Portage Worker

LondonBoroughofBexley; Bexleyheath; On-site; GBP 27,000 - 36,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Excellent pension scheme

Generous annual leave

Job summary

Bexley is seeking a motivated home teaching worker to support infants and young children with complex needs. The role requires sensitive work with families, reporting, and the ability to manage a varied workload within a multi‑professional team.

Based at Bexley Civic Offices, the post offers a competitive salary, generous leave and a strong pension. DBS checks and safeguarding are required; this is a fixed‑term position until March 2029.

Qualifications

• Experience working with young children and their families.
• Knowledge of children’s developmental needs, particularly complex SEND.
• Teaching or childcare qualification desirable.

Responsibilities

• Work with families to enhance development of young children with complex needs.
• Produce accurate reports to timescales and manage a multi‑faceted workload.
• Collaborate effectively as part of a multi‑professional team.

Skills

Experience with young children

Knowledge of developmental needs

Education

Teaching or childcare qualification

Job description

About The Role

The Portage team is a small team working with infants and young children who have complex special educational needs and disabilities, and their families, within both the home and early years contexts. The team is based at Bexley Civic Offices (within the Early Intervention and Specialist Advice Service, EISAS) and works with families across the whole of Bexley.

The team works closely with all of the professionals who work at the Child Development Centre, as well as those working in Early Years services across Bexley. The team sits within a large, multi-professional team where there are regular opportunities for joint working.

The Portage team is a highly valued team across Bexley and consistently receives excellent feedback from those it works with. It is currently rated as 5* by the National Portage Association.

We are looking to appoint a motivated, hard-working and empathetic individual to take on the role of home teaching worker. You must be able to work sensitively with families to enhance the development of their young children who have complex additional needs.

We would welcome applications from people who have experience of working directly with young children and their families and have knowledge of children’s developmental needs, particularly those with complex special educational needs and disabilities. A teaching or childcare qualification would be desirable.

You would need to have the ability to work as a member of a team, as well as independently, to produce accurate reports to timescales and to manage a multi-faceted workload effectively.

Completion of the National Portage Workshop training would be desirable.

Please refer to the Job Description attached for more information.

For an informal discussion about the role please contact Ryan Cullen, Senior Educational Psychologist, [e-mail] 02030454704 or Kelly Wilkinson, Portage Manager, [e-mail] 07815584407.

We will offer you in return a package that includes a competitive salary, an excellent pension scheme and generous annual leave plus bank holidays. For more information on the benefits package on offer please refer to the Candidate Information document attached.

We reserve the right to close adverts earlier than the closing date.

Fixed term until March 2029

Candidate Profile

For the full list of essential and desirable criteria for this role then please refer to the Person Specification within the Job Description attached.

Appointment to this post will be subject to the outcome of an Enhanced Disclosure obtained through the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS)

How to Apply

Use the ‘Apply for vacancy’ button.

Anticipated Interview Date: tbc

Please note that the system has a one-hour time limit. We would advise you to prepare your answers separately and then copy and paste into the online form once finalised and have your CV and/or Supporting statement ready to upload.

If any mandatory fields are missing, a pop-up box will appear at the top of the page advising which sections require completion. Please check your Junk email for any correspondence.

Additional Information

As a disability confident employer Bexley welcomes applications from people with all disabilities, including hidden disabilities and mental health conditions. We will interview any disabled applicant who meets the minimum criteria. If you require reasonable adjustments to be made to any part of the recruitment process due to your disability, please contact us on [e-mail]

This authority is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

This post is considered by the authority to be a customer-facing position; as such it falls within scope of the Code of Practice on English language requirement for public sector workers. The council therefore has a statutory duty under Part 7 of the Immigration Act 2016 to ensure that post holders have a command of spoken English sufficient for the effective performance of the job requirements. The appropriate standards are set out in the JD/Person Specification. These will be applied during the recruitment/selection and probationary stages.

This role may be available as a development opportunity through secondment for the Council’s existing employees. The Council’s Secondment Scheme can be found here. If this option is of interest, please contact the recruiting manager.

About Us

Bexley is a vibrant and diverse outer London Borough nestled in the Thames Gateway between London and Kent which means it combines the perfect blend of city vibe and the tranquillity of Kent. It's got award-winning parks, open spaces, and heritage sites. The borough has excellent transport connections, including the Elizabeth Line and proximity to the M25. Bexley offers fantastic amenities such as libraries, leisure centres, and shopping areas. Our borough is also home to numerous primary and secondary schools, as well as further education institutions.

Our Offer to you

We will offer you in return a package that includes a competitive salary, coaching and mentoring programmes, an excellent pension scheme and generous annual leave plus bank holidays. For more information on the benefits package on offer please refer to the Candidate Information document attached.

As a disability confident employer Bexley welcomes applications from people with all disabilities, including hidden disabilities and mental health conditions. We will interview any disabled applicant who meets the minimum criteria. If you require reasonable adjustments to be made to any part of the recruitment process due to your disability, please contact us on [e-mail]

This authority is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

This role may be available as a development opportunity through secondment for the Council’s existing employees. The Council’s Secondment Scheme can be found here. If this option is of interest, please contact the recruiting manager.

We reserve the right to close adverts earlier than the closing date.