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Care Worker in a Children’s Home
Location: Cranleigh, Surrey
Salary: £22,697 - £23,508 per annum (based on 37 hours over 52 weeks, on a 4 week rota)
The Specialist Trust are a non-maintained specialist school, college and children’s home working with complex, challenging and vulnerable children and young people, many with autism.
The Role
They are looking for dedicated care workers to join their team on a permanent basis, working in their on-site children’s home. You will support young people with complex learning disabilities, severe social communication and behavioural issues. This role gives you the opportunity to make a real difference to their lives. With your compassion, guidance and training, you will watch them grow, develop and support them towards adulthood.
The care team support their young people outside of school hours and also provide cover in the classroom enabling their education staff to take their breaks. You will support their students to develop their life skills; assisting with their personal care, choosing and preparing their meals, shopping, money handling and accompanying activities on and off site. During the school holidays their young people really enjoy trips off site, fully supported by their team, including trips to the beach and funfair, adventure parks, meals out, inclusive cycling sessions and Airhop.
You will have the ongoing support of a skilled and dedicated team. Comprehensive training and mentoring includes leaning about safeguarding, autism and positive behaviour support. They will equip you with the skills and confidence to support their young people, offer them boundaries and choices and provide safe and effective physical intervention when needed.
You will need to be able to work 37 hours per week in a 4-week shift pattern including alternate weekends and undertake sleep in duties as required (and will be paid the appropriate rate for sleep-in shifts). There might be openings for staff interested in only working weekends and part-time evenings & weekends dependent on current staffing - this could be discussed but not guaranteed to be an option (they cannot accommodate term time or day time only weekday shifts as the young people are in school then).
You will progress to a Senior Care Worker level after 2 years working on the care team and completion of a QCF Level 3 in Residential Childcare (subject to satisfactory progression and appraisal), earning £22,772 - £25,012.
If recruited, you will be required to complete Team Teach positive behaviour support training as part of your induction before employment.
Skills and Qualifications
You don’t need experience. You need empathy, enthusiasm, compassion, mental, physical and emotional resilience and the drive to make a real difference to the lives of the most complex children and vulnerable young people. You must be prepared to provide personal care (after full training) as some of their young people require assistance to remain clean and comfortable.
Benefits
- **£1,000 Retention bonus - £250 after 1 month, £250 after 1 year, £500 after 18 months at Trust (subject to tax and NI)
- Life Insurance and Medical cashplan commencing after a month at Trust
- Team Teach positive behaviour support training, refreshed every year, with ongoing assistance from on site Team Teach tutors within their Inclusion Team
- Personalised approach to CPD, including training courses paid for by the Trust and regular 1:1 line management support with online appraisals
- Meals provided when on shift
- Ample on-site parking
- Employee assistance service (confidential, professional wellbeing and counselling 24/7 service for you and your family members)
- Excellent network of support across the organisation including a team of Adult Mental Health First Aid and Occupational Health
- Based on a beautiful 23 acre site in a semi-rural area on the edge of the Surrey Hills (own transport is desirable due to semi-rural location)
To Apply
If you feel you are a suitable candidate and would like to work for The Specialist Trust, please do not hesitate to apply.
They will interview suitable candidates as received. Please note that they do not sponsor applicants to relocate from overseas at this time and are unable to pick up visa sponsorships.
The Specialist Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. This position requires an enhanced DBS disclosure and take up of references.
