BSL Tutor and Practitioner – Hearing Support Team – Leicestershire County Council

The Hearing Support Team are seeking to recruit a dedicated professional to our BSL Tutor and Practitioner post to support the development of BSL (British Sign Language) and Deaf Awareness with Deaf children, their families, schools and settings. The post holder will work alongside our team of Qualified Teachers of the Deaf, Educational Audiologist, Hearing Support practitioners, and Audiological Technician.

The successful applicant will work with children and young people across a wide age range from preschool, in family homes and preschool settings, up to and including school and Post-16 settings, where relevant, promoting their communication development. The role involves providing family sign language training for families alongside play activities to develop communication with the preschool child. The role involves planning and delivering BSL teaching to identified staff within schools and settings as well as developing BSL skills within the Team. The post holder may be working alongside support workers of Deaf children to model and promote the use of BSL where appropriate within the school. Part of the role will be to assess children’s use of BSL and advising on next steps.

We are looking for an enthusiastic, competent signer and communicator with experience of working with Deaf children and young people. We are looking for someone who holds or is willing to work towards BSL Level 6. The successful applicant will need to be able to plan and prioritise their work, work independently and be flexible in their working pattern to suit the needs of the post.

About You

To apply for this post, you must:

• BSL Level 4 (=NVQ L4) (BSL Level 6 desirable) with a willingness to complete Level 6 and / or undertake further qualifications and training as necessary

• Significant experience and understanding of meeting the needs of children and young people who are deaf and their families

• Ability to Teach BSL and assist with teaching deaf awareness to a range of people including deaf and hearing children, families and professionals

• Good interpersonal skills, with the ability to relate positively to children, young people, parents and other professionals and establish effective working relationships with colleagues, educational settings and partner agencies

• Ability to actively demonstrate the values of the authority: Positivity; Trust and respect; Flexibility; Openness and Transparency

• Must be able to perform all duties and tasks with reasonable adjustment, where appropriate, in accordance with the provisions of the Equality Act 2010. This will include requirements to work flexibly within service requirements and access to a vehicle with the ability to travel to temporary bases such as schools, touch-down bases etc

• A clear understanding of and commitment to, Equal Opportunities and Safeguarding Children and the ability to apply this to strategic work and day-to-day situations

We are looking for an individual who celebrates equality, diversity and inclusion, challenging discrimination at every level, together as a service and a Council. We warmly welcome those from all cultures, ethnicities and beliefs, including those whose own experience of disability can serve as an inspiration – this diversity is vital to our journey and is fundamental to our values and enriches the service we offer our Children and Families.

You must also have an understanding of, and commitment to, equality, diversity and inclusion.

In addition, we also expect you to share our commitment to our values and will ask you to evidence when you have demonstrated them as part of the selection process.

Reasonable adjustments will be considered for applicants with a disability.