needs based and can be across Somerset.

Unfortunately, we are unable to offer sponsorship for this role. We are only able to proceed with candidates who already have the right to work in the UK without the need for VISA sponsorship.

For an informal discussion about the role, you can contact Sarah Stabback, Senior Expert Advisor at sarah.stabback@somerset.gov.uk

We believe diversity makes us stronger and are committed to creating a workplace where everyone feels valued and respected. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and experiences, whose unique perspectives help us better serve the people of Somerset.

You can find a copy of the job description: RP074 - Senior Inclusion Lead (Various Specialisms).pdf

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