Role: Residential Support Worker
Salary: £25,949.00 per annum (pro-rata)
Location: Newcastle-under-Lyme
Contract/Hours: Permanent - Part Time 16 hours a week - (We are looking for candidates able to work a flexible 16 hours a week, these hours are completed generally over weekends and during school holidays, this will mean some weeks could be more one week and less another due to the shift pattern).
Benefits:
We are one of the largest children’s charities in the UK and have been making a difference to the lives of the UK’s vulnerable children for over 150 years.
Find out more about Action for Children here: Action for Children and on X, LinkedIn, Facebook or YouTube to get to know us better.
A bit about the role
Chestnut Lodge is a 5 bed short breaks children's home, providing short breaks to children and their families aged 8 to 18 years of age. The service supports children and young people who have various disabilities, where they can come and stay and have fun while their families have a break.
This home runs term time after school clubs and has residential services that runs at weekends and during school holidays.
‘Meeting new people, doing new things, seeing new places, that's what our short breaks services are all about.’
Join our fantastic, dedicated team at Chestnut Lodge in Chesterton, Newcastle-under-Lyme as a Residential Support Worker. Your role is crucial in creating a safe and supportive environment for children and young people to flourish.
Patience, empathy and resilience will go a long way, especially when supporting children through times that may feel challenging due to individual heightened behaviours or when meeting the complexities of some children’s health and personal care support needs. At times the role can be demanding, fast paced and busy where the ability to multitask is advantageous.
You won’t be doing this alone. At Chestnut Lodge, it’s all about teamwork where we believe in investing in our team. You can expect a comprehensive induction, learn new specialised skills applicable to the role, and support for qualifications. Regular supervision and team meetings ensure you are integrated and valued within our team.
Short breaks are a chance for disabled children and young people to have fun, gain independence, learn and develop while their families get to take a much-needed break.
Our children love to engage in playful and sensory activities such as singing, ball games, arts/crafts, garden play, water play, puzzles, dressing up and iPad time. Opportunities to support children within outings and stimulating activities within the community are encouraged to ensure they have a positive experience when staying at Chestnut Lodge.
This isn’t just a job, it’s an opportunity to be part of a caring, supportive team to build meaningful connections to the children we support to make their lives better.
How you'll help to create brighter futures
Some other key responsibilities are;
Providing lead case/care planning management, including assessing, reviewing and managing risk.
Co-ordinating responsibilities within the service, with multi agency and producing family information, including analysis and written reports.
Attending professional meetings including reviews, court work etc.
Helping young people in all aspects of their daily lives.
Having good communication skills and the ability to engage well with both young people, colleagues and other professionals.
Let's talk about you
Are you resilient and have a positive approach to change and challenge?
We’re looking for someone with a ‘can do’ attitude to join our team. Ideally, you will have:
Demonstrable experience of working in a care setting and developing positive relationships through trust.
Application of a range of techniques to co-ordinate and communicate with service users and their families.
Demonstrate a solution focused approach to address problems, individually and in a team setting.
Demonstrate emotional resilience to respond to the challenging nature of the role.
Possess a Level 3 Diploma in Residential Childcare (or recognised equivalent) or if you do not possess this you must be prepared to complete this within 2 years of commencing employment with us, full support will be provided.
Good to know.
Application Process
Please note we are unable to offer visa sponsorship for this role.
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: Sarah Manderfield or email us at recruitmentservice@actionforchildren.org.uk quoting reference 13177
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.
Male staff are under-represented within our Children Service roles. We would like to encourage more male applicants for our Children Service roles.
See below for further information about working with us:
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