Barnardo's Stronger Families service offers an exciting opportunity to join an established team who are developing Attachment and Trauma Informed Practice models of working to deliver services to families with children aged 0-13 yrs of age in the Fife area.

Barnardo's has been established in Fife for over 20 years and our work with children and families has been a consistent feature of our services in Fife and Stronger Families intensive support service has been in existence for seveal years.

Families are referred to our service by the family social worker and live in the Fife area and at the point of referral to our service the families are often on the verge of family breakdown.

Our Stronger Families service is a robust service, and you will be required to work intensively with families and alongside our partner agencies to support children, young people and families to work towards better outcomes and ensure that, where possible relationships within the home improve and that children can safely remain at home.

Due to the intensive nature of our support your caseload will not be high and by working at this intensive level it allows for opportunities to build good professional relationships with the families and through the support given there would be hope that the family could affect meaningful and sustainable change.

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 in April 2023. This is a positive change for the charity, and a part of our People & Culture Strategy. It will assist us in supporting colleagues to belong, thrive and grow in their colleague journey at Barnardo's and in time will offer clear routes of progression for colleagues in both their career and their pay.

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 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.

Benefits

Workplace Offer: What it means for you

The world of work has changed. We are understanding of what works best for our colleagues both current and future as we look to embrace this new way of working. Our hybrid working initiative is based on trust, flexibility and empowerment. We understand our workplace offer means different things to different people, and we encourage those conversations. This may mean working at one of our stores, services, working at home, at one of our Collaboration Hubs or any combination of these.

• Barnardo's believe in creating equality of opportunity in the workplace and supporting people to manage their work-life balance; we are therefore open to offering flexible working arrangements.
• 26 days annual leave plus bank holidays, increasing after 5 years service
• The ability to buy up to another 5 days annual leave via our HolidayPlus scheme
• A host of family friendly leave options including company Maternity Paternity and Adoption pay; together with all family additional leave options
• Service related sick pay from day 1
• Access to a Group Personal Pension with a matched 4% or 6% contribution from Barnardo's. Ability to pay via salary sacrifice to garner both tax and NI savings on your own contribution
• Death in service cover of 4x annual earnings for all staff contributing to our Group Personal Pension
• Cycle2work scheme
• Interest free season ticket loans
• Discounts and cashback from at high street shops including major supermarkets, cinemas, gyms, leisure/theme parks, holidays and much more via our Benefit Portal
• 20% discount at Barnardo's stores
• Opportunity to purchase a health cash plan to claim towards dental, glasses, therapy etc
• Free access to round the clock employee assistance program for advice and support
• Access to Barnardo's Learning and Development offer

*T&C's apply based on contract

About Barnardo's

We are committed to being an inclusive employer and cultivating a culture where everyone can belong and thrive through inclusion and connectivity. We want our workforce to be reflective of the communities we work with, and for equality, diversity and inclusion to be embedded in everything we do. We are a Disability Confident Leader, are progressing our ambition to be an anti-racist organisation with Anti-Racism Commitments and actions in place and have networks for colleagues who are disabled, LGBT+, Black and Minoritised Ethnic and Women. We particularly encourage applications from Black and Minoritised Ethnic and/or disabled candidates who are currently underrepresented in our workforce. For disabled applicants, we offer reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process.

Aberlour is featured in the top 100 Sunday Times big organisations Best Places to Work 2024.

About Aberlour Sycamore Children’s Houses

Aberlour Sycamore Services’ vision is to provide warm, loving homes for children where everyone learns, laughs, grows into their future and is treasured always. At any one time, the residential houses within Sycamore require additional support to help to maintain stability and balance within the teams. Sycamore services are widely recognised in Scotland for providing a range of quality therapeutic residential houses for some of the most vulnerable children and young people in the country. The Service is a national resource and as such receives referrals from throughout Scotland.

What we are looking for....

We are looking for an individual who can integrate seamlessly into our existing team, working alongside it and relief adults to support excellent service delivery. We are looking for a Residential Worker to work 18.75 hours per week, covering maternity until September 2025, on a residential rota including early, late, waken nights, sleepovers and weekend shifts. You will have a knowledge and understanding of the importance of attachment, trauma and how this can impact on an individual’s development. At times our children express their distress through their behaviour and the role can be emotionally and physically challenging; we are therefore looking for someone who is resilient, understands that behaviour is a means of communication and is trauma responsive.

You will be skilled in building therapeutic relationships with the children, young people and young adults to enable them to feel safe, loved and cared for.

