Cook - Children\'s Residential Home

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

About the Role

Salary: £25,583 – £25,989 per annum (£17,285 – 17,560 pro rata with additional enhanced weekend working pay, 25+ days annual leave and generous pension scheme)
Working Pattern: 25 hours per week (part-time)
Contract: Permanent
Location: Cuckfield, Haywards Heath

Please note we are reviewing applications on an ongoing-basis, so we welcome your application at your earliest convenience.

As a Cook for our Children\’s Home, you will be assisting the Senior Cook with preparing and cooking nutritionally balanced meals for our residential children. We are seeking a skilled and passionate cook to join our team, where each meal plays a vital role in supporting the dietary needs and personal preferences of the young people in our care. You will be a part of a dedicated, caring team, who uphold high Health and Safety standards.

We are looking for someone who is aware of safeguarding procedures, to be able to remain up to date and adheres to professional codes of conduct.

Shift patterns can be discussed at interview, which will include evening meals and one weekend day.

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

Reward 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 brilliant opportunity you will receive:

• Excellent annual leave + bank holidays
• A generous pension scheme
• Training and development opportunities, including coaching and mentoring
• A range of discounts giving our staff access to hundreds of offers
• Free access to employee assistance programmes
• Maternity, paternity, dependency and adoption leave
• A range of commuting and business travel discounts and initiatives

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.

Experience and Skills

Key Skills:

1. Ability to communicate in English with the children, staff and visitors to the homes, to understand and be sensitive to the needs of the children, and to adapt to unexpected changes in requirements.
2. Ability to prepare food of a varied nature to a high standard.
3. Ability to follow defined instructions in particular to understand and apply Health and Safety and safeguarding regulations and procedures.
4. Ability to organise /prioritise work, coordinate a variety of tasks in a clear and logical way and meet agreed deadlines.
5. Ability to work flexibly to allocated duties and as part of a team within the home to put the child first.

Qualifications and/or experience:

• Knowledge of effective cooking techniques and healthy, nutritious recipes, including cooking for a range of dietary requirements.
• Cooking experience, including preparing, cooking and serving meals for groups of people.
• Recognised Food Handling and Hygiene qualification, Basic Food Hygiene certificate.
• 3 GCSEs with A-C/5-9 passes including Maths and English or equivalent qualification or demonstrable equivalent experience.
• NVQ 2 in catering or equivalent qualification or demonstrable equivalent experience – Desirable

For full key skills, experience and qualifications required please refer to the job description below.

Further Information

The reference number for this role is CAFHE05871.

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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