Residential Night Childcare Worker - Orchard House

About Us

Orchard House is an \’Outstanding\’ OFSTED rated children\’s residential home providing a range of services that make a difference to the lives of children who have severe and complex learning disabilities, and their families.

Recent investment has created a modern home with a wide range of resources for children, which enables us to be a creative team who work hard to give children opportunities to develop to their full potential whilst ensuring they feel safe and have a lot of fun.

Our support is tailored to meet individual needs and ranges from clubs and day care to short breaks and full-time care.

We are a cohesive team who can discuss ideas and challenge issues to inform decision making and we believe in looking after each other so that we are able to offer our best to the children.

Work here is not always easy, but it is rewarding and every day is different.

What do people say about us:

\”a fantastic home, where everyone went way beyond what we were expecting and always with a smile. Orchard House and its staff will stay in our hearts forever.\”

\”a thoughtful, enthusiastic and reflective team who were really energising to work with.\”

For more information, please visit our dedicated Residential website, Children\’s residential care careers.

The Opportunity

Salary: £25,584 – £25,992 per annum (pro-rata for part time, plus unsociable hours and sleep-in payments.)
Working Pattern: Part time and full time hours available (37 hours full time)
Contract: Permanent
Location: Cuckfield, Haywards Heath

Children\’s Residential Recruitment and Retention Payment scheme – £1500 during your first 18 months

To support recruitment into this vital area West Sussex County Council offer £1,500 during the employee\’s first 18 months where they are recruited to a new permanent role which is identified as hard to recruit and remain in the County Council\’s employment during this time.

The scheme consists of two payments: £500 after successful completion of 6 months employment (including successful completion of probation where relevant) and £1,000 after 18 months

As a Night Childcare Worker, you will ensure that all children\’s and young people\’s physical and emotional night care needs are met. This may include managing challenging behaviour and providing personal care, advice, assistance and support.

Your main responsibilities will be to help children and young people settle into night-time and morning routines, such as washing, getting up in the morning and getting ready for bed and to assist in the provision and preparation of meals in the Home. The support given enables our children and young people to maintain and improve their skills and daily lives in line with individual care plans.

There are many challenges, but we support each other to overcome these and work closely with many other professionals too. This enables us to continue to provide the high quality of care to our children, in a homely and caring environment.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, so we encourage you to apply at your earliest convenience

Experience and Skills

Essential

• Good standard of literacy e.g. ability to write reports around individual young people and significant incidents and to be able to write application for level 3 diploma. Could be gained through formal education or vocational experience.
• Grade D or above (3+) in GCSE (or equivalent) Maths and English (Grade C or above (4-9) preferred)
• A Level 3 Diploma in Residential Childcare or equivalent qualification (this can be gained on the job but must be applied for within one month of commencing employment and must be completed within 2 years of the date of commencement of employment)

Desirable

• Awareness of the development needs of children in residential care.
• Knowledge of Children\’s home regulations 2015 (England).
• Knowledge of how to support children who have experienced trauma, harm or abuse.
• Previous childcare experience, preferably in a residential setting.
• Experience of working with children with disabilities, complex high-risk adolescents or related experience e.g. adults with disabilities.

If you do not hold a Maths and English GCSE at grade D/3 or equivalent, you will need to apply for Maths and English Functional Skills before being considered for this role. You can find out more about gaining a Maths and English Functional Skills on the Government website Improve your English, Maths and IT Skills.

Please be advised you are required to bring certificates for your Maths and English (C and above) and any Childcare qualifications you hold.

Rewards and Benefits

As an employer we recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive and dynamic working environment where employees can achieve their full potential, achieve a healthy work-life balance, and are rewarded for the work they do.

In addition to working within a great team and a competitive salary you will have access to:

For a full list of the benefits offered to you as a West Sussex County Council employee you can find them on our Rewards and Benefits page.

Further Information

The reference number for this role is CAFHE05450.

To apply, upload your CV and cover letter, explaining the skills and experience you can bring to the role, ensuring that any gaps in employment are covered in your CV.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults.

This post is subject to an enhanced DBS check, 5 years referencing and an occupational health check. A fully employment history will be requested and covered for this role.

Equity, inclusion and accessibility is very important to West Sussex County Council. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, as this helps us build a diverse and talented workforce, that reflects the communities we serve. We ensure our approach to recruitment is flexible and supportive to enable all applicants to be at their best and to ensure they have the best possible chance of success.

We operate a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants that have a disability, are a veteran or are a care leaver. More information can be found on our application help page.

Note for Recruitment Agencies: We prefer to hire people directly, but we do have a supplier list for when we need a helping hand. We\’ll be in touch directly if we need you!

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