- Advertised from 8th December 2023
- 37 hours per week. Permanent.
Role
Vulnerable children in the UK need your help
Wherever you work in the Action for Children family, you'll be helping to change the lives of the most vulnerable children in the UK.
Last year, we helped more than 670,000 children and families across the UK. From direct work in communities to national campaigning, we are focused on making sure every child has a safe and happy childhood, and the foundations they need to thrive.
Why Action for Children?
Working here is more than a job. Everyone in the Action for Children family is passionate about protecting and supporting children. It's the sense of purpose that drives us every single day. Because we know that, when we work together, we can make a huge difference to bring lasting improvements to vulnerable children's lives.
A bit about the role
Bilston Residential Service is dedicated to providing a nurturing environment for a young girl with a learning disability and ASD. Our newly renovated house is designed to support her in having a fulfilling and active life, both within her home and in the wider community. We understand and appreciate her unique personality and strive to create a space where she can thrive and be supported with her individual needs.
Our young person loves the outdoors and especially enjoys local walks in the woods, regardless of the weather! In the house a range of activities will be planned to provide engagement, physical activity and to meet sensory needs. She loves regular visits from her mother and father that may include going for walks and eating out.
Our staff are expected to be creative and innovative in their approach to supporting our young people in making positive choices and achieving their personal goals. We value patience and resilience, especially when dealing with challenging behaviours, and strive to create a nurturing environment that promotes independence and fosters positive experiences and skill developments.
At Bilston, we believe allowing staff to choose between single or double shifts allows more flexibility and a better work/life balance. A suggested shift pattern of working 2 long days one week and 3 long days the next week provides a good work-life balance while on FT contracts. This, alongside the opportunity to support a wonderful YP with lots of potential makes Bilson a very desirable place to work.
How you'll help to create brighter futures
Some key responsibilities for the role are;
- Help young people in all aspects of their daily lives.
- Have good communication skills and the ability to engage well with both young people, colleagues and other professionals.
- Be a creative thinker and having a solution focused approach.
- Use your skills, knowledge and experience to meet the needs of young people.
Let's talk about you
- A positive approach, providing a fun environment for all the children in our care.
- Ideally, a HNC and SVQ 3 in a social care discipline (or a qualification which would meet the registration requirements) or a commitment to working towards these.
- Experience of working with children and young people, or vulnerable adults
- Safeguarding knowledge.
Good to know
Please note we are unable to offer visa sponsorship for this role.
Benefits:29 days annual leave PLUS bank holidays, Blue Light card, excellent training and developments opportunities, professional qualifications, excellent training and development opportunities, flexible maternity, adoption and paternity packages, up to 7% employer contribution pension, discount portal with your favourite brands.
Application notes
To find out more and apply please visit our website
Application Process: There are five sections to complete: Personal Details, CV, Supporting Statement & Information, Equality & Diversity, Submission & Declaration.
Talent Pool: We know talent when we see it. But sometimes we find the right person but not for the right job. We'd love to keep your details for when the right job comes up. Let us know if you'd rather we didn't.
Contact: If, for any reason, you need support with your application, please contact Laura McCarthy at Laura.McCarthy2@actionforchildren.org.uk. We'll be happy to give you any support you require.
Diversity, equality, and inclusion
At Action for Children, we're dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace. We actively encourage applications from Black, Asian & Minority Ethnic, and disabled candidates as they are under-represented within Action for Children. We want to take deliberate and purposeful action to ensure equal opportunity to all groups in society and for Action for Children.
Don't meet every single requirement?
If you're excited about this role but your experience doesn't align perfectly with the job description, we'd love you to apply anyway. You might just be the perfect person for this role, or another role within the Action for Children family.
Male staff are under-represented within our Children Service roles. We would like to encourage more male applicants for our Children Service roles.
We are seeking a playful, adaptable, and confident individuals for play worker posts at Play Midlothian, to deliver high quality services, enabling children to thrive through play.
Community Play Worker (CPW)
- First Aid: Desirable – can be attained whilst employed by the company. PM can support sourcing and funding courses.
- Child Protection Training: Essential – PM can support sourcing and funding courses.
- PVG Membership – Essential – PM can facilitate.
- Responsibility / duties – facilitating adventurous and creative play under the supervision of the Play Team Lead. The Community Play Worker may be asked to ‘lead’ a session alongside another CPW or APW once an agreed induction period has been fulfilled.
About Play Midlothian
Play Midlothian is a registered charity (no. SC025474) working to support children to thrive through play. We focus on play because we know how much this benefits children’s health, wellbeing and development. It is important for their lives in the here and now as well as for their future life chances.
We strive to remove barriers to play where they exist, to ensure all children have access to play that meets their needs. We provide services for children and families and build the capacity of communities to support play. This includes training and development opportunities for other settings, including schools. We are also a partner in the Midlothian Play Strategy, which takes a strategic approach in planning for and promoting play in Midlothian.
We have an office base in Dalkeith but deliver services throughout Midlothian, and if commissioned, beyond.
About the role
Our Playworkers support session planning and the day-to-day practicalities of our play services, carry out play work, and support services users. It is essential that the successful applicant enjoys all types of play and can respond flexibly to the needs of participants.
We are looking for someone who enjoys working as part of a team and can build productive relationships with our participants, colleagues and other stakeholders, while demonstrating an enthusiasm for Play Midlothian’s aims and values.
The postholder will be directed day to day by a Team Leader, and work as part of a team of Community Playworkers and at times volunteers.
It is important the postholder can be flexible about their hours, which will be worked over four or five days on a rota pattern over a 7-day week. Out 2 Play shifts may finish approx. 6.00/6.30pm. We value employees having work/life balance and aim to establish a pattern that shares out any evening and weekend working, so each employee has regular weekends off.
