DSEN Coordinator/Administrator

We are seeking an excellent administrator to support our SENCO in effectively co-ordinating the work of all the support staff and teaching staff in the Learning Support Centre and the work of external agencies in order to ensure students referred to the Learning Support Centre are supported to access the curriculum successfully.

About Us

Harris Boys’ Academy East Dulwich opened in September 2009 and is part of the Outstanding Harris Federation. Our vision is clear: nothing is impossible and everything is possible, irrespective of personal characteristics or background. Every problem has a solution. We believe we are more robust, resilient and determined as a team than as a group of individuals. We support, challenge and hold each other to account at all levels within the academy to ensure that our students achieve their potential, are motivated, engaged and fully prepared for life beyond our academy. The academy’s specialisms are Enterprise and Sport with a ‘can-do’ ethos of always improving upon your personal best.  The Academy will accommodate 750 boys when full. Harris Boys' benefits from a state-of-the-art purpose-built building with the very latest facilities and equipment. The Academy offers a co-educational Post 16 with the nearby Harris Girls' Academy, together comprising capacity for 400 Sixth Formers. Harris Boys' was judged to be an outstanding school by Ofsted in December 2011.

Academy Ethos

We encourage our students to be critical thinkers and promote these skills throughout the curriculum. A student at Harris Boys' Academy will learn how to engage critically with foreign affairs, religion and society, issues of citizenship and the media, so they acquire the skills, and recognise the value of, thinking for yourself and thinking in a well-reasoned manner.

“We are very lucky to have an amazing staff team who work together, and what you get from this is an inertia of this body of professionals who are striving to be the very best they can be. It is down to these two points – staff who are on board, who want to change futures and want to be better at what they do, and students who buy into this idea of ‘I’m at school because I can make myself a better person and I can flourish in life.’ When you have these two points together, which is what we have worked very hard to obtain, then you can make wonderful things happen. And that’s shown through our outcomes and is also shown through if you’ve ever had a chance to speak to the boys and the parents of this school community.” Peter Groves, Principal

Main Areas of Responsibility

As DSEN Co-ordinator, you will be responsible for:

• To deal with all correspondence, telephone calls, e-mails, filing, visitor enquiries for Learning Support Department
• To undertake all administrative tasks directed by the SENCO
• To ensure SEN files, copies of letters are proof read and are held centrally in the Principalship.
• To assist the administrative work of Teaching Assistants and other members of the Learning Support Department as requested by Learning Support Leader and Senior Leadership Team.
• To assist in the day-to-day management, control and operation of Learning Support provision within the Academy, including effective deployment of staff and physical resources and liaison with external agencies to support progress towards targets. 
• To work with colleagues to formulate aims, objectives and strategic plans for the Learning Support Centre which have coherence and relevance to the needs of students and to the aims, objectives and strategic plans of the Academy. 
• To arrange details for the access arrangements for internal and external examinations. 
• To support to ensure that Health and Safety policies and practices, including risk assessments, throughout the area are in-line with national requirements and are updated where necessary, therefore liaising with the Academy’s Health and Safety Manager.

Qualifications & Experience

• Minimum 2 years’ experience of working with students with special education needs. 
• Excellent administrative skills
• Excellent IT and communication skills.  Knowledge of Microsoft Packages including excel and word.
• Knowledge and understanding of the importance of good student attendance and the government strategies and guidance for ensuring high targets are met. 
• Experience of communicating to a wide audience including teachers, LEA, managers, students and parents. 
• Experience in Multi-ethnic urban schools.
• Evidence of continuous self-development and updated knowledge in the fields particularly in the areas of responsibility for this post. 
• Knowledge of student welfare issues including child protection, raising achievement of children in care, refugees, SEN provision etc.

Next Steps

If you have any questions about this opportunity, please contact us via e-mail, or call to arrange a conversation.

Before applying, please download the Job Pack for full details on the job responsibilities and person specification. You will need this when completing your application.

Please note: we may hold interviews as and when applications are received and we reserve the right to offer to a candidate prior to the closing date. We only accept applications submitted online via our careers website and which are completed before the closing deadline. With this in mind, we encourage you to apply as soon as possible and advise you check the job information as per the listing on our careers site.

Rewards & Benefits

Our people are at the heart of our success. We have developed a strong culture of collaboration and best practice, with professional development and career planning at its centre. We invest in our staff with support, coaching, mentoring, and a wide range of top-quality training programmes delivered at every level to senior leadership.

We look for talented individuals who share our vision for creating exceptional places of learning, and are committed to ensuring that every child in London has access to the best possible education.

In addition to the opportunities for career progression, training and development, we also offer a competitive rewards and benefits package which includes our Harris Allowance, a Performance and Loyalty Bonus, Pension Scheme, a Wellbeing Cash Plan and many other benefits.

Safeguarding Notice

The Harris Federation and all our academies are committed to ensuring the highest levels of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, and we expect all our staff and volunteers to share in this commitment. All offers of employment are subject to an Enhanced DBS check, references, and where applicable, a prohibition from teaching check will be completed for all applicants. Before applying, please review our Policy Statement on the Recruitment of Ex-Offenders.

Equal Opportunities

The Harris Federation is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from all suitably qualified candidates.

As a provider of employment and education, we value the diversity of our staff and students, and all our staff are equally valued and respected. We are committed to providing a fair, equitable and mutually supportive learning and working environment for our students and staff.