Welcome to Somerset Council
Thank you for your interest in the position of Service Director Education.
Nothing is more important at Somerset Council than ensuring our children and young people lead healthy, happy and successful lives. High-quality education for everyone is at the heart of that ambition.
You’ll already know the enormity of the task, and the breadth of the work involved. We are determined to improve education outcomes across all sectors and phases, to deliver innovative special education needs programmes as part of our SEND Reforms and to join up with social care reforms through locality working, wrapped around schools.
We do of course face many challenges. This role is not for the faint hearted.
Somerset is a large and rural county, with over 260 state-maintained schools and settings. We have over 2000 children who are educated at home, with this number continuing to grow. In common with the national picture, birth rates are falling and with new housing coming on stream, population centres are changing too.
Because of the level of need in our communities, the number of children with an Education, Health and Care Plan has doubled in five years, adding pressure to budgets and school capacity. We are working hard to keep pace and know we need a strong and resilient Education Service Director to continue and accelerate the progress we have made so far.
We also have an ambitious SEND Reform Plan, covering the delivery of the new Experts at Hand model, school place sufficiency and further Partnership development which this role will lead on delivering, alongside a wide range of stakeholders and partners.
As you can see your days will be busy, never dull and always rewarding. And you’ll never be alone. You’ll have an experienced and stable management team who understand the challenges and are driving hard for change for children. You’ll be working as part of a dedicated, professional workforce across Children’s Services, and the wider Council, who share the same purpose - to improve the lives of children and families in Somerset.
And then there are the many partners and stakeholders we work with. The school and settings staff, parents and carers, our NHS colleagues, Public Health nursing, and community, faith and voluntary groups - all ambitious for Somerset children and proud of their achievements.
Thank you for your interest in joining us in our determination to ensure Somerset children and young people live their best life. There’s a lot to build on, a lot that can be achieved, and a lot to do.
If you’re up for the challenge, let’s carry on the conversation.
Somerset Council
