Children's Residential Senior Practitioner, SURREY COUNTY COUNCIL

Guardian Jobs; Walton-on-Thames; On-site; GBP 35,000 - 42,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading organization is seeking a Senior Practitioner for their Children's Residential Home in Walton-on-Thames. This role involves supporting children and leading a team to provide high-quality care, ensuring compliance with regulations and fostering a nurturing environment. Ideal candidates will possess a Level 3 Diploma in Residential Childcare or equivalent, and have proven experience in residential services.

Benefits

26 days' holiday increasing with service

Employee Assistance Programme

Carer's leave

Generous pension scheme

Lifestyle discounts

Paid volunteering days

Qualifications

• Experience in statutory childcare services and knowledge of the Children's Homes Regulations 2015.
• Ability to lead and inspire teams and provide high-quality care.

Responsibilities

• Provide support to Deputy Home Managers and oversee the well-being of children and young people.
• Ensure compliance with national regulations and conduct regular audits.

Skills

Relationship Building

Child Safeguarding Knowledge

Multi-agency Working

Assessment and Risk Management

Education

Level 3 Diploma in Residential Childcare

Working towards Level 5 in Management and Leadership

Job description

The starting salary for this role is £35,730 per annum for working 36 hours per week.

We are delighted to be offering an opportunity for a Senior Practitioner to join the fantastic team based at our Children's Residential Home in Walton-on-Thames. This is a fantastic opportunity for a qualified Residential Worker to further enhance their knowledge and leadership skills, working alongside the team and fully supported by management.

Rewards and Benefits

• 26 days' holiday rising to 28 days after 2 years' service and 30 days after 5 years' service
• Option to buy up to 10 days of additional annual leave
• An extensive Employee Assistance Programme to support health and wellbeing
• Up to 5 days of carer's leave per year
• Paternity, adoption and dependants leave
• A generous local government salary related pension
• Lifestyle discounts including gym, travel, shopping and many more
• 2 paid volunteering days per year
• Learning and development hub where you can access a wealth of resources
• Refer a friend payment of £750 as a thank you for finding the right residential worker

About the Role

As a Senior Practitioner in our Residential Service, you will provide pivotal support to our Deputy Home Managers, staff and team around the children and young people we support. You will lead the way in improving outcomes and ensuring that our home is a safe and nurturing environment where our children and young people can thrive.

This is a unique role where you will be at the forefront of working directly with children and young people through a mixture of individual and group interventions, whilst also working strategically to lead and develop your team and support high quality practice within our home.

We are looking for an individual who can join our service to confidently lead our home and inspire the children, young people and staff within it. You will support the home by providing expert advice and creative opportunities to access resources that enhance the purpose and well-being of our children and young people within the parameters of national guidance, standards and regulations associated with statutory residential children's services.

In all that you do you will ensure our services are compliant with national good practice, guidance, regulations and legislation, including Ofsted frameworks. You will also contribute to regular audits and inspections to ensure that we are effective and delivering key outcomes.

In return for your expertise, commitment and experience we will enable your ongoing learning and development through a culture of high support and high challenge, and access to a range of learning and development activities.

Shortlisting Criteria

To be considered for shortlisting for this position your CV and answers to the questions below will clearly evidence:

• A Level 3 Diploma in Residential Childcare, or equivalent, with the expectation to work towards completing level 5 in Management and Leadership
• Your ability to establish and maintain positive relationships with children, adolescents, their families and professionals
• An applied knowledge of contextual children's safeguarding and associated issues
• Proven experience of multi-agency working
• Demonstrable competence in effective assessment, risk management and strengths-based care planning
• Experience of delivering statutory childcare services including the residential care of children and knowledge of the Children's Homes Regulations 2015 and Quality Standards

Surrey has both urban and rural areas and Residential staff will be expected to have a valid driving licence to drive in the UK, access to a vehicle and be willing to travel.

As part of your application, you will be asked to submit a CV and answer the following questions:

• Please tell us what has motivated you to apply for this role?
• Please tell us about the skills and experience you have of providing children's residential care?
• Please tell us about any experience you have of multiagency working and why this is important.
• The work we do is very challenging (but rewarding). Using an example tell us about a time when you dealt with a challenging work situation effectively. What was the outcome and what did you learn from it?

The job advert closes at 23:59 on 22nd June 2025 with interviews to follow.

We look forward to receiving your application, please click on the apply online button below to submit.

An enhanced DBS 'Disclosure and Barring Service' check for regulated activity (formerly known as CRB) and the Children's and Adults' Barred List checks will be required for this role.

Local Government Reorganisation

Surrey County Council is preparing for Local Government Reorganisation which will allow us to implement the Government led policy of devolution, which is all about giving more powers to local areas.

Currently, Surrey has a two-tier council system, with 11 district and borough councils and a county council, all responsible for different services. All these councils will be reorganised into a smaller number of new unitary councils which will come into effect in April 2027. At this point, this role will be transferred, with all existing terms and conditions intact into one of the new unitary councils.

Our Commitment

Surrey County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. A guaranteed interview will be offered to all disabled applicants where:

• The candidate has evidenced the minimum criteria for the role through their application
• The candidate has chosen to share that they have a disability on the application form

Our application form and onboarding process will provide an opportunity to request any reasonable adjustments for the interview and/or the role. We want to be an inclusive and diverse employer reflecting the community we serve and particularly welcome applications from all underrepresented groups.