The Opportunity
FTE Salary: NJC Grade 8 £32,597 to £35,412 per annum
Working Patterns available:
Term Time Only 39 weeks
- 37 hours per week
- Actual salary: £28,208 to £30,645 per annum
All Year Round
- 29.6 hours per week
- Actual salary: £26,077 to £28,329
Contract Type: Permanent
Location: Kamelia Hall, Worthing, with delivery across the West (Chichester area) and the South (Worthing area).
You will need to be able to travel independently to various locations around the county.
Closing date: 21 August 2026
Interview date: 07 September 2026 at County Hall North, Horsham
Do you enjoy providing specialist Early Years advice and guidance?
Are you passionate about inclusion and SEND?
WSCC’s Educational Psychology Service are looking for an Early Years Inclusion Practitioner to support several settings across an allocated geographical area (South and West of West Sussex).
You will hold a caseload of children who require additional support, creating Inclusion Support Plans for individual children and providing advice and guidance to early years settings. This will enable effective inclusion of learners with identified Autism, social communication needs or other complex SEND. Each term you will be involved in the SEND under-5 process that identifies the needs of children.
You will work closely with Educational Psychologists, and liaise with Early Years and Childcare Advisers, Specialist Advisory Teachers for early years transitions, Early Years SEND Consultants and other professionals to deliver positive outcomes for children.
Key Responsibilities of the role include:
- Supporting accurate early identification and appropriate provision for children with SEND.
- Supporting parents/carers and professionals in the special educational needs of children 0-5 years.
- Developing and promoting inclusion across provisions and the childcare sector.
- Ensuring positive transitions between early years and school settings for all children with SEND.
- Using person and child-centred approaches.
- Collecting information for Education Health and Care Needs Assessments.
- Collating, analysing, and presenting data, contributing to assessments and written reports.
About You
We are looking for someone who has knowledge and understanding of the EYFS, Early Years and Child Development, SEND, and inclusive practice in all areas of work.
You will need integrity, awareness, empathy, and emotional resilience to provide a supportive service and to build positive professional relationships with Early Years setting staff, children and their families. You will have a strong team ethos that places wellbeing at the heart of our work.
If you have enthusiasm and a drive to improve outcomes for children with SEND, we would love to hear from you.
Please refer to the key skills in your cover letter as these will be used for shortlisting criteria.
Key Skills:
- Ability to work independently and as part of a team.
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills to build effective relationships with children, parents and professionals.
- Excellent time management and personal organisational skills to organise own workload and meet deadlines.
- Ability to work flexibly and creatively.
- Good analytical and judgemental skills to interpret complex information and situations, make assessments and develop creative solutions and plans.
- Ability to understand, keep up to date with and follow service policy, procedures and professional codes of conduct. Ability to reflect and evaluate performance.
- A good level of IT skills that will enable you to use a range of tools effectively and efficiently to complete work tasks using Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams) and bespoke databases to comply with General Data Protection Regulations.
Qualifications and/or experience:
- Degree or equivalent qualification or experience.
- Advanced experience of working in Early Years in either maintained or non-maintained early years provision, or within a Local Authority.
- Proven relevant experience supporting pupils with special educational needs and disabilities including those with Autism, social communication needs or other complex needs.
- Demonstrable experience of working as a Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator in an early years setting/school supporting colleagues in the identification of, and intervention for, children with SEND, setting targets and planning strategies and working in collaboration with Parents/Carers and professional colleagues.
- Knowledge of child development, SEND legislation, early years pedagogy and effective practice to improve outcomes for children with SEND.
- Secure knowledge and evidence of implementing the Early Years Framework and related pedagogical issues.
- Secure knowledge and evidence of implementing the SEND Code of Practice.
- An understanding of how children learn in and through a broad curriculum in the early years and beyond.
- Knowledge of the characteristics of effective settings and schools and the Ofsted Framework.
For more information on the Responsibilities of the role, Key Skills, Qualifications and/or Experience required, please refer to the Job Description attached.
About Us
The Education and Skills Directorate sits within the broader Department of Children, Young People and Learning, and plays a crucial part in delivering the West Sussex Plan to provide our young people with the Best Start in Life. This means it is vital that every school and setting in the county offers each and every child the education that they are entitled to, and we will do everything in our power to make that happen. Key outcomes for us as a County are that all children and young people are ready for school and work. This requires strong collaboration with the wider local authority agenda, particularly with Children’s Services.
The SEND & Inclusion Service brings together a range of specialist resources to support the drive for an inclusive educational culture across West Sussex education providers. As an Early Years Inclusion Practitioner, you will be part of the Educational Psychology Service within the Send and Inclusion Services working with a range of professionals to support children with identified Special Educational Needs in their early years’ settings.
Benefits
As an employer we recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive and dynamic working environment where employees can achieve their full potential, achieve a healthy work-life balance, and are rewarded for the work they do.
For a full list this can be found at our Rewards and Benefits page.
Upon joining us you will have access to a range of benefits including the following:
Employer Pension Contribution: TBC, this alters per annum on the 1 April each year (previous employer contribution for 2025 18.70%)
FTE Annual leave: 27 days holiday + Bank Holidays = 35 days, pro rata for part time. Please note that for the TTO position, holidays are to be taken within the allocated school holidays.
How to Apply
The reference number for this role is CAFHE06456.
For an informal conversation or for further information regarding the role, please contact Wendy Dunn (Early Years Inclusion Coordinator) [email protected] or Clare Myall (Assistant Principal Educational Psychologist) [email protected]
To apply, please follow the links below to upload your CV and Cover Letter.
In your cover letter please outline your motivations for applying and explaining the skills and experience you can bring to the role (please refer to the key skills) ensuring that any gaps in employment are covered in your CV.
Please ensure you have saved the job description attached to the main advert on our website as, once the job has closed, you may not have the opportunity to download again.
Safeguarding
We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people, and vulnerable adults.
This post is subject to an enhanced DBS check, five years referencing, and an occupational health check.
Equity, inclusion, and accessibility is very important to West Sussex County Council. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, as this helps us build a diverse and talented workforce, that reflects the communities we serve. We ensure our approach to recruitment is flexible and supportive to enable all applicants to be at their best and to ensure they have the best possible chance of success.
We operate a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants that have a disability, are a veteran or are a care leaver. More information can be found on our application help page.
If you require any reasonable adjustments to support your application, please contact Natalie Greene, Recruitment Specialist, at [email protected]
