We are seeking a motivated and compassionate Deputy Manager to help oversee our holiday support service and develop improvements across our organisation.

This is an exciting time to join The Yard and play a key role in delivering and improving our specialist services for children and young people with additional support needs.

The Role

You will support the Children’s Services Manager in leading the day-to-day operations of the Holiday Support Service, providing direction to a team of Support Workers while liaising with parents & carers to maintain and review Personal Support Plans for each child.

During term-time, this post will involve additional duties in the delivery of our core services.

You will:

• Support the delivery of service in line with standards set by regulatory bodies (Care Inspectorate and SSSC)
• Support the engagement of children in creative play and the management of suitable activity plans for the different ages/stages of development and interests of children
• Provide effective support and direction to a team of support workers through motivation, supervision, and feedback
• Support the Children’s Services Manager to ensure compliance across the service and ensure the team receive training and guidance appropriate to their role

If you are passionate about making a difference in the lives of children with disabilities and have the skills to help run a regulated service, we would love to hear from you.

About You

We are looking for a Deputy Manager who is inspired by our ethos and is excited to bring their knowledge and experience to our specialised Holiday Support Service for children with complex medical needs.

You will have:

• Supervisory experience, including direct staff supervision, development and implementation of rotas
• Knowledge and experience of facilitating indoor and outdoor play opportunities and environments and leading recreational activities
• Experience of working with children and young people with a range of disabilities
• Excellent organisational skills and administrative abilities

Desirable:

• Leaderships skills and team building capacity
• Previous experience of improvement work within a childcare setting
• First Aid at Work certificate
• Experience of Moving and Handling, delivering personal care and supporting complex medical needs

About the organisation:

The Yard is a Scottish charity offering adventure play, short breaks, training, and support for children and young people with additional support needs, and their families. We operate inclusive play centres, deliver outreach work, and run holiday and youth clubs. We aim to build supportive communities and promote understanding and inclusion for disabled children.

We are an equal opportunities employer and welcome applications from all sections of the community. The post is subject to a PVG check and SSSC registration.

Are you committed to delivering best practice to support children and young people with complex needs?

Are you ready to use your experience and skill to shape practice in delivering quality services to children and young people?

Do you feel excited about the opportunity to take your first step towards a management position?

If so, this is a great opportunity for you.

About Aberlour Options Fife – Glenrothes Continuing Care

At Aberlour we listen to understand what our young people want and need within our local area. As such, our Options Fife Continuing Care services in Glenrothes support young people with learning disabilities and/or autism to live and thrive within the local community.

What we are looking for....

As someone who has built up experience working in residential childcare, you will have the confidence to guide and direct the provision of care to the children and young people in the service. You will play a pivotal role, working in partnership with parents and families to meet the emotional and physical needs of children and young people with complex disabilities.

When on shift, you will play a lead role, mentoring and supporting staff and being a role model, delivering excellence in the services we provide. You will assist in assessing, planning and delivering services, taking responsibility for ensuring that assessment and interventions are prepared, monitored and evaluated.

Engaging positively with children, young people and families you will plan and implement appropriate support for the children and young people. Sensitive and accurate reporting is a key responsibility and so you will have good written communication skills and the ability to learn how to use effectively, Aberlour’s recording system: Dynamics.

This role offers the opportunity to consolidate and build on your experience combined with the ability to enhance your skills and knowledge through training, for example, in Dyadic Developmental Practice.

As part of the management team you will play an active role in ensuring that shift duties are delegated and completed in accordance with service guidance.

Senior Young People’s Workers will work a Residential Rota 2.5 x 12.5 hours shift direct care of their role on shift and 0.5 x 12.5 hours of their time working alongside the Service Manager on operational tasks and standardising practice. Overnight sleep ins are part of the role, alongside an awake member of night staff.

At Aberlour we want to make sure every child and young person has the love, support and opportunity they need to reach their potential. If you share the same vision, we want you to join our team. Aberlour’s values are critical and drive everything we do. We will be looking for someone who can demonstrate how Aberlour’s values of Respect, Innovation, Integrity and Challenge will be visible in their practice. You must be comfortable working in an environment where Aberlour’s values are lived in practice.

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.

“I lost my kids a few times they went to foster care and I would have gone to a place like this if I had the chance. This is badly needed. I hid my drug use and people only found out about it when I had my baby and she was in withdrawal. I loved my daughter and would have welcomed something like this.”

A mother who has been supported by Aberlour

About Aberlour’s Mother and Child Recovery House

Aberlour is proud to be working with the Scottish Government for our dedicated Mother and Child Residential Recovery House based in Falkirk. Our service is designed to enable children of women with problematic substance use to stay with mothers during their recovery. Aberlour’s approach to rehabilitation aims to deliver positive outcomes for women and their children.

We are supporting families using the Parents Under Pressure (PuP) program which combines psychological principles relating to parenting, child behaviour and parental emotion regulation within a case management model. The program is highly individualized to suit each family. Parents are given their own Parent Workbook. For many parents, this becomes a personal journal of their treatment experience. The overarching aim of the PuP program is to help parents facing adversity develop positive and secure relationships with their children. Within this strength-based approach, the family environment becomes more nurturing and less conflictual.

What we are looking for....

