Community Support Worker Apprentice

Community Support Worker Apprentice

Fixed Term, Full Time

£10,187 per annum rising to £20,104 per annum on the second year

Location: Clacton on Sea

Working Style: Community-based worker

Closing Date: 28th January 2024

Are you looking for a new opportunity to combine paid work with study and achieve a qualification? Are you sensitive and understanding and have the desire to help others? If so, then our Community Support Work Apprenticeships could be the opportunity you are looking for!

Essex County Council are seeking two Community Support Worker Apprentices for our exciting new collaboration with Suffolk and North East Essex (SNEE) NHS Foundation Trust, which includes a 13-week placement within Colchester Hospital to enhance your experience and knowledge of public sector health care.

This apprenticeship opportunity is open to both neuro-divergent and neuro-typical individuals.

Benefits:

• Healthy work life balance; flexible working options
• Wide range of learning and development opportunities
• 26 days annual leave + bank holidays + choice to buy extra
• Generous Local Government Salary related pension scheme
• Access to hundreds of discounts and benefits through Essex Rewards
• Access to our health and wellbeing support platform with Vita Health Group
• National Apprenticeship Wage for the first 12 months of your Apprenticeship After 12 months of service, your salary will increase to the National Living Wage
• A Healthcare Support Worker Level 2 qualification via Adult Community Learning (ACL). For details about the apprenticeship standard, please click here .

What our apprentices say:

“I really enjoyed my apprenticeship with ECC, I loved that the majority of the apprenticeship is on the job learning and minimal classroom work. The opportunities for career development have been much wider than I originally thought, and the apprenticeship is such a great way to start your career and get your foot in the door”

The Role:

ECC Adult Social Care, through effective practice, is moving towards a transformational shift from a focus on long-term care support, to a model with four key principles: - prevention; early intervention; enablement and safeguarding. This will enable people, their families and carers to be able to access information and tools to live healthily and independently. Providing an opportunity to respond pro-actively to growing service demand in a sustainable way, within the financial constraints of the Council.

You’ll be working with Social Workers and Occupational Therapists, to assist with delivering intervention work in accordance with the care plan to vulnerable adults. As you progress with your apprenticeship, you will manage your own caseload, including assessment of risk through direct work, within a quality assurance process. A focus of the role will be to ensure vulnerable people are safeguarded in line with ECC’s statutory obligations.

This opportunity involves undertaking an apprenticeship in Health and Social Care for Essex County Council, whilst undertaking block placements within the NHS. You will be supporting individuals with all aspects of their lives in accordance with their wishes and identified needs, both in the home and community. This opportunity will develop your skills, knowledge and behaviours needed to provide high-quality and compassionate healthcare.

This role involves working a minimum of two days per week in the office (9.00am-5.30pm) with the remainder of the week split between working in the community and home working. When undertaking the block placement, work will be based at Colchester General Hospital.

About You:

You will:

• Be educated to RQF level 1 (GCSE) or equivalent by experience with a willingness to achieve the apprenticeship award within 12 months of starting the role.
• Have good verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to communicate in a manner which is easily understood and tailored to meet the needs of the audience.
• Have a commitment to learn with the ability to learn key components of care: the principles of respect, dignity, privacy and promoting choice.
• Have the ability to learn and understand the safeguarding of vulnerable adults and how to apply this.
• Understand how to manage sensitive and/or personal information.
• Be open to new work practices and responsive to change.
• Have a driving licence and/or means to travel around North Essex, including rural locations.

Essential Requirements for the role:

• Due to the occupational requirements for this position, we can only consider applications from individuals aged 18 or over.
• Functional Skills Level 1 in Maths and English (or equivalent), which is a Grade D/E or 2/3 to begin the apprenticeship.
• Ability to reach a Level 2 Functional Skills in both Maths & English by the End Point Assessment (EPA), if you do not already have this.
• Have the right to work and study in England.
• Have been ordinarily resident in the UK or EEA for three years before the apprenticeship start date.

What will you be doing?

• Person-Centred Care: Deliver high-quality, compassionate care and support tailored to vulnerable adult’s individual needs and settings.
• Relationship Building: Establish and develop effective relationships with adults and their families, especially during challenging times and crises.
• Collaborative Assessment: Work closely with colleagues to assess social care needs and offer practical advice to vulnerable adults, empowering them to lead healthy and independent lives. Maintain professional standards to drive continuous improvement and uphold our core principles.
• Care Planning: Contribute to the development of care and support plans that align with the unique needs of each individual, ensuring their commitment to solutions.
• Teamwork for Care: Collaborate with placement teams and others to facilitate the commissioning of care and support from suitable providers.
• Safeguarding: Identify and address issues, working alongside colleagues to implement plans that safeguard vulnerable adults.
• Partnership Building: Collaborate with internal and external professional partner agencies to achieve joint objectives and enhance outcomes for vulnerable adults.
• Information and Advice: Provide clients with valuable information and advice, guiding them in accessing third-party agencies relevant to their needs (e.g., benefits agencies, immigration services, housing assistance).
• Professional Engagement: Attend meetings, reviews, case conferences, and court hearings to share information, insights, and evidence, as well as prepare reports when required.
• Legislation: Operate within the statutory legal framework, policies, and guidelines. Identify the threshold for statutory intervention in line with legislative and organizational standards within the Care Act 2015.
• Continuous Learning: Undertake a structured course of study to achieve the relevant Apprenticeship framework, fostering personal and professional growth.

If you are ready to make a meaningful difference and be part of a team dedicated to improving lives, apply today. Your passion and commitment can help us provide exceptional care and support to those who need it most.

Why Essex?

Essex County Council has a location to be proud of. Our 1,300 square miles stretch from Constable Country to the Thames Estuary, from the dynamic M11 corridor to the traditional seaside resorts of Clacton and Walton. England’s oldest town, Colchester, and two of its newest – Basildon and Harlow – are right here. Along with the City of Chelmsford, the county town, they form our major population centres. It means real choice and makes Essex the ideal place for your career.

Essex County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We are committed to interview all disabled applicants who choose to apply under our Job Interview Scheme if they meet the minimum requirements of the job. Please speak to our Recruiters if you need any reasonable adjustments during the process.

We are also committed to interview all veterans and care leavers, who meet the minimum requirements of the role for which they are applying.

To read more about us please visit:

Adult Social Care: Adult Social Care

Entry to Work: Entry to Work

How to apply

Seize the day! Discover your future as a Community Support Worker by clicking the APPLY button now!

As part of employment with Essex County Council (ECC) should your role require a DBS check you will be required to register with the DBS update service. The DBS update service ensures all registered DBS certificates are kept up to date and allows authorised parties to view the status of your certificate. This is an annual subscription, and you will be responsible for ensuring this is maintained. For further information on the DBS update service please go to https://www.gov.uk/dbs-update-service

Essex County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.

Additional Information:

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If you have queries on this role or require further information, please email: work.placements@essex.gov.uk

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