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SalaryDo you enjoy working with children and young people and are you motivated to support them to achieve positive outcomes?
Do you want to work for a well-established national charity who believe in children and young people?
Are you ready for a change in career or your next opportunity?
If so, we have an exciting opportunity to work as a Children's HomeSupport Worker in our London residential service. Our homes are located in Enfield, Ilford and Redbridge. Two of the homes specialise in children and young people with learning disabilities and / or autism and the third home specialises in children and young people with behavioural, emotional and social needs. Please state your preference for which home and / or specialism you would like to be considered for within your application.
We provide 24/7 residential services to the UK's most vulnerable children and young people and believe a child's future should never be defined by their past. Every child has the right to a fulfilling life, to realise their potential and to have a positive future.
The children and young people we care for have experienced trauma that can lead them to display challenging behaviours in an effort to communicate with those around them. They require care from a reliable, committed, passionate and skilled staff team. This will support them to develop trusting relationships which provide the time and space to explore their past experiences, behaviours and current situation.
Our aim is to create a secure, safe and nurturing environment for children and young people to be able to explore and understand their identities, whilst promoting and developing confidence and self-esteem. We are aspirational for our children and young people and actively support them to attend and access education and employment opportunities and to develop their independence skills. We also support them to continue with and develop relationships with family and peers where appropriate.
Staff are enabled to provide a high level of care and support to children and young people through regular and ongoing training opportunities. Staff are ambitious for the children and young people we care for and are passionate and committed to ensure they experience good quality care that is individual to them and positively prepares them for adulthood.
As a Support Worker, you will:
- Be able to engage and develop positive relationships with children and young people.
- Be able to support children and young people with activities in the home. This includes engaging them in hobbies and interests, accompanying them out in the community and on day trips.
- Support children and young people to achieve their everyday goals with patience and positivity.
- Be resilient and help manage behaviours that challenge, supporting them to reflect and learn when these present.
- Empower children and young people and facilitate their active involvement in the decision making about their life and their future.
- Advocate for them and ensure their voices are heard.
In return you'll get:
- A challenging and rewarding job that will make a significant difference to the lives of children and young people.
- Ongoing training and personal development opportunities.
- Excellent career progression opportunities.
- A supportive working environment and management team.
- Flexible 24-hour rota system – including weekends and evenings.
- Barnardo's has a trade union recognition agreement with Unison.
Requirements for this position are:
- Level 3/4 Children & Young People Workforce Social Care or Residential Child Care qualification (or willing to undertake this training within 2 years).
- Understanding of the needs and presenting behaviours of children and young people who have experienced trauma.
- Able to work on a rota pattern to include evenings and weekends.
- Experience of working with children and young people in a residential care setting is desirable but not essential. Transferable skills will be considered on application.
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 should be in place by 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.
Please note due to the high volume of applications for some posts, this advert might close before the displayed closing date. We recommend that you apply for this role as soon as possible.
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.
At Barnardo's we are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and we expect all staff and volunteers to share in this commitment. Our safer recruitment processes mean that the safety and welfare of the child is paramount at every stage of the process and therefore, we adopt rigorous scrutiny in our pre-employment checking. This post is subject to a range of pre-employment checks including a Criminal Records Enhanced Disclosure for the successful candidate.
