Are you passionate about making a positive impact on the lives of children and families? West Berkshire Council is seeking a dedicated Best Start Inclusion Practitioner to join our Early Help and Family Hub Team, working within the Children and Family Services
As a Best Start Inclusion Practitioner, you will play a crucial role in supporting the delivery of the Best Start in Life programme, ensuring that children and families receive the early help and support they need to thrive. You will work collaboratively with a range of partners to identify and address barriers to inclusion, providing advice, guidance and direct support to families to enable them to access appropriate services and opportunities.
There are three positions, based in different Family Hubs within West Berkshire District:
West Berkshire East Family Hub (Calcot)
Phoenix Resource Centre (Newbury)
West Berkshire Central Family Hub (Thatcham)
Please note this is a fixed term contract 31/03/2029 (Funding limited project).
Key responsibilities:
-
Work directly with children and families to provide inclusive practices
- Identify and address barriers to participation and achievement
- Collaborate with education providers, childcare settings and other agencies to promote inclusion
- Provide advice and guidance to parents/carers on supporting their children's development
- Contribute to the assessment and review processes for children with additional needs
The ideal candidate will possess the following skills and attributes:
-
Experience of working directly with children and families, ideally in an early years or education setting
- Sound knowledge of inclusion practices and legislation
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to build positive relationships with a range of stakeholders
- Strong assessment and observation skills
- Ability to work collaboratively within a multi-agency environment
- Self-motivated and able to work independently, as well as part of a team
West Berkshire Council offer excellent employment benefits such as:
-
Flexible working wherever possible between the hours of 07.00-21.00
- Hybrid working wherever possible working 40% in the office
- Access to a wide range of training and development opportunities
- Generous Local Government pension scheme
- Family friendly policies
- A range of local discounts
- Wellbeing Programme including Employee Assistance Programme and employee benefits
- You will also be entitled to a generous annual leave entitlement starting at 28 days per annum (plus public holidays) Rising by an additional 5 days after 5 years’ service. (Pro rata)
Please note that the closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible to avoid disappointment.
Join us at West Berkshire Council and make a positive impact in our community while advancing your career.
Explore everything that a career with West Berkshire Council has to offer here: Working with Us
For an informal discussion to learn more about this role, please contact Flic Ellmes on 01635 503540 or email
[email protected]
Equal Opportunities
The Council supports Equal Opportunity of employment and positively encourages applications from people who fall within any of the nine protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010.
How to apply
Please now complete a short online application form. You will then be able to upload your CV.
This role has been identified as public facing in accordance with Part 7 of the Immigration Act 2016; the requirement to fulfil all spoken aspects of the role with confidence in English applies.
West Berkshire Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all its staff and volunteers to share these values. We will ensure that all our recruitment and selection practices reflect this commitment. This role involves regulated activity with children. As such, appointment is subject to anEnhanced DBS check with the relevant Barred List(s).
In this post you will be required tomaintain continuous registration with the DBS Update Service for the duration of your employment.
We are ideally looking to offer the successful candidate the full number of hours advertised above. We may however consider offering less hours than advertised providing they meet the requirements of the role and service which will be determined by the recruiting manager.
This privacy notice applies to job applicants applying for vacancies with West Berkshire Council https://info.westberks.gov.uk/pnapplications
AI in Applications
We recognise that candidates may choose to use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support the preparation of their job applications. When used appropriately, AI can be a helpful aid in structuring responses, checking clarity, and improving presentation.
However, applications must reflect your own skills, experience and understanding. If an application appears to rely excessively on AI-generated content, it may not meet the required standard and could be rejected.
We encourage all applicants to ensure their submissions are authentic, tailored to the role, and clearly demonstrate their own knowledge, experience and suitability.