Our relief workers play a crucial role in supporting our team. This work is offered on a casual, hourly paid basis to provide cover during staff absence and/or particularly busy periods. This is a 24 hour service. This is a variable shift pattern, 8am - 6pm, 12.30pm - 10pm, 2.30pm- 10.30pm & Sleepover. This includes weekends.

Ideally you will have experience of direct work with vulnerable families to support improved capacity for women and children and of working collaboratively with other professional agencies and a working knowledge of drug/alcohol use and its effects on women and children.

Applicants should hold a relevant professional qualification at least SCQF level 7, or equivalent knowledge acquired by other means, with a willingness to obtain the required qualifications for SSSC Registration.

Individuals with Lived Experience of alcohol or drug use are strongly encouraged to apply for these positions where they will gain experience and training to enhance their knowledge and skills. People with lived experience are vital members of the team delivering this service to the women and children.

At Aberlour we want to make sure every child and young person has the love, support and opportunity they need to reach their potential. If you share the same vision, we want you to join our team.

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.

If you have any queries please e-mail: jobs@aberlour.org.uk.

Aberlour is committed to the safeguarding and welfare of all our service users and uses a thorough and rigorous recruitment and selection process including PVG Scheme checks to ensure this commitment is not compromised.

Home-Start Clackmannanshire is a long standing, dynamic charity, striving to ensure every young child (under 12) has the best possible start in life locally. Raising a family has never been easy; our trained volunteers and staff are there to support families through challenging times. In Scotland, Home-Starts have over 1,500 volunteers supporting over 3,500 families and 6,500 children each year through compassionate, confidential help to parents/carers when they need us most. The parents/carers we support are often overwhelmed and isolated. They may be struggling with mental health, illness, disability, multiple births, poverty, domestic abuse, separation and/or trauma. We provide a bespoke support package of 1:1 in home and group services for families, helping them to cope with the stresses and strains of daily life and encourage them to build the skills, confidence, and strength they need to nurture their children for years to come.

In 2024, Action for Children, NHS (speech and language) and Educational Psychology launched an exciting new provision called Play Roots with the support and funding from our local Child Wellbeing Partnership. Play Roots is an enhanced 0-5 group provision for local families operating across four localities in Clackmannanshire weekly.

Purpose of the job

Play Roots has developed rapidly since the first group launched, with families directly informing our sessions, allowing us to ensure we are delivering a communities based, group support system, providing a nurturing and educational environment for children (0-5) and their parents/carers. Play Roots aims to enhance positive well-being, parent-child attachment, support early childhood development, and encourage wider community connections and changes for parental progression; providing the foundations for children and families to flourish long-term.

We are looking for an enthusiastic, driven practitioner, capable of coordinating the delivery of our four local groups to ensure their effective running, and maximising impact through groups supporting the development of children and parents/carers by creating fun and interesting learning environments/activities to enhance skills, promote emotional resilience, and encourage positive behaviours and routines. Central to this role is effectively liaising with partners and supporting our delivery team made up of staff from Home-Start Clackmannanshire, Action for Children, Educational Psychology, Speech and language, and a growing team of volunteers.

You will also:

• Contribute to the effective day to day operation of the scheme in accordance with the Home-Start Memorandum & Articles of Association, Home-Start, Standards & Methods of Practice, Home-Start Agreement and Quality Assurance Standards.
• Maintain high standards of practice in supporting families within the Home-Start model.
• Ensure equality of opportunity, fairness and diversity in all aspects of the scheme’s work.
• Implement best safeguarding practice in all areas of work.

Main Responsibilities

Supporting the work of Home-Start Clackmannanshire and our Play Roots Partnership

• Undertaking work as delegated by our CEO to support the strategic management, development, evaluation, and future funding of Play Roots.
• Supporting the implementation of and upholding all Home-Start policies and procedures.
• Complying with the scheme’s administration, monitoring and financial systems.
• Promoting the work of the scheme, as required by the CEO.
• Contributing to and supporting the development of the Home-Start network locally, regionally and nationally.

Support for families

• Take a lead role in receiving and assessing referrals to Play Roots in a timely manner.
• Making initial contact/arranging implementation of support or delegating to operational team members within Home-Start and Action for Children to do.
• Lead delivery partners in planning, preparing for, and delivering group sessions (4 sessions across 4 locations, weekly, during term time).
• Enhance group support offer by leading the planning, preparation and delivery of Holiday Programmes for families.
• Providing rich learning environments where children and their families can engage.
• Facilitating interventions one to one or in a group to support identified areas of need.
• Building effective relationships and channels of communication with our partners, such as children, young people, families, colleagues, and external agencies.
• Ensuring support to families is of a high standard, in accordance with Home-Start’s model, policies and procedures.
• To undertake designated responsibilities to safeguard and promote children’s welfare.

Supporting Volunteers

• We could not deliver our services without the support of our incredible team of volunteers. As such, you will be involved in ensuring any Home-Start volunteers contributing to Play Roots sessions are appropriately onboarded, supported, informed, and adhere to all organisational policies and procedures.

Working in Partnership

• Ensuring appropriate liaison with referrers and other professionals.
• Networking appropriately within the community.

The post holder may be required to undertake any other duties that fall within the nature of the role and responsibilities of the post as detailed above.