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Graduated Approach Lead
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Staffordshire County Council
We're embarking on an ambitious transformation of Children’s and Families services and our vision is rooted in four core principles that underpin everything we do:
- Families first – network and community always
- Right help, right time – proportionate, timely and co-produced with children and families
- Whole-system responsibility for supporting children and families to be happy, healthy and safe
- Permanence as belonging from day one
To achieve our ambition, we are looking for talented, values-driven leaders who can champion these principles, inspire others and help shape the future of Children's and Families services in Staffordshire.
We want to create a more resilient, child-centred and future-focused system that enables children, young people and families to receive the right help at the right time.
Through this redesign, we are strengthening leadership, increasing capacity and creating clearer lines of accountability across our services. These changes will support high-quality practice, stronger partnerships and better outcomes for children and families, while ensuring we are well positioned to respond to national reforms and future challenges.
Main Responsibilities
As the Graduated Approach Lead, you will provide strategic leadership for inclusive SEND practice across Staffordshire, driving the development and implementation of the graduated approach to support children and young people with additional needs. You will work closely with schools, partners and SEND services to improve inclusion, early intervention and outcomes, ensuring families receive the right support at the right time.
You will:
- Lead the development and delivery of Staffordshire’s graduated approach to SEND, ensuring schools and partners can effectively implement Assess, Plan, Do, Review (APDR) practices.
- Drive improvements in inclusive practice, adaptive teaching and early intervention across schools and education settings.
- Lead key SEND networks and programmes, including the SENCo Network and Whole School SEND programme, promoting best practice and consistent approaches.
- Work collaboratively with education, SEND, attendance and inclusion teams to improve educational outcomes, attendance and inclusion for children and young people.
- Use SEND intelligence, performance data and quality assurance processes to identify improvement opportunities and support sustainable service delivery.
- Lead and develop practitioners, support policy development and contribute to strategic planning that strengthens SEND provision across Staffordshire.
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The Ideal Candidate
Minimum Criteria
- Extensive experience leading and delivering strategic SEND initiatives across educational settings.
- A strong understanding of the SEND Code of Practice, statutory SEND responsibilities and the Assess, Plan, Do, Review (APDR) cycle.
- Experience developing and embedding inclusive practice and adaptive teaching approaches that improve outcomes for children and young people.
- Experience working collaboratively with schools, SENCOs and multi-agency partners to drive system-wide improvement.
- Strong leadership and project management skills, with the ability to influence, challenge and lead change across services and partnerships.
- Experience using performance data, quality assurance activity and intelligence to inform strategic planning and service improvement.
The Assessment Process
Throughout the recruitment process, you will be assessed against the three key competency areas:
- Children & Families Core Principles
- Leadership
- Technical and Role-Specific Competencies
The process will take the form of an in-person interview which may include a role-specific exercise.
Interviews will be commencing from 2nd November 2026.
If you'd like to discuss the role further, please contact Halit Hulusi on halit.hulusi@staffordshire.gov.uk.
For information, please note that there is currently an ongoing review within Children and Families to realign individual teams and the wider team’s ways of working. As a result, this role may be affected by the review. For further information, please speak to the hiring manager.
Our Recruitment Process
We anonymise applications during shortlisting to ensure only relevant information is considered. Please complete your application fully, especially the supporting statement, to highlight what you’ll bring to the role.
Please note: The minimum essential criteria in the ideal section detailed above will be used if you are applying under one of our Interview Guarantee Schemes.
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About Staffordshire County Council
We are no ordinary county council:
Our Values
The core of who we are as an organisation. Just like we all have personal values that shape our thoughts and behaviour, organisational values drive how we think and act collectively.
Our values were created and shaped by colleague feedback and national best practice and they sit at the heart of People Strategy:
- We have a real sense of community spirit that brings our people together. This feeling of belonging means we are all connected to what we do and take pride in the difference we make every day for Staffordshire people. We are ambitious and our sights are set firmly on a better future.
- We look forward and race ahead - that goes for your career too.
Our Benefits
We recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive working environment where employees can achieve their full potential and achieve a healthy work-life balance.
In addition to your salary, as a member of staff, you will have access to Our rewards and benefits - Careers at Staffordshire.
Our Recruitment Process
As an Authority we are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
Staffordshire County Council is an equal opportunities organisation and Disability Confident employer. We encourage applications from all background and communities.
As part of our commitment as a Disability Confident employer, a Gold Award Armed Forces employer and our commitment to supporting care leavers - we offer a guaranteed interview as long as your application meets the minimum criteria for the post.
As you’ll know safeguarding and promoting the welfare of our children and young people/vulnerable adults is important to us and that’s why this position is subject to a criminal record check from the Disclosure and Barring Service. If applicable you should disclose details of unspent and unfiltered spent reprimands, formal warnings, cautions and convictions in your application form.
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