Portage Practitioner

Role Responsibility

We are recruiting five Portage Practitioners PT, 28 hours a week.

Kent Portage Service supports pre-school children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities. Delivering Pre-School Learning Groups and Home Learning Sessions for children 0-5 and their families. Offering a blend of virtual and face to face sessions working from home and within KCC bases.

We are looking to recruit five PT Portage Practitioners, to work across Ashford, Canterbury and surrounding areas based at the Rainbow Centre, Tunbridge Wells, Tonbridge, and Sevenoaks, based at the Dolphin Centre in Tunbridge Wells, Maidstone based at Worrall House and  Dartford, Gravesend and Swanley, based at  Darent Valley Hospital,

Please include in your application the area of the position you are you are interested in.

This is an exciting opportunity to play an active and central role in supporting children’s development through face to face and virtual Portage Home learning sessions and Portage Pre-School Learning Groups.

The core elements of the role include.

• Developing play activities based on the child’s level and interests.
• working in partnership with families and other agencies.
• Using the small steps approach to plan learning experiences.
• Working closely with other professionals to support the transitions.
• Delivering Pre-School Learning Groups and Home Learning Sessions.
• Delivering sessions virtually using MS teams.

You will need to demonstrate experience of working with very young children with additional needs and their families and evidence how you can respond and extend play opportunities based around the child’s development.

In addition, good interpersonal, organisation, IT and communication skills are essential, these roles are coordinated and supported by the Portage Officers.

Successful candidates will need to attend the Accredited Portage three-day Training Workshop with the opportunity to then complete the National Portage Association Level 3 in Portage Practice.

This role is subject to holding a Full UK Driving Licence- the council is committed to making reasonable adjustments so whilst this job requires the job holder to drive your application will still be considered if you are unable to drive due to a disability

This post is considered by KCC to be a customer-facing position. The Council therefore has a statutory duty under Part 7 of the Immigration Act (2016) to ensure that post holders have a command of spoken English/Welsh sufficient for the effective performance of the job requirements. The appropriate standards are set out in the Job Description/Person Specification. 

This post is subject to an Enhanced Disclosure Application to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Contact Details

Amanda Wesson on amanda.wesson@kent.gov.uk

About the Company

KCC is committed to building a workforce which reflects the diversity of the county's working residents, encouraging applications from people of all ages, abilities, genders, sexual orientations, ethnic backgrounds and faiths, and aspires to create an inclusive workplace where everyone can be themselves at work.

Please note – if you are interested, please apply as soon as possible as the closing date for this advert may be earlier than stated should a number of suitably qualified candidates apply.