Best Start Inclusion Practitioner

Job Description

Organisation: Leicestershire County Council

Work Location: County Hall Glenfield Leicester LE3 8RA - with travel across the localities over the County

Salary: £28,605 - £31,029 per annum (pro-rata for part-time) (Pay Award Pending)

Working Hours: 37 Per week (consideration of part time, 18.5hrs for successful candidates)

Contract Type: Fixed term until 31/3/2029

Closing Date:  20th September 2026

Interview Date(s): Friday 2nd October - in person 

About the Role

Would you like to join a team that is passionate about supporting children and their families in the early years? Do you want to support children and their families to make the best start in life? If so, here is an excellent opportunity for you!! 

As part of the Best Start in Life agenda we are looking to recruit an additional 4 members of our team to work across county delivering groups to support parents in their early parenting journey, enhancing their home learning environment.

You will also be doing outreach work in the community to support the take up of FEEE, support children with emerging SEND to be ‘Ready for School’, enhancing their ‘Good Level of Development’ and delivering drop in sessions.

We offer an excellent training package and will ‘buddy you up’ with our current Best Start Inclusion Practitioners already in post.

We will consider part time hours (18.5) for successful candidates.

An enhanced with barred list DBS check is required for this post.

For information on our approach to the recruitment of ex-offenders, please see our policy statement.

About You

To apply for this post, you must be able to evidence in your application how you meet the following criteria:

• NVQ 3 in appropriate early years or child care subject or NNEB / BTEC (Nursery Nursing), health, social care, or equivalent. Experience of working with parents and/or children of pre or school age in supporting parents’ understanding of their child’s early learning needs.
• Experience in working with families in which very young children are experiencing difficulties in their speech, language and communication development or in other key development areas.
• Knowledge of child development (0-5), with a particular understanding of language development.
• Knowledge of basic techniques which can be utilised to stimulate speech and language development.
• Knowledge and understanding of different cultures and ethnicity
• Knowledge of issues that may affect parenting, family development and community inclusion. 
• Good delivery skills and able to communicate effectively, both written and orally, including the ability to keep professional records 

In addition, we also expect you to share our commitment to our values and to delivering accessible and inclusive services which meet the needs of all of our residents.  You will be asked to demonstrate your understanding of these commitments as part of the selection process.

Reasonable adjustments will be considered for applicants with a disability. We are a Disability Confident Employer.

Interested in Flexible Working?

We are open to discussions about flexible working, which may include part time working, job sharing, term-time working, flexible start and finish times, and hybrid working, depending on the requirements of the role and the service. If you would like to discuss the possible flexible working options that might be applicable to this role, please contact the person named below.

For more information or an informal discussion, please contact:

Louise Pettitt, Team and Partnership Manager (Family Hubs)

Email: [email removed] 

Or

Abbie Blankley, Family Support Worker

Email: [email removed] 

or join our online drop in session to hear more about the role:https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/389474756268030?p=V1zyhslJKCnxS1Kzzn

How to Apply

At Leicestershire County Council we’re looking for top talent from all walks of life. Whoever you are, wherever you’re from, and whatever your background - we care about what you bring to our organisation, not just what’s on your CV. That’s why we’ve designed a recruitment process that’s fair, accessible, and focused on potential. And with benefits that support people at every age and stage of life, we make sure you can thrive - both personally and professionally.

If you share our passion to make a difference for the people of Leicestershire, we’d love to hear from you. Click the apply button to submit your application, ensuring that you upload a supporting statement that explains how you meet the criteria listed in the ‘About You’ section above. Without this information, we won’t be able to assess your suitability for the role, and your application will be rejected. For tips on how to write your statement, see the How to Apply section on our career site.

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. 

If you have any technical issues when trying to apply for this post or you want to request an application pack in an alternative format, please contact our Employee Service Centre by telephoning [phone removed] (select option 2) or raising a ticket via our online portal: https://emss.org.uk/support. 

By applying for this post, you agree to our Terms and Conditions.

About us

About Leicestershire County Council

At Leicestershire County Council, we're committed to making a real difference in people's lives. Our aim is to work with communities and partners to deliver public services that make Leicestershire the best possible place to live and work for everyone. 

Our employees play a key role in supporting this goal and helping us deliver the vital services we provide to the people of Leicestershire. Whether you're starting your career or looking for your next challenge, you'll find a place with us where your ideas are valued, and your work has purpose.

For further information on what it’s like to work for us and the benefits we offer, please refer to the following:

Our Recruitment Process
Our Organisational Values
Our Employee Benefits