Child Care Officer - Children's Homes and Supported Accomodation

North East Lincolnshire Council; Greater Lincolnshire; Hybrid; GBP 22,000 - 30,000; Full time

Job summary

A local council in England is seeking a passionate Child Care Officer to support care-experienced young people. You will work in a nurturing environment, helping children achieve their potential through various activities and care. The role requires flexibility and the completion of a Level 4 Apprenticeship. Competitive salary, continuous training, and a supportive team are offered.

Benefits

Competitive salary

Enrolment in Level 4 Apprenticeship

Additional payments for sleep-ins

Training and development opportunities

Access to RewardNEL platform

Qualifications

• Passion for caring for children and understanding of Corporate Parenting role.
• Ability to work unsocial hours and adapt to young people's needs.
• Good level of written communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Provide care and nurture for children in a residential setting.
• Safeguard and promote the welfare of children.
• Support children's education and individual needs.

Skills

Resilience

Emotional intelligence

Communication

Creativity

Organisation

Education

Level 4 Apprenticeship in Children, Young People and Families or equivalent

Job description

Can you make a house feel like a home in a team that feels like a family?

Are you resilient, passionate and enthusiastic about building meaningful relationships with young people?

Ever considered a rewarding career, supporting care experienced young people to achieve their full potential?

Now is an exciting time to join our residential family. We’re changing lives, we’re rated Good by Ofsted, and we’re part of the fastest transforming children’s services team in the country.

Our sense of community and belonging is something you won’t find anywhere else and there’s a real buzz around the potential to collectively shape our future for generations to come.

You will be joining a service that is built on pride and passion, who have high aspirations for children, championing their welfare, potential and aspirations to be successful adults in their own local community.

Child Care Officers

This is a varied role where no two days will be the same. Working to various shift patterns, there is the requirement to undertake some weekend working and overnight stays.

You could be playing games, preparing meals, encouraging self-care or supporting with homework but above all, you need to see, to hear, to listen and to guide.

You’ll need patience, creativity, and emotional intelligence to break down goals into achievable steps and celebrate every milestone. Above all, you’ll be a champion for their dignity, independence, and voice.

Please note that all roles and working patterns require the availability to work weekends and sleep‑ins on a rotational basis.

Our Purpose

To provide children and young people in our homes, with an excellent standard of care that is nurturing, and loving ensuring that all aspects of their physical, educational, intellectual, emotional and social needs are met to the highest standard. We are committed to creating a safe haven, for children and young people to feel safe and thrive.

What will my day look like?

No amount of bullet points can really summarise how we support our children and young people. Being unique is their strength, and providing bespoke and loving support is our service.

You will be based in one of our children’s homes in the community and like any home, it needs to have trust, care and belonging in the foundations.

• Enabling our children to enjoy and cherish a wide range of positive experiences and childhood memories, provided by a dedicated care team that are passionate about improving life opportunities for children.
• Safeguard and promote the welfare of all children within our home and local community.
• Act as an appropriate role model to help our children achieve their optimum potential.
• Enable our children to live a life that ensures their individual voice is not only heard, but listened to, valued, respected and promoted throughout the home, with professionals across services and the rights of children are promoted to the best standard.
• Provide children with the best possible health and wellbeing care and support. Ensuring they live full and healthy lives and are educated on the value of self‑care and wellbeing.
• Promote the individual identity of children, creating an environment of equality where they receive support to enable them to develop and flourish into successful, confident adults in our local community.

Who are we looking for?

We are seeking candidates who are passionate about caring for children, have an understanding of the role of Corporate Parenting and who are determined to ensure that our children achieve the best possible outcomes.

You will be highly motivated and ambitious about the future for our children. You will need a good level of written report writing skills and have clear communication skills in order to communicate with children, colleagues and partner agencies.

Organisation is key with a willingness to work flexibly to meet the needs of our children. This post carries a requirement to work unsocial hours at times, and weekend work as part of a rolling rota pattern.

You will need to be approachable, resilient and adaptive to the needs of young people within our care. You will be working within a team dedicated to making a real positive difference.

Like in any home, with any family, you will celebrate success together and support each other when there are challenges.

Subject to eligibility the role requires the completion of a Children Young People and Families Level 4 Apprenticeship or equivalent. You must be committed to undertake and complete this qualification within eighteen months.

What you can expect from us

• Competitive salary
• Enrolment on a Level 4 Apprenticeship Qualification in Children, Young People and Families
• Additional payments for sleep‑ins.
• Supported working environment
• Strong leadership and regular reflective supervision
• Training and development opportunities, including coaching
• Successful candidates will receive a detailed induction, access to ongoing specialist training and regular supervision.
• You will develop a detailed knowledge of current legislation relating to children in care and you will be supported to develop your practice, skills knowledge and experience in order to demonstrate the highest standards of care and values to our children.
• Access to our exclusive RewardNEL platform

Join our Team

All applicants are advised to carefully read the information provided in the Role Profile and Person Specification.

When completing our application form, we want to hear about why you think you are the perfect fit to work with our children and young people, and what experience, skills or qualities you have that make the you the ideal candidate.

If you require an informal discussion about the role please contact [e-mail]

References

• At least one reference must be from your current or most recent employment, placement or work experience (if you are an agency worker at NELC, please provide your agency as a reference)
• You must provide a professional/company email address (we can not accept personal email addresses)
• References must cover the last 3 years, any reasons for gaps should be detailed on your CV/Application Form

Your references will only be requested if you are offered and have accepted a position

Important

Please note: This role requires a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check at a level appropriate to the post. It is a contractual and essential requirement that the successful candidate is registered with the DBS Update Service. You have 30 calendar days from the “date of issue” printed on your standard or enhanced DBS certificate to register for the DBS Update Service using the certificate number.

What can we offer?

In addition to a generous salary package, there are many perks to enjoy when you are part of TeamNEL...

As part of your RewardNEL package, you will also have up to 222 days leave entitlement* (including bank holidays) and enrolment into a local government pension...

As well as access to our exclusive RewardNEL platform.

This includes a variety of salary sacrifice schemes including Cycle2Work, Holiday Extra and Tusker (Car Lease), discounts at local coffee shops and bars, direct access to our in‑house wellbeing support, discounted car parking as well as instant access to new savings at major retailers, entertainment and hotels.

NELC staff can also benefit from flexible working and excellent training and development opportunities and a fostering friendly scheme.
*Leave subject paygrade and length of service for contracted post’s only

Support

Do you need support? If you need any help applying for this position, please contact Wendy Trask on 07702 338542 (text or call). Wendy can support with digital access as well as offering advice and guidance about completing the different sections of the application form.

About North East Lincolnshire Council

Your earnings go further in North East Lincolnshire, house prices are four times less than in London. Learn more about what our place has to offer at Life in North East Lincolnshire | NELC (nelincs.gov.uk) #FindYourSpace

North East Lincolnshire Council is committed to being an inclusive employer, where equality and diversity is recognised, celebrated, and embodied throughout the organisation, becoming a workforce that represents all.

North East Lincolnshire Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults at risk. For any posts that will involve access to children, young people and adults at risk, the successful applicant will need to undertake an enhanced criminal record check where appropriate.

At North East Lincolnshire Council, we know that together, we can be stronger.