As and When Play worker SEND

Barnardo's; Burscough; Hybrid; GBP 10,000 - 40,000; Part time

Job summary

A children's charity is seeking compassionate and energetic Play Workers to support our Include Me 2 Service in Blackpool, facilitating activities for young people aged 4-18 with special educational needs. This role involves planning and delivering engaging sessions, ensuring the safety and enjoyment of all participants. Ideal candidates will have experience working with children, strong communication skills, and a commitment to safeguarding. This is a flexible role based on demand, mainly during after school hours and weekends.

Qualifications

• Experience in a paid or voluntary role dealing with children and young people.
• Ability to communicate effectively with children and young people with warmth and empathy.
• Energetic and enthusiastic team player.
• Commitment to safeguarding and child protection policies.

Responsibilities

• Contribute to planning sessions.
• Deliver and record group sessions.
• Facilitate activities and outings.
• Ensure adherence to safeguarding policies.
• Create a safe and inclusive environment.

Skills

Experience of working with children & young people

Effective communication skills

Teamwork

Understanding of safeguarding

Enjoyment of working with children

Job description

Do you enjoy working with children & young people and positively impacting their lives? We have an exciting opportunity for a number of Play Workers to join our friendly, passionate and dedicated team at our Short Breaks Service in Blackpool, on an As & When basis.

About the Service

Our Include Me 2 Service is a short breaks service facilitating group sessions for children & young people aged 4 – 18 with a wide range of Special Educational Needs/disabilities offering them opportunities to get involved in play and leisure activities such as arts & crafts, cooking and trips out in the community whilst offering valuable respite to their families. We are a fun-loving team looking for an enthusiastic, happy and kind individual to join us as our Play Worker!

Location

Locality working across our Include Me 2 services predominantly based in Blackpool however will have the opportunity to work within Lancashire covering South Ribble, Preston, Chorley, West Lancs, Burnley and Pendle.

Working Pattern

You will be working on an as & when basis. Hours tend to be after school, weekends and school holidays.

Essential Requirements to evidence in your written application

• Experience of working with children & young people (gained either in employment or volunteer capacity)
• Ability to communicate effectively with children & young people and respond with warmth and empathy.
• Ability to work well as part of a team with energy and enthusiasm.
• Ability to demonstrate a good understanding of safeguarding and the commitment to adhere to Barnardo's safeguarding & child protection policies/procedures.
• Most importantly, you will need to enjoy the challenges and rewards of working with children & young people!

Some of the main responsibilities include but are not limited to

• To contribute to the planning of sessions and activities.
• Delivering and recording group sessions.
• Facilitating activities and days out.
• To ensure the sessions run smoothly and our safeguarding policies and procedures are adhered to at all times.
• To provide a safe, fun and inclusive environment for all our service users.

For more information about this role, please contact us on 01772 629470

When completing your application please refer to your skills knowledge and experience in relation to the Person Specification, Job Description and Additional Information document (if applicable). This should be done with an understanding of the context of the service described.

This is a rolling vacancy. Applications will be reviewed and interviews arranged on a regular basis.

Please note due to the high volume of applications for some posts, this advert might close before the displayed closing date. We recommend that you apply for this role as soon as possible.