Portage Worker

Bury Council; Bury; On-site; GBP 20,000 - 28,000; Full time

Job summary

Bury Council is recruiting Portage Workers to join the Home Visiting service for preschool children with special educational needs. You will support families in their own homes, breaking learning into small steps through tailored play and activities, working with children from birth up to starting nursery or school.

You will hold your own caseload, collaborate with a range of professionals, deliver Portage Home Teaching, and run drop-in and sensory sessions for families, with training provided

Qualifications

• Level 3 Certificate in Children’s Care and Development or equivalent is required.
• Recent experience of working with children aged 0-5 with special educational needs and disabilities.
• Good knowledge of early child development, the Early Years Foundation Stage, and current SEN/Disability legislation.
• Experience working with parent/carers and multiagency collaboration.
• Experience planning individual plans for children with SEN.
• Completion of a recognised Basic Portage Workshop before appointment or willingness to undertake training soon after appointment.

Responsibilities

• Work closely with Early Years settings, Children’s Centre teams, and other professionals.
• Provide targeted Portage Home Teaching to children 0-5 with significant SEN in their own homes.
• Support parents and carers to be the best educators of their child using the Portage model.
• Provide emotional support, advice and signposting to families.
• Design and deliver Early Years drop-in sessions for parents, carers and children.

Education

Level 3 Certificate in Children’s Care and Development

Job description

Team

About the role

Portage is a home visiting service for preschool children with special educational needs. We support parents and carers in their own home to help their children learn by breaking learning into small steps, through individually tailored fun, play activities. We work with children from birth providing practical, relevant, and holistic support for families through what can be both a challenging and rewarding journey from the early days until the child starts nursery or school.

You will be part of a skilled, friendly, and supportive team and work closely with a wide range of professionals both in the home and in the community following the National Portage Association Model.

You will have your own caseload of children and support families through a key working model. We also offer drop in and sensory sessions for families.

Portage Workers are required to:

• Work closely with Early Years settings Children’s Centre teams and other professionals.
• Provide targeted support and Portage Home Teaching to children aged 0-5 years with significant special educational needs and disabilities in their own home.
• Support parents and carers to be the best educators of their child using the holistic Portage Model.
• Provide emotional support, advice and sign posting to parents, carers and families.
• To have an excellent knowledge of the needs and issues that families face with a child with special educational needs and disabilities.
• Design and deliver Early Years drop in sessions for parent, carers and their children

You must:

• Have a Level 3 Certificate in Children’s Care and Development or equivalent.
• Have recent experience of working with children aged 0-5 with special educational needs and disabilities.
• Have a sound knowledge of early child development, the early years foundation stage and current legislation and documents relating to early years education and to special educational needs and disability
• To have experience of working with parent/carers
• To have experience of multiagency working
• To have the knowledge, understanding and experience of planning individual plans for children with special educational needs
• Have completed a recognised Basic Portage Workshop prior to appointment or willing to undertake this training shorty after appointment

About Bury

The Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff to share this commitment. Appointment may be subject to a satisfactory disclosure at the appropriate level under the Disclosure and Barring Service.

In line with safer recruitment, please ensure that your application/CV covers your full employment history and there is a reason noted for any gaps in employment. Successful candidates will be asked to provide relevant references for the past ten years and character references will not be accepted.

Please note we are unable to support with sponsorship at this time.

As a Corporate Parent, ensure that the work and services you deliver considers our care experienced young people, promotes their life chances empowers them to influence the policies, services, and decisions that affect them, champions their rights, and ensure they grow up in the best possible way

Benefits of working for Bury Council

To hear about the benefits for working with Bury Council, please visit Bury - Home | greater.jobs

We support employees to work with agility, where appropriate for the post and service requirements.

We are committed to Bury being an equal society that recognises values and embraces all people, regardless of any difference, for the skills, abilities and experiences they bring into the workforce and the wider community. Therefore we guarantee an interview for disabled people, looked after children/ care leavers, armed forces personnel (including reservists and veterans) and carers of adults or disabled children if they meet the essential criteria.

If you have completed the GM Elevate (Leadership Development) Programme, please indicate this within the ‘About You’ or ‘Supporting Statement’ section of your application.