Play Midlothian’s services take place in a variety of community settings. Some are indoors, though a high proportion of our current services are exclusively outdoors (all year round), therefore the role will particularly suit applicants with a fondness for the outdoors.
We work with children and young people aged 0-13 (and at times older), with their parents/carers at some of our services, and at times with specific needs (including disability and emerging mental health challenges). We work with a variety of service models, though with the focus firmly on self-directed play. The goal is always to ensure that children have access to play opportunities that enable them to thrive.
Information on our current services can be found on our website.
For the right candidate, this will be a highly rewarding and stimulating role, offering plenty of variety in their work – all the while enabling their passion for children’s play to shine though.
Play Worker
- Full time
- £23,068 – £24,068
- On site: Edinburgh office base with regular travel across Scotland
- Closing 30th July 2024
Smart Play Network is a dynamic, forward thinking play organisation and charity supporting and delivering a range of play services in Scotland.
PlayTalkRead is a Scottish Government Early Years campaign aimed at promoting positive parenting in order to give children the best start in life and a strong platform for healthy growth, development and attainment.
Are you a fun and enthusiastic individual who enjoys working as part of a high energy team? Do you like to travel? Are you passionate about making a positive impact on families and understand the importance of parent and child relationships? Then this may be the job for you.
Our PlayTalkRead Roadshow travels across all of Scotland’s 32 local authorities to inspire and support parents and carers to interact with their babies and little ones through fun, simple and inexpensive activities.
As a key member of the play worker team you will travel to locations across Scotland. Working away from home is an integral part of the role and offers a great opportunity to see Scotland while making a difference!
Having the right mind-set, attitude and approach is as important for us as having the right experience and skills.
We appreciate that the best person might not have all the criteria we have listed, so if you feel your experience and skills will help you to make a great contribution in this role and you have the right mind-set, we would welcome an application from you.
When applying, please refer to the job details for full list of essential and advantageous criteria.
Family Outreach Worker/Shine Mentor (Tayside)
- Part time
- £27,676 – £32,078 pro-rata
- Hybrid: Covering Tayside
- Closing 31st July 2024
Circle is a children and families charity working at the heart of communities across central Scotland. Our purpose is to improve the lives of children by strengthening families.
Circle’s approach builds on strengths, is solution focussed and uses a whole family approach to create a family environment that promotes healthy development in children.
In partnership with Shine Women’s Mentoring Service, we have an exciting opportunity for a committed and enthusiastic individual to join our team.
Delivering mentoring and outreach family support services for women and their families affected by imprisonment.
The service is available to all adult females who are:
- currently serving a custodial sentence in Scotland of less than four years and not subject to a statutory order; or
- on remand; or
- subject to a Community Payback Order and/or Drug Treatment and Testing Order
Applicants should possess a qualification in social work, social care, education or health, and have relevant experience.
Waking night shift worker Gap Homes (Stirling) (17917)
- Part time
- £27,573 – £36,289 pro-rata
- On site: GAP Homes Stirling
- Closing 2nd August 2024
We have an exciting opportunity to be part of something new
Do you want to make a difference to the lives of young people setting up their own home?
You would be part of this new initiative, expanding housing options and housing support for young people. Based in Stirling with 24/7 supported tenancies and outreach to young people you should bring passion for investing your time and energy into supporting care leavers, enabling them to reach their potential and create positive futures. 4 one-bedroom tenancies will be available soon and we are looking for 2 waking night staff. All would be expected to be part of a collaborative team to provide round the clock support to young people.
We are looking for staff to join our Gap Homes Stirling Service with the following experience -
- A relevant qualification in children's services – preferably SVQ 3 or above or the willingness to work towards a qualification which ensures compliance with SSSC and Care Inspectorate Registration
- Knowledge/skills and experience of working with children and young people with a range of complex needs and issues including substance use, mental health, offending behaviour, trauma, bereavement, CSE and other adversities.
- Experience of working in partnership with a range of agencies including those working within housing support and 16+ services.
- Shifts on a Rota Basis.
Pay & Reward Framework
We know that our colleagues go above and beyond in delivering our vital work, driven by their passion and commitment to Barnardo's values. We also know that we can only realise our ambitions and achieve better outcomes for more children, thanks to the talent, hard work and creativity of our people.
For all these reasons, we are committed to a new approach to pay and reward, to ensure it is fair, attractive and progressive, which was rolled out 1st April 2023. This is a positive change for the charity, and a key pillar of our People & Culture Strategy. It will assist us in supporting colleagues to grow and develop in their career at Barnardo's as it will offer clear routes of progression for colleagues to progress through the pay band of their role.
Whilst the full pay band and salary range is advertised, our approach to starting salaries is to appoint between the minimum to mid-point of the pay band – this ensures that pay progression steps are available to reward our colleagues annually based on their contribution to excellence and alignment to our values and behaviours. More details on Barnardo's pay framework can be found upon application.
About Barnardo's
At Barnardo's we believe in children – no matter who they are, what they have done or what they have been through. Please read about our basis and values following the link below. You will be asked questions relating to them as part of the recruitment process for this role.
Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) is reflected in our values and our practice, and we have invested in this area of our work to ensure that we can deliver on our commitments to be an inclusive employer. EDI is a key enabler of our purpose as a charity and we want to ensure that the diversity of our teams is reflective of the communities we serve and that we continue to learn and develop our work with a focus on inclusion. We particularly encourage applications from candidates from Black, Asian and Minoritised Ethnic Communities, candidates who are LGBT+ and Disabled candidates.
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