Residential Practitioner

Leeds City Council; Leeds; On-site; GBP 28,000 - 32,000; Full time

Job summary

A local authority in Leeds is looking for Residential Practitioners to provide essential care to vulnerable children within their services. The role requires a Level 3 Diploma in Residential Child Care or a commitment to obtain it within two years. Candidates should have strong communication and relationship-building skills to nurture children's development. The position offers a competitive salary with enhancements for unsocial hours along with professional development opportunities.

Benefits

Competitive salary

Annual leave and bank holiday allowance

Professional development support

West Yorkshire Pension Fund membership

Qualifications

• Good standard of literacy and numeracy skills.
• Experience supporting children or young people with emotional/behavioral issues.
• Ability to maintain accurate records in line with GDPR.

Responsibilities

• Create a safe and caring living environment.
• Build positive relationships with children and young people.
• Support personal development and education.

Skills

Communication

Teamwork

Emotional intelligence

Flexibility in shifts

Conflict management

Education

Level 3 Diploma in Residential Child Care

Tools

Microsoft Office

Job description

Overview

Job title : Residential Practitioner

Salary : C1 £28,598 - £31,022 (pro rata) plus weekend enhancements and sleep in allowance where appropriate

Hours : Various

Contract : Permanent

Location : Leeds (city wide)

Leeds City Council is seeking compassionate and dedicated Residential Practitioners to join our outstanding children’s services. In this role, you’ll have the opportunity to make a profound impact on the lives of vulnerable children and young people, guiding them towards adulthood and independence. Your support will be instrumental in helping them overcome significant challenges and achieve their full potential.

There are a range of exciting opportunities available across the city :

• We’re recruiting part time (18.5hrs) and waking nights (17.5hrs) colleagues to support in homes for young people with complex needs.
• We’re also recruiting for full time colleagues (37hrs) in our mainstream homes as we continually develop our residential estate.

Please indicate on your application which post / service you are interested in. Shifts vary to meet service needs, and all posts include alternative weekends. Posts can include sleep-ins. Additional payments apply for sleep-ins, waking night hours and weekend work.

We want Leeds to be a city where all children are safe, happy and healthy, do well at school, fulfil their potential and grow up to be active citizens with voice and influence. This is your chance to join us and support our ambition.

About you

As a Residential Practitioner you will bring to the role :

• a good standard of literacy and numeracy, with basic computer literacy
• Level 3 Diploma in Residential Child Care (or equivalent), or commitment to achieving the qualification within a reasonable period (we pay the course fees)
• recent experience supporting children or young people with additional emotional / behavioural issues – this may be from employment, volunteering, student placements or personal life
• excellent communication and listening skills, teamwork and emotional intelligence
• flexibility to work shifts including weekends, bank holidays and nights

About the role

Based in one of our children’s homes, you’ll be part of a supportive team at that prioritises your well-being and personal development. Your responsibilities will include :

• Creating a safe, caring living environment.
• Building positive, trusting relationships with children and young people.
• Nurturing each child’s personal development, education and wider learning.

This role offers immense job satisfaction as you witness the positive changes you facilitate in the lives of disadvantaged children and young people daily. You’ll also be making a positive impact to your community by working for a local authority.

Enhancements are paid for unsocial hours and sleeping in duties. Time and a half is paid for weekend working (if applicable).

What we offer

We take pride in offering the best employee experience, with benefits including :

• a competitive salary plus enhancements for nights and weekends
• generous annual leave entitlement plus bank holiday allowance
• a clear career pathway and continuing professional development opportunities, including support to study for relevant qualifications
• membership of the West Yorkshire Pension Fund with generous employer contributions
• a range of staff benefits to help you boost your wellbeing and make your money go further

We are proud to align our work with the council’s values and ambitions, placing children and families at the heart of everything we do. We’re looking for passionate individuals who are ready to embark on their childcare vocation.

If you’re ready to bring your empathy, passion, and emotional resilience to this vital role, we’d love to hear from you.

Qualifications

• To work in this role, you must hold the Level 3 Diploma in Residential Child Care or equivalent. If you do not hold the diploma, we will fund you to study for the qualification. You must complete the diploma within a reasonable period, normally 2 years after starting work. Failure to achieve the Level 3 Diploma will prevent you from continuing in this post.
• You must demonstrate good literacy and numeracy, through qualifications or a skills test completed at interview.

Essential requirements

It is essential that the candidate should be able to demonstrate the following criteria for the post. Candidates will only be shortlisted for interview if they can demonstrate that they meet all the essential requirements :

• Flexibility to travel and work across different work locations including providing support to children living within family settings as appropriate
• Availability to work on a rota basis and change work patterns as reasonably required, including undertaking sleep-ins, early mornings, late evenings, weekends and bank holidays
• Ability to build relationships and actively engage with individual and groups of children and young people
• Ability to build relationships and communicate effectively with a wide range of people
• Maintenance of accurate manual and digital records in accordance with GDPR
• Use of initiative to adapt to changing circumstances and develop solutions to issues
• Skills in managing conflict and aggression using de-escalation techniques
• Good standards of literacy and numeracy, demonstrated through qualifications or skills test
• Understanding of responsibilities in terms of health and safety, security, confidentiality and data protection
• Understanding of the needs of looked after children and the importance of advocacy for children and young people
• Basic computer literacy and of the use of Microsoft packages
• Recent experience of working with young people or vulnerable adults who may have emotional or behavioural difficulties, in either a paid or voluntary capacity
• Be physically fit enough to carry out all requirements of the role including the use of Therapeutic Crisis Intervention (TCI) to manage challenging behaviour as required
• Essential behavioural and other characteristics
• Committed to continuous improvement in all areas and work towards delivering the Best City Ambition of Health and Wellbeing, Inclusive Growth and Zero Carbon.
• Able to understand and observe Leeds City Council equality and diversity policies.
• Carry out all duties having regard to an employee’s responsibility under Health and Safety Policies.
• Willingness to actively participate in training and development activities.
• Flexible and adaptable to change to assist other services as required commensurate to grade.
• Participate in appraisal, training, and development activities.
• Be aware of and comply with Leeds City Council policies and procedures.
• Be aware of and support difference and ensure equality for all working in an anti-discriminatory manner, upholding, equality & diversity policies of Leeds City Council.
• Recognise and appropriately challenge any incidents of racism, bullying, harassment, victimisation, and any form of abuse, reporting any concerns to the appropriate person.

The council has adopted a flexibility protocol, and the role will be expected to work within these parameters.

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