Bank Children's Home Practitioner

“Thank you for your interest in joining the Broadwalk Children’s Home team. Broadwalk Children’s Home offers short and medium term residential care for up to five young people aged between 11 – 18 as well as an outreach service. It is an exciting time to join the team and help us so that we can develop new and innovative approaches to continue improving outcomes for children, young people and their families.

Here in Greenwich Children’s Services we believe that all children and young people regardless of their background or circumstances, should have a happy and fulfilled childhood where they learn, belong, grow and achieve so that they enter adulthood ready, willing and able to achieve their highest potential.

Our ambition is to ensure we provide effective, efficient and safe services informed by the views and experiences of children, young people, their families, staff and our partners. We want to work in purposeful collaboration and involvement with children, young people and families rather than working for or doing to people.

To achieve this, we need skilled, competent, confident, compassionate, motivated and creative staff who want to work in a culture of continuous learning, mutual support and challenge.

If this sounds like you then we would like to hear from you; we have a vacancy for a Children’s Home Practitioner that I hope will be of interest to you.”.

Florence Kroll, Director of Children’s Services

Come and join us as a Children’s Home Practitioner

We are looking for an experienced and motivated Children’s Home Practitioner

You will be joining an ambitious service with strong leadership and clear lines of support. There will be a dedicated induction and training / development programme and time set aside for quality reflective supervision.

What is it like to be part of the Broadwalk Team?

What Team members say:

“I am just as enthusiastic today as the first day I started. I love what this home stands for”

“We are young people-focused: nurturing and enabling them to be the best they can be”

What other professionals say:

“Going above and beyond to help young people”

“Committed and passionate”

“An excellent place for children looked after, and an excellent team”

“I continue to be impressed by this team and the impressive care and support it provides to young people”

To be a children’s home practitioner at Broadwalk, you will need:

• The ability to communicate well with a wide range of people from different backgrounds
• To be able to interpret and respond to children and young people’s needs with sensitivity and patience
• The ability to help people cope with painful situations and decisions
• To be able to anticipate and cope with demanding and stressful situations
• An open-mind, flexibility and the ability to cope with change
• To be self-motivated and able to motivate others
• Strong organisational and negotiating skills
• To enjoy working as part of a team
• An understanding of appropriate legislation.

To be considered for this role you will have:

• An NVQ3/Workforce Diploma in Children and Young People or be working towards its completion. If however, you do not currently hold such a qualification, you must achieve such a level 3 qualification within 2 years of the date you start employment with Royal Greenwich
• Substantial experience of working with young people within a residential home, with an understanding of some of the complex issues many children and young people in care may have.
• Knowledge of child development and the effect of trauma
• Awareness of the existence and effects of social disadvantage and discrimination
• Aspirations to “make a difference” and a view to practice in a restorative way
• A positive, adaptable, confident, resilient and self-aware approach to work
• A committed and flexible attitude, a sense of humour will also help!
  
  You will need to be reliable and flexible; be prepared to work unsociable hours, including evenings, weekends, bank holidays and sleep over’s.

What next?

If you feel you have the necessary background, experience and skills to undertake this role we would like to hear from you

Please include a supporting statement with your application, addressing how your skills, knowledge and experience would enable you to meet all aspects of the post, as indicated in the job description and person specification.

For an informal discussion about this role please contact Matthew King, Homes Manager on 020 8921 4771

For an informal discussion please contact Aijannah Di Nisci at Aijannah.di-nisci@royalgreenwich.gov.uk or 0208 921 4771

Diversity Statement: Royal Borough of Greenwich values the diversity of its community and aims to have a workforce that reflects this. We therefore encourage applications from all sections of the community.

Advert Close: All vacancies close at midnight unless otherwise stated.

Early Advert Close: Royal Borough of Greenwich reserves the right to close any job advert earlier than the advertised closing date where there is reason to do so (for example high volume of applications).

Full Employment History: A full employment history is required for this role. Please provide a full employment history, together with a satisfactory written explanation of any gaps in employment.

How Applications are Scored: Each application is scored according to how well the supporting statements addresses each point on the Person Specification for the role. Candidates will be short-listed for interview on the extent to which they meet the specific points within the Person Specification. The Person Specification is supplied with the job advert. When completing your application, please use the supporting statements section to tell us how you meet each of the points on the Person Specification. We need to have this information in order to consider your application.

Salary: Salaries advertised are for a standard working week of 35 hours unless otherwise stated. Please use this 'Salary Calculator to help you calculate a pro rata salary.

Our Staff Values: Our Staff Values are important to us. Candidates will be continuously assessed against our staff values throughout the recruitment process. Where candidates demonstrate views and behaviours that do not meet the standards of our staff values, we reserve the right to reject their application/ registration.