Casual Community Respite Officer - Short Breaks Service

Can you make a difference to a child with SEND?

Have you considered a career in helping young people achieve their full potential by being the person to help them succeed?

Are you passionate about building meaningful relationships with young people & their families?

This vacancy is on a casual basis and shifts will be offered on an as needed basis.

You will be joining a service that is built on passion, dedication and the drive to help make a difference in the lives of children and young people. We are registered with the care quality commission and have a rating of “good”.

This is a varied role where no two days will be the same. Working out in the local community and in family homes.

You could be providing personal care, interacting in community activities, encouraging independence, moving and handling people or administering medications.

You’ll need patience, creativity, and empathy. You will help support children and young people develop their independence and communicate their wishes and feelings via different methods of communication and aids.

Please note that all roles require the availability to work weekends and have the ability to drive their own vehicle or an NELC fleet vehicle.

What will your day look like?

Standard shift patterns that may need cover are as follows:

• Morning shifts (weekdays only):
  6.30am – 8.30am
• Afternoon shifts (weekdays only):
  2.30pm – 6.30pm
• Weekend shifts:
  8.00am – 5.00pm on Saturdays and Sundays
  (worked on an every‑other‑week basis)

School holidays:
During school holiday periods, shift times move to daytime hours as children are not in school. Afternoon weekday shifts typically change from 2.30pm – 6.30pm to 10.00am – 2.00pm.

The services we provide are before school hours to help children get up and ready for school, after school hours engaging in community activities and during weekends developing independence skills. Our service is predominantly community based which gives us the ideal opportunity to help our children and young people access opportunities & experiences within their local community that they may otherwise not have the opportunity to.

• Act as an appropriate role model to help our children achieve their optimum potential.
• Enable our children to live a life that ensures their individual voice is not only heard, but listened to, valued & respected.
• Provide children with the best possible health and wellbeing care and support. Ensuring they live full and healthy lives and are educated on the value of self-care and wellbeing.
• Promote the individual identity of children, creating an environment of equality where they receive support to enable them to develop and flourish into successful, confident adults in our local community.

Who are we looking for?

We are seeking candidates who are passionate about caring for children who are determined to ensure that our children achieve the best possible outcomes.

You will be highly motivated and ambitious about the future for our children. You will need a good level of written report writing skills and have clear communication skills in order to communicate with children, colleagues and partner agencies.

Organisation is key with a willingness to work flexibly to meet the needs of our children.

You will need to be approachable, resilient and adaptive to the needs of young people within our care. You will be working within a team dedicated to making a real positive difference.

Why join us?

All applicants are advised to carefully read the information provided in the Role Profile and Person Specification.

When completing our application form, we want to hear about why you think you are the perfect fit to work with our children and young people, and what experience, skills or qualities you have that make the you the ideal candidate.

In order to fully comply with Safer Recruitment guidelines, the references you provide on this form must meet the below criteria:

• At least one reference must be from your current or most recent employment, placement or work experience (if you are an agency worker at NELC, please provide your agency as a reference)
• You must provide a professional/company email address (we can not accept personal email addresses)
• References must cover the last 3 years, any reasons for gaps should be detailed on your CV/Application Form

Your references will only be requested if you are offered and have accepted a position

Please note: This role requires a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check at a level appropriate to the post. It is a contractual and essential requirement that the successful candidate is registered with the DBS Update Service. You have 30 calendar days from the "date of issue" printed on your standard or enhanced DBS certificate to register for the DBS Update Service using the certificate number.

For more information, please refer to the attached guidance and role profile. If you would like an informal discussion, please contact Jennie Harris Or Elaine McDougall
Email: jennie.harris@nelincs.gov.uk/ elaine.mcdougall@nelincs.gov.uk

Applicants will be shortlisted upon application and will be invited to interview if successful

We want you to have the best interview experience with us, so will provide candidates selected for interview their questions 24 hours in advance of meeting us.

We reserve the right to close our adverts early if we have received a significant volume of suitable applications.

Check out our NELC Benefits brochure attached for more information on the brilliant benefits available working at North East Lincolnshire Council!

We love AI and think it plays a great role in the world of work. However, for your application, we want to hear from YOU! As such, we will be testing applications to determine the use of AI, and applications that have heavily utilised the function will be scrutinised for suitability.

Do you need support?

If you need any help applying for this position, please contact Wendy Trask on 07702 338542 (text or call). Wendy can support with digital access as well as offering advice and guidance about completing the different sections of the application form.