Senior Support Worker

To primarily work in the residential area providing guidance, support and encouragement to young people in a variety of settings including classroom, education and off-site activities. The job involves enabling our young people to develop by providing physical and emotional support. The role is about working as part of a team to maintain a stable, happy and caring environment that puts the health, safety and welfare of our young people first. Important qualities of this role are being a good role model and conducting yourself in a professional manner at all times whilst on duty or representing the company at outside events. To be a mentor to Support Workers.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

To build good positive professional relationships with the young people and other staff at your establishment and throughout the Group and disengage from these appropriately.

To do everything possible to maintain a safe, clean and enjoyable environment to live and work in, this will involve domestic duties.

Know and actively promote young peoples specific needs and help meet those needs in the most appropriate way following all relevant policies and procedures.

To assist young people with their medical and welfare needs and to report as required. To administer needs to residents and be a part of the medical audit process as required. To monitor young people’s condition by checking temperatures, respiration, weight and contribute to all linked record keeping in the Master Care Plan.

To help our young people to maintain their personal cleanliness, general hygiene and appearance; this may include intimate careinvasive care as required when trained.

To keep up to date with and actively promote a variety of all communication/information systems.

To attend and take an active part in meetings as appropriate.

To be an effective Keyworker/ Personal Tutor for 1 or more young people as required.

To support young people towards managing their own behaviour by using the skills and approved approaches.

To promote equality, acknowledging young people differences and uphold the rights and responsibilities of our young people and staff and to challenge any discriminatory practices.

Do everything possible to safeguard our young people from any form of abuse from staff, visitors or each other.

To write accurate and comprehensive reports for reviews and keep written records for monitoring purposes as required.

To take primary responsibility for a specific area of service development or a specific project.

To attend all training as required and be prepared to achieve qualifications appropriate to the role at any particular time as specified by the organisation.

To actively promote and develop learning whilst participating in programmes, activities during residential, leisure and/or classroom situations.

Attend work reliably and punctually and to follow a work pattern as required to fulfill the role. This will include early mornings, evenings, weekends and Bank Holidays and be prepared to work overtime if the need arises.

To support our young people when preparing for and undergoing any transfer from one residential setting to another actively liaise with the transition department.

Ensure that you keep yourself up to date with all procedures and policy changes and actively, disseminate information to ensure your team members are aware.

To be prepared to and pass an assessment to drive the minibus if required (for this you would need to hold a full driving licence and be 21 years old or over).

To take reasonable care for the health and safety of yourself and of others. This means having an understanding of hazards in the workplace, comply with safety rules and procedures and ensure that anything you do or do not do does not put yourself or others at risk. This includes contributing to a safe and secure environment for our young people.

Undertake any other additional duties as required, which are relevant to the post.

To have knowledge of relevant standards and how these are implemented into the care setting.

To attend review meetings with your key young people and act as an advocate where required.

To be actively involved in the effective planning, preparation, supervision and review of all routines, social and recreational activities, on and off site for students and the waking day curriculum.

To take responsibility for completing activity planners, sign in/out book for on/off site activities where agreed by senior managers.

To give constructive feedback to support workers to improve their performance and to be a mentor as part of giving regular supervision and an annual appraisal.

To notify management promptly of any matters relevant to the well-being of young people.

To lead shifts and carry out appropriate de brief as required.

For new appointments, a selection panel will assess each of the points below against what you have written on the application form – so, as a job applicant, you should explain, by using examples from previous jobs, voluntary work or whilst you were in education, how you match these points.

Ability to carry out effective debrief.

Qualification – Level 3 RQF certificate in Health and Social Care or equivalent qualification.