Vacancy details

Are you passionate about helping young people with SEND prepare for adulthood and achieve positive futures? This is an opportunity to use your expertise to influence inclusive post-16 practice, work alongside education settings and partners and make a meaningful difference to young people as they progress towards education, employment, independence and adult life.

At Bracknell Forest, we pride ourselves on being a council which is stable and well-managed where our employees can thrive in a supportive environment. We understand the importance of a healthy work-life balance and offer a variety of flexible working practices, including options for remote working and arrangements that allow you to work from home, dependent on the needs of the service. This role includes an expectation to work three to four days per week across our Child Development Centre and education settings, with one day per week working from home, subject to service requirements and operational needs.

Please note that this role will work across both the new E@H service and the established Educational Psychology Service.

About you…

You will play a key role in Bracknell Forest's SEND reform and 0–25 system development as the Post-16 SEND and Preparing for Adulthood Advisor within the newly established Experts at Hand service. Working as part of the integrated central hub, you will collaborate with colleagues across education, health, social care, careers and employment services to promote inclusive post-16 practice and improve Preparing for Adulthood (PfA) outcomes for young people with SEND.

Working directly with schools, colleges, independent training providers and other post-16 settings, you will help build their capacity to identify and meet the needs of young people with SEND as they move into further education, training, employment and adult life.

You will hold a recognised professional qualification in education, psychology or another relevant discipline aligned to this role. You will have an in-depth understanding of the local graduated approach, national SEND legislation and extensive experience of working within post-16 education settings.

Using a targeted approach based on mentoring, coaching, professional reflection and workforce development, you will support education providers to develop practical, evidence-informed approaches to transition planning, emotional wellbeing, independence, communication, employment readiness and sustained participation.

You will be a skilled relationship builder who is confident working across organisational boundaries and influencing practice through collaboration rather than direct case management. You will be reflective, solution-focused and committed to improving outcomes for young people with SEND through capacity building, inclusive practice and effective multi-agency working.

About the team…

Experts at Hand is a new multidisciplinary service established in response to the Government's ambitious SEND reform programme, which aims to increase the number of children and young people with SEND whose needs can be met within their local education settings.

The team includes educational psychologists, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, SEND advisors and outreach practitioners from local specialist schools. Based at the Child Development Centre, the team spends most of its time working directly alongside schools, colleges and other education providers.

Key responsibilities…

• Build post-16 SEND and PfA practice capacity through Experts at Hand.
• Strengthen transition planning and preparation for adulthood.
• Promote inclusive post-16 practice and sustained engagement.
• Provide mentoring, coaching and professional reflection.
• Strengthen multi-agency collaboration around post-16 SEND and PfA.
• Facilitate shared learning and consistent practice.

Our benefits…

• 28 days annual leave increasing to 33 days after 3 years’ continuous service, with the opportunity to buy up to 10 and sell up to 5 days. 
• Paid employee volunteering scheme.
• Local government pension scheme, with life insurance cover.
• Electric vehicle salary sacrifice scheme (subject to eligibility).
• Recognition of continuous service attained within the NHS and UKHSA when calculating some benefits. (Terms and Conditions apply)
• Career development through internal and external training opportunities. 
• Enhanced maternity, paternity, adoption and fostering leave. 
• Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to support your health and wellbeing
• Inclusive and social working environment with a variety of staff networks and a sports and social club. 

Find out more about all our benefits or see the candidate pack.

Our values

At Bracknell Forest Council our values define who we are and what is important to us. Our core values are inclusive, ambitious, and always learning. These values influence the way we work with each other and the way we serve our residents and engage with our communities. We make our values real by demonstrating them in how we behave every day. If you are excited about joining a diverse team that celebrates learning and strives for excellence, we would love to hear from you.

Reasonable adjustments

We are committed to ensuring an inclusive recruitment process for all applicants. If you require any reasonable adjustments to support your application or interview, please let us know by contacting recruitment@bracknell-forest.gov.uk. We will work with you to support you throughout the process. Find out more about reasonable adjustments.

Disability confident and inclusive recruitment

Bracknell Forest Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Leader and an inclusive employer. This means that if you tell us on your application form that you have a disability, are an armed forces veteran or are a care leaver, you will be guaranteed an interview if you meet the essential criteria outlined in the person specification.

Interview date

Interview date to be confirmed.

Interviews will be conducted in person, providing candidates with the chance to personally meet the team and experience our work environment.

We will be reviewing applications regularly and reserve the right to close the advert early if suitable candidates are identified. To avoid disappointment, you are advised to submit your application as soon as possible.

Please note AI is prohibited during the interview, any candidate using AI will be withdrawn from consideration.

Want to ask us a question?

For an informal discussion or to ask any questions about this role, please contact:

Catherine Reynolds Principal Educational Psychologist: Catherine.reynolds@bracknell-forest.gov.uk

Bracknell Forest Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. We expect everyone employed with us to share this commitment. All successful candidates for this role will be subject to an enhanced DBS (Disclosure & Barring Service) check as part of our pre-employment checks process.

We can only accept applications from candidates currently residing in the UK.

Candidates currently residing in the UK who require sponsorship to work are encouraged to assess their eligibility for a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) based on the relevant criteria. Please be aware that sponsorship availability varies and is subject to eligibility requirements and budget limitations. As a result, we cannot guarantee sponsorship for all roles and will evaluate sponsorship requests on a case-by-case basis.

No agencies please. 

Equal Opportunities

Bracknell Forest Council – Working for Equality. We welcome applications from all sections of the community.

How to apply

Please apply online via the link provided.

Please note, we do not accept CVs submitted without a fully completed online application form.