You must have the ability to quickly build your relationships with the adults within the house. The nature of the role is such that you could be working to cover a shift or longer periods as required, including days and wakened nightshifts and you may also be supporting young people to attend school or participate in other learning programmes. You must therefore be able to quickly adapt to the working environment within each house.

You will be comfortable with working within Aberlour’s culture embracing respect, integrity, innovation and the ability to challenge. Demonstration of these qualities will be particularly important in this role given that you will be dipping in and out of the different teams. You must be able to be an exceptional role model for other staff and the young person.

Undertaking the role of Residential Worker will afford you the opportunity to develop and build on a range of transferrable skills which are valued in a range of employment. You will be able to demonstrate excellent flexibility and adaptability with exceptional interpersonal skills, ability to work with different teams and different children, young people and young adults living within our Sycamore Houses.

What we offer...

As well as a supportive team and excellent training opportunities, we want all our employees to feel valued and rewarded for the vital work they do. When you work with us, we'll recognise your efforts with generous annual leave, an excellent employer pension scheme and a range of deals and discounts across various retailers.

The Yard is an award-winning charity that runs adventure play services for disabled children, young people and their families in Scotland. We offer disabled children and their siblings the chance to experience creative, adventurous indoor and outdoor play in a well-supported environment. Our services are known for their innovative and inclusive approaches, and our facilities are unique in Scotland.

Due to increasing numbers attending our services, we are looking to increase our team of Playworkers at The Yard Edinburgh.

Job details

Do you get a buzz from helping children and young people, creating laughter, mess and happy memories? If so, we think we have the ideal role for you.

We are looking for individuals who can initiate and support innovative and engaging play for disabled children and young people, focusing on their interests and needs.

If successful you will join our team of passionate and committed playworkers, delivering child-led, family sessions at our purpose-built site in Edinburgh. You’ll plan and deliver a range of play activities such as arts and crafts, loose parts play, den-building, sensory and water play. You’ll be an integral part of our team, with the opportunity for training and development. We are an accredited living wage employer and offer a wide range of benefits.

The successful candidate may have experience working in childcare, early years, nursery, play, youth work or the care sector.

We are looking for x1 Full Time - 37 hours per week (including evenings and weekends) and x1 Full Time – 37 hours per week specifically working nights in Edinburgh.

Benefits:

• 29 days annual leave PLUS bank holidays, with up to 5 additional days for continuous service and option to buy or sell leave
• Gain professional qualifications and excellent training/development opportunities
• Flexible maternity, adoption, and paternity packages
• Pension with up to 7% employer contribution with included life assurance cover
• Staff discount portal and Blue Light Card eligibility with 15,000 national retailers discounts.

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

Our housing support and care at home service currently supports one young person to continue to live in their own home in their community. We provide full-time care and support on a 2:1 basis for a young lady with learning disabilities who at times can present behaviours that challenge.

We do this by supporting her in her daily routines, assisting her with personal care and medication. The young lady we support has an absolute zest for life and likes to be as busy as possible. We always have a plan and are off out on adventures, walks, swimming, surfing and out and about to local parks and trying new things.

As a Housing Support Practitioner you'll be part of a dedicated team who work together to develop and deliver person-centred care plans. You'll have the exciting opportunity to join the young person on her journey to lead a more independent life by supporting her in achieving outcomes, making informed choices, and promoting participation in her community. We strongly believe that behaviour is communication and work to identify what the young people are trying to tell us through their behaviour and support them to communicate that in a positive way.

How you'll help to create brighter futures

Working in this environment can be so rewarding when you see the difference you're truly making. Our aim is to give every young person we work with the support and guidance to reach their potential and support their aspirations for a positive future, and this is a vital part of our work.

Some key responsibilities of a Housing Support Practitioner are;

• Helping young people in all aspects of their daily lives.
• Maintaining effective working relationships and communication with colleagues, young people and families.
• Being alert to child protection and safeguarding policies and procedures.
• Helping young people transition in to happy and healthy adults.
• Being solution focused and building on strengths.
• Achieving the highest standards of safeguarding, whether through direct care provision or support activities to the children and young people who come into contact with our services, or by appropriately reporting concerns.

Let's talk about you

You don't need a lot of previous experience or qualifications for this role – we're looking for someone with a positive attitude, and the desire and commitment to giving the best care to children and young people.

• A positive approach, providing a fun environment for the young people 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 with disabilities.
• A commitment to working on rota pattern, which includes midweek, weekends and some bank holidays.