Children's Residential Practitioner (Waking Night)

Southwark Council; London; On-site; GBP 34,000 - 41,000; Part time

Job summary

Southwark Council seeks a passionate Children's Residential Practitioner (Waking Night) to join a new children's home. The role involves providing exceptional care for children in a nurturing environment, ensuring safety and support, while working collaboratively with a dedicated team to achieve positive outcomes. Ideal candidates will have a commitment to child development and safeguarding, along with relevant qualifications.

Benefits

Comprehensive welcome package

Ongoing support and training

Qualifications

• Experience working with children and young people in residential settings.
• Willingness to complete mandatory qualifications.

Responsibilities

• Provide person-centred care based on individual support plans.
• Maintain safety and cleanliness in the home environment.
• Contribute to care planning and goal setting.

Skills

Child Development

Safeguarding

Person-Centred Care

Teamwork

Education

Level 3 Residential Childcare qualification

Job description

We are incredibly ambitious for the children and young people of Southwark - are you?

It’s an exciting time to join Southwark Council as we prepare to open our very first children’s home. We believe that, wherever possible, children should grow up within the borough they are connected to - close to the important people in their lives, such as family and friends. This belief has been a key driver in developing our own children’s residential service right here in Southwark.

Our Vision

We aim to transform the lives of our children by developing meaningful, nurturing relationships, consistently delivering high-quality, personalised care and enabling every child to flourish.

About the Role

As a Children’s Residential Practitioner (Waking Night), you will play a vital role in bringing our vision to life. We need your passion and energy to help ensure our children feel loved, safe, happy, healthy and empowered to achieve their aspirations.

In this role, you’ll provide person-centred care based on individual support plans, ensuring each child’s needs are met with dignity and respect. Your responsibilities will include maintaining a safe and clean home environment, supporting with meal preparation and domestic duties, administering and recording medication in line with policy, and ensuring health and safety standards are met.

You’ll also contribute to care planning, goal setting, record-keeping, and provide clear handovers to colleagues. Outreach work (e.g. hospital or police station visits), attending training and meetings, and actively participating in supervision and appraisal processes are also part of the role.

Waking night shifts typically run from 21:45 to 07:45, covering a 10-hour shift. Working hours and shift patterns will be scheduled based on the operational needs of the service. We are currently recruiting for 1x 10 hour per week position, equivalent to one shift per week. There may also be opportunities to take on additional hours—for example, to cover annual leave or staff training.

How will we support you?

To support your introduction into the organisation and role, we offer a comprehensive welcome package, including induction, training, supervision, and ongoing support.

We want you to have a clear understanding of what we expect from you, and how we will support you as a valued member of our team.
We have a strong commitment to excellence and look forward to working together to achieve it.

About You

We are looking for candidates with a strong commitment to making a positive impact on children and young people’s lives. You should have relevant childcare qualifications or be willing to obtain them, a good understanding of child development, safeguarding, and person-centred care. You will be dedicated to working inclusively and collaboratively within a team to provide a safe and supportive environment where children can thrive.

To be considered you will:

• Level 3 Residential Childcare qualification (or commitment to complete)
• Knowledge of child development and safeguarding practice
• Experience working with children and young people in residential settings
• Ability to work effectively as part of a team with good communication skills

Commitment to equality, diversity, and person-centred care

Additional Information

• Employees who work at night as part of their normal working week are entitled to receive an enhancement of time and a third for hours worked between 10pm to 7am.
• For overtime on any day other than a Sunday, or general public /bank holiday, payment is made at time and a half. For overtime on Sunday, general public /bank holiday, payment is made at double time. Overtime is based on the grade rate and is not enhanced by other allowances paid, e.g. night duty.
• A satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check at an enhanced level is required.

For detailed qualifications and requirements, please review the job description and person specification located at the bottom of the advert.

• Advert close date: 11:59pm on Sunday 22 nd June 2025
• Shortlisting date/s: Monday 30 th June 2025
• Interview date/s: Friday 18 th July 2025

The closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received. We strongly advise you to complete your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

We are an organisation who is passionate about our people and understands that richness of diversity is a requirement to provide the best possible services to our communities. This is demonstrated through our council-wide ambitious commitment to tackle racial inequality in our communities and workforce through our Southwark Stands Together initiative . We particularly welcome applications from members of the black, Asian and ethnic minority communities to increase representation at senior management level in the Council.

As part of our commitment to inclusion, we offer guaranteed interviews for specific groups of people. To qualify, you'll need to meet the minimum requirements for the role, and identify with one of the below criteria:

• Members of the Armed Forces and veterans
• Are currently in care, or have previously been in care
• If you consider yourself to be disabled or if you have a long-term health condition

About Southwark

We are the largest local authority social landlord in London, managing 55,000 homes lived in by 40% of Southwark’s residents. We are home to over 18,300 businesses including iconic London venues and social enterprises, and we have a young, diverse and growing population.

At Southwark we are committed to making our borough just and fair and are taking positive action to tackle inequalities.Our residents and communities are our greatest asset and the passion we have for Southwark is shared by millions of Londoners who enjoy our outstanding cultural offer, use our hospitals and attend our universities. Our refreshed borough plan and focus on Southwark Stands Together, (which is our work with Southwark’s communities and the council’s staff to tackle racism, injustice and inequality) underpins all that we do.

Salary Range (Full time equivalent) £34,275 - £40,344

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