Support Worker - Waking Nights (Linn Moor Campus)

BE PART OF IT! VSA is a well-respected local social care charity, helping support the people of Aberdeen for over 150 years. Our mission is to provide the best of care to enable the best of lives; supporting individuals and communities to fulfil their potential. VSA provides vital support and services to people of all ages. At VSA we support a person’s physical, mental, emotional and social wellbeing through a range of residential and outreach support services.

Working in social care is a hugely rewarding career, and you can help change the lives of vulnerable children and adults. At VSA, we are looking for motivated and compassionate individuals to join our team. We currently have a fantastic opportunity for the right person to join our team at Linn Moor, if you are passionate about helping vulnerable young people thrive and flourish in a nurturing environment, this could be the right opportunity for you.

Linn Moor is a unique multi-generational approach to community-based care for individuals with learning disabilities and other additional support needs, in a residential setting. The campus itself is situated on beautiful grounds allowing our service users the freedom to enjoy the outdoors. With UK wide recognition for our pioneering work with people with autism, our focus is on the development of meaningful life skills and personal fulfilment for the children and young adults we support.

If successful you would be joining a large team of enthusiastic support workers with a wealth of experience from all different backgrounds. We are currently seeking a Support Worker (Waking Nights) to join our dedicated and enthusiastic team within Linn Moor Campus at Peterculter. You will help to provide a quality service to meet the needs of our students with additional support needs, supporting the night time care that is provided within the residential setting.

Hours: 35 hours per week (averaged)
Rota: Working to a 4 on, 4 off rolling rota, 10pm - 8am
Rate/Salary: £12.81 per hour/ £25,999.97 pa (unqualified rate) up to £13.72 per hour (qualified rate)

We offer fantastic benefits including:

• Competitive Salary
• Generous Holidays
• Sick Pay Scheme
• Transport to and from Aberdeen city centre to campus available
• NEST Pension Scheme
• Refer a friend scheme
• Ongoing professional development

Ideally you should have some experience of working with young adults with autism / learning difficulties and have the ability to engage/relate to them through effective communication skills and the ability to deal with complex and challenging behaviour. For this role any prior experience would be preferred in particular having worked night shift or waking nights and lone working. We welcome applications from those who would like the opportunity to work within social care or those simply seeking a change of direction.

Successful applicants will be required to join the PVG Scheme; however VSA will cover any associated costs.

Purpose of Job: To contribute to the effective provision of an integrated, inclusive and quality service designed to meet the care, social and educational needs of the students at Linn Moor Campus and achieving the best possible outcomes for them whilst supporting the full implementation of the 24 hour curriculum, according to agreed statutory & VSA standards, policies and regulatory requirements, monitoring the effective use of staffing resources.

Main Responsibilities:

• Identifying ways of communicating effectively on difficult, complex and sensitive issues.
• Supporting individuals appropriately in the communication process, especially where specific communication needs have been identified.
• Updating and maintaining records and reports according to statutory and organisational procedures and requirements.
• Promoting, monitoring and maintaining health, safety and security in the working environment, including medication administration.
• Minimising risks arising from emergencies and ensuring students, colleagues, and self are safe and secure in the workplace and to follow, at all times, the policy and guidance on child protection and supporting students to maximise self-care skills following relevant policies and procedures.
• Promoting the well-being and protection of the students, working with them in ways which promote their rights and responsibilities, supporting them to express their views and preferences about their health and well-being.
• Contributing to the protection of students from abuse, including the identification of possible abuse.
• Handling disclosures from students and reporting information about abuse according to policies and procedures.
• Providing support to students who may have been abused.
• Ensuring that the students’ physical environment is clean and comfortable, supporting them with their physical care needs, including toileting, as appropriate.
• Contributing to the assessment of students’ development levels and support needs at night time by ensuring the implementation of programmes and support activities, and contributing to evaluation of the students’ participation in such programmes and activities.
• Assisting in the preparation and maintenance of night time learning environments and contributing to the planning and evaluation of learning activities.
• Contributing to the planning and implementation of night time programmes for students; reviewing the effectiveness of such programmes and balancing group needs against the preferences and needs of individual students.
• Contributing to practice which promotes group care as a positive experience, promoting individual growth and development where students feel valued and safe; where they are empowered to identify and implement activities of benefit to the group.
• Contributing to the prevention and management of challenging behaviour in students, negotiating boundaries and identifying goals to promote acceptable levels of behaviour and working positively with risk assessments to enable access to the wider curriculum.
• Contributing to the planning, implementation and evaluation of therapeutic programmes to help students manage their behaviour.
• Establishing and sustaining effective working relationships with students as part of an overall strategy to confront anti-social and promote pro-social behaviour.
• Developing and implementing programmes to support students with sensory difficulties to find their way around environments that are part of their daily living.
• Carrying out extended feeding techniques, where appropriate, to ensure individual student’s nutritional and fluid intake, by following specified procedures including health and safety measures.
• Developing one’s knowledge and practice continuously through participation in training and development activities.
• Waking Night staff should contribute to the care and safety of the students by ensuring that they remain awake and alert for the duration of their shift.
• Waking night staff are responsible for the care and support of students with particular health needs during the night time hours. This can include the continual observation of visual and audio monitors during the night, awareness of specific medical conditions such as epilepsy and diabetes, and be able to act (as a result of training) in a manner which will provide the best support for the students.
• Any other duties which may arise from time to time provided they are both reasonable and within the post holder’s capabilities.
• The role will also involve domestic tasks such as cleaning and tidying for the following day activities.

In order to facilitate the transport of staff to and from our Linn Moor campus, VSA operates a staff bus for all shifts from the city centre, which can be booked for those who require this service.