Play Support Worker - The Windham Croft Centre, Kew

Berkshire Sensory Consortium; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 21,000 - 22,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Training and safeguarding courses

Counselling and support services

Refer a friend: £50 voucher

Two locations: Kingston and Richmond

Flexible working hours

Social events and activities

Ad hoc perks

Job summary

Achieving for Children is hiring a Play and Leisure Assistant to support children and young people with disabilities in Kingston and Richmond. The role covers after-school, weekend, and holiday sessions, with a focus on safety, inclusion, and participation.

You will assist group leaders to create a stimulating and safe environment, encouraging children to voice their ideas and participate in activities. DBS checks and safeguarding procedures apply.

Qualifications

• Experience supporting children and young people.
• Able to work after school, weekends and holidays.
• 5 years of professional references required.
• DBS check and Occupational Health processes in place.

Responsibilities

• Listen to and advocate for the voice of the child/young person.
• Support children with disabilities.
• Lead or assist play activities and leisure sessions.
• Assist with personal care, feeding, moving and handling as needed.
• Ensure a safe, clean, and welcoming environment.
• Work independently and as part of a team.
• Assist with administration of medication after training.
• Follow safeguarding policies and procedures.
• Write up daily event reports.
• Follow local policies and Achieving for Children procedures.

Skills

Great communication

Team player

Friendly and engaging

Flexible and calm

Children and young people experience

Education

References (5 years)

Job description

Join a team that's officially Outstanding! Achieving for Children's Children’s Services have now been rated Outstanding by Ofsted in both Richmond and Kingston. Our overall services are praised for exceptional care and a workforce that puts children at the center of everything we do. We are proud of this success and note that our specialised Fostering Service has been separately inspected and graded ‘Good’ by Ofsted, highlighting the quality of our dedicated fostering provision.

If you want to be part of a team that's setting the standard for excellence, we want to hear from you.

Basic starting hourly rate £15.08 plus a top up paid annual leave contribution (instead of annual leave days)

The role is based at The Windham Croft Centre, Kew.

As a Play and Leisure Assistant for Achieving for Children, you will assist the group leader in providing a safe, stimulating and enjoyable play or leisure environment for children and young people with a disability. You will encourage children to have a voice, participate in group activities, to develop intellectual and social skills, and also encourage them to use various resources and experience a range of activities.

Short breaks provide support to young people who have a disability and live in the Kingston and Richmond boroughs. We run group sessions after school, weekends and holidays. We also provide support in the community on a one to one basis plus assist young people in mainstream clubs to enable them access those clubs. Groups use our centres as well as go out into the community for trips out. This is a Zero hours contract however there is scope to build up regular hours within the service.

• Listen and ensure the voice of the child / young person is being shared
• Supporting children with disabilities
• Play engaging and preparation of activities
• Supporting our young people with personal care, feeding, moving and handling needs
• Responsible for keeping the environment safe, organised and clean
• Making a welcome environment for all
• Able to work independently as well as part of a team
• Support with administration of medication, emergency medication or similar (only once trained)
• Awareness of safeguarding and to follow our safeguarding policies and procedures
• To be expected write up reports associated with the days events
• Expected to follow localised policies and procedures whilst adhering to Achieving for children Policies and procedures

Please note, we carefully monitor the number of under-18 workers at one time to ensure a safe group environment and certain working restrictions may apply to ensure safe and practical operations.

• Interest and experience of supporting children and young people
• Great communication skills
• Team Player
• Able to work after school, weekends and holiday periods.
• Be friendly, welcoming and engaging.
• Be flexible, resilient and calm

Recruitment processes (If successful)- HR requirements for safer recruitment

• 5 years of work/ education professional references (note; Professional email address only)
• Completion of Occupational Health - (This is to enable us to be able to support you safely in the workplace)
• DBS check from Achieving for Children to be carried out we do accept DBS’s on the update system)

About our benefits

• Training: Induction, Moving and handling, Safeguarding levels 1 - 3 and First Aid training to mandatory and other specific training options available based on need and requirements.
• Support services, access to our counselling service, which is a private and confidential support service for our workers.
• Refer a friend: When you are working for us, you can refer a friend to our service and once they have completed the refer a friend working period you can be sent a £50 voucher for a shop of your choice.
• Can work in Variety settings, as we have two locations/bases as part of Achieving for Children Kingston and Richmond services.
• Flexible working hours. We have times when we need to support our young people but we can work with you to provide flexible working to fit in around our needs and your availability.
• Socials- Get togethers at each centre plus Kingston and Richmond socials.
• Plus additional ad hoc perks that come up over the year