Job Title: Reintegration Education Officer – ESMA
Starting Salary: £34,434 progressing to £37,280 pa pro rata
Hours: 37.0 – Term Time Only
Location: Hemel Hempstead – with travel across St Albans, Dacorum, Watford and Three Rivers
Contract Type: Fixed Term / Secondment to Aug 2027
Directorate: Childrens Services
The Educational Support for Medical Absence (ESMA) Teaching Service is an educational teaching service for children who are unable to attend school for medical reasons. The Service sits within Access and Inclusion, part of the multi-disciplinary Integrated Services for Learning (ISL) service within Children’s Services.
This role and has been created to coordinate the educational support and reintegration of students who are being supported by the ESMA Teaching Service, in line with the ESMA countywide teaching agenda.
The ESMA Teaching Service offers education to students in a variety of formats, including small group teaching, online and face-to-face. Most of the teaching, both face-to-face and online, is delivered from our teaching bases in Hemel Hempstead and Stevenage.
The Reintegration and Education Officers will be based at one of these teaching venues to enable discussions with the ESMA teachers who are delivering the teaching to the students, although there is the expectation that there will be a need to travel to assist students with reintegration to their schools, and to fulfil other requirements of the role.
The post holder will work closely with schools, health professionals and other agencies to ensure children absent from school for medical reasons are provided with the best possible education and supported to return to school as soon as appropriate.
The post holder will coordinate and inform Planning and Review Meetings with families, school, and health. The aim of such meetings is to promote the learning and personal development of the students to whom they are assigned, enabling them to make best use of the educational opportunities available to support the reintegration plan, in line with medical recommendations.
Essential:
• Knowledge and experience of an educational setting.
• Ability to organise and manage your time effectively.
• Ability to organise and lead meetings with a range of professionals and family to arrange a support plan for the pupil.
• Understanding of keeping children safe in education legislation.
• Commitment to promoting equal opportunities and diversity.
• Ability to prioritise work within a multi-professional team reflecting service priorities.
• Excellent communication and technology (ICT) skills.
• Able to travel independently – full current driving licence and access to a vehicle.
Desirable:
• Previous pastoral work in an educational setting.
• Knowledge of barriers that young people might face when reintegrating after absence from school.
This job role is within the Community Services, level COM9 job profile. Please locate this via:
Job profiles – Community services
To hear more about this opportunity please contact Carli.Sutton@hertfordshire.gov.uk
Interview Date: Friday 6th March
As part of your application, please upload your most recent CV. Ensure your CV is up to date with your employment history (including any employment gaps), and including any training/qualifications. We encourage you to include examples of where you have demonstrated the requirements/criteria in the advert / job profile to allow the panel to fully recognise your skills and abilities. You will have the opportunity to include a short covering paragraph within your application to give us a little more information about your skills, knowledge, and experiences.
Secondment
This position is open to secondments. If you work for HCC or any other Local Authority and would like to be considered as a Secondment contract, please ensure you complete the Secondment Form as part of your application. If you do not, your application will be considered as a Fixed Term Contract only.
Disability Confident
We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer and guarantee an interview to anyone disclosing a disability whose application meets the minimum criteria for the post.
Safeguarding
This role has been identified as requiring a Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check.
Driving required
You’ll need to have the ability to drive and/or travel around Hertfordshire, either using your own mode of transport or a company car to travel to other locations.
English Fluency
The ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English is essential for the post (for those whose language is a signed language the provision of a sign language interpreter who speaks English to the necessary standard of fluency will be required). Further information about the legal requirement can be found here.
