Senior Residential Childcare Practitioner

TN United Kingdom; Cardiff; On-site; GBP 35,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player is seeking a compassionate and dedicated Senior Residential Childcare Practitioner to join their team. This role involves leading a team to provide therapeutic care to young people, ensuring a nurturing environment that promotes their growth and well-being. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in residential care, excellent communication skills, and a commitment to continuous professional development. With a comprehensive benefits package and opportunities for career progression, this position offers a fulfilling career path for those passionate about making a positive impact in the lives of vulnerable young individuals.

Benefits

29 days holiday entitlement

Employee Assistance Programme

Health Cash Plan

Aspiring Leaders Programme

Pension scheme

Complementary meals

Casual dress code

Qualifications

• Experience in a residential children's home and supervisory capacity.
• Understanding of child protection and safeguarding principles.

Responsibilities

• Lead a team to provide high standards of care and support.
• Mentor and supervise care practitioners for effective child support.

Skills

Communication Skills

Teamwork

Leadership

Understanding of Safeguarding

Crisis Intervention

Education

SVQ 3 in Social Care

HNC in Social Care

Job description

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Client:

Location:

Thornhill, United Kingdom

Job Category:

Other

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EU work permit required:

Yes

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Job Reference:

14d82a027973

Job Views:

5

Posted:

05.05.2025

Expiry Date:

19.06.2025

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Job Description:

Job Description

Senior Residential Childcare Practitioner

Thornhill, Dumfries and Galloway

From £35,635 to £39,804 OTE plus overtime

The Greenleaf Team

We’re looking for people to join our team that share our beliefs. We believe in a holistic approach: that even the smallest detail can mean a world of difference to a vulnerable young person. We want team members who never give up on our young people, who are compassionate and who believe that our young people deserve the best we can give them.

We specialise in solo placements for young people in care up to the age of 21 and adopt a therapeutic, trauma-informed approach to care. In our work, we uphold Greenleaf’s values of Integrity, Compassion, Excellence, Collaboration, and Respect.

If it’s your ambition to create a future filled with hope and optimism for our young people, we would love to hear from you.

Visit our website for more info: greenleafhouse.co.uk

Role Overview

You will be part of a unique team who will work together to facilitate excellent practice and shape the development of our Service. As a Senior practitioner, you will lead your team to excellence.

Note: This role involves completing 14-hour shifts followed by a 10-hour sleepover.

Our vision is for every young person who lives with us to experience a safe, happy and nurturing present and a future that is filled with hope and optimism. You will contribute to this by ensuring high standards of care and support.

We look after children and young people from a variety of backgrounds, who have experienced trauma or adverse life experiences and need specialist therapeutic support in a small residential setting. We offer solo placements with a core care team to provide consistent, trauma-informed, therapeutic care to the young people in our homes.

To succeed in this role, you will be compassionate, patient, nurturing, and therapeutic in your approach to care. You will believe in and strive for continuous improvement and professional development both for yourself and for your team.

The young people in our homes are with us 24/7 and deserve a safe and caring environment where they can grow and achieve positive outcomes. You will demonstrate a drive for supporting, motivating, supervising and mentoring high performing teams to ensure that they achieve good outcomes for young people.

You will demonstrate excellent prioritisation and allocation of high-level needs, including involvement in child protection and outcome focused interventions. You will believe in the benefits of a mindful, team approach placing the child at the centre of the care plan whilst being committed to partnership working by practicing this methodology with all stakeholders.

Our Aspiring Leaders programme allows Senior practitioners to benefit from further training and opportunities for progressing onto managerial positions within the company. Through this initiative, progression within Greenleaf can occur quickly, creating a stepping stone to management roles.

Greenleaf Benefits

With greater expectations come greater rewards. If you’re selected to become part of the Greenleaf family, you’ll not only enjoy a salary that’s higher that the sector average, but you’ll also enjoy a comprehensive benefits package, including:

• 29 days holiday entitlement
  
• Additional annual leave with length of service, starting at 2 years’ service
  
• Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) with a 24/7 wellbeing line and free counselling
  
• Health Cash Plan, which includes dental and optical cover, physio therapies, and a 24/7 GP helpline.
  
• Greenleaf For You platform which offers a range of savings including discounts, offers, and money back on vouchers
  
• Aspiring Leaders Programme to develop and progress in your career
  
• Pension scheme with Nest Pensions
  
• Complementary meals while on shift
  
• Casual dress code
  

The ideal candidate will:

• Possess previous experience of working in a residential children’s home and in a supervisory capacity.
  
• Possess an SVQ 3 and HNC in social care or equivalent.
  
• Demonstrate excellent communication, teamwork, and leadership skills.
  
• Understand safeguarding and child protection.
  
• Have the ability to work shifts, including weekends, sleepovers, and long hours.
  
• Possess a full UK manual driving licence and be a confident driver.
  
• Understand the behaviours displayed by children and young people and be skilled in a range of intervention strategies.
  
• Be aware of relevant legislation.
  
• Be trained in crisis and physical intervention.
  

Specific Duties and Responsibilities

• Provide care and support to our children and young people in accordance with policies and procedures and participate in a mindful, teamwork approach to therapeutic childcare practice.
  
• Provide a supervisory and mentoring role to care practitioners supporting the young people.
  
• Ensuring that the care team have the skills, knowledge and ability to care for children and young people effectively.
  
• Supporting on-call arrangements as a senior member of the team.
  
• Assisting with management tasks including finance, staffing, recruitment, training and environment.
  
• Contributing to the maintenance and improvement of care standards.
  
• Keeping up to date with new theories that underpin your practice and sharing any knowledge that enables continued learning for the care team.
  
• Contributing to and completing professional reports within agreed timescales.
  
• Contributing to the assessment process for young people and the delivery of support programmes, working together with your team.
  
• Participating in a key person system.
  
• Ensuring quality recording of information in accordance with policies and regulations.
  
• Working within a shift system including night or sleepover duty.
  
• Undertaking health and safety checks and other safety/security checks as necessary.
  
• Participating in on-going training and development to maintain and build your professional skills.
  
• Implementing de-escalation and physical intervention strategies as necessary and appropriate in line with mandatory training.
  
• Promoting young people’s participation, to ensure they are actively involved in the environment and day to day activities of the home.
  
• Complying with the code of conduct as required by the SSSC.
  
• Being fully aware of child protection issues and understanding the principles of safeguarding young people, staff and self.
  
• Fully understanding the reporting process of child protection within the home.
  
• Fully understanding the emergency call out procedures of the house.
  
• Promoting structure, boundaries and domestic routines within the house.
  
• Participating in and completing records for statutory reviews and meetings concerning the young people.
  
• Undertaking relevant training programmes as required by the Company, SSSC & Health and Social Care Standards and being responsible for own development.
  
• Contributing to the maintenance of a safe, hygienic and clean environment.
  

The nature of residential work is varied and, in many instances, unpredictable. All staff are therefore expected to work in a flexible way and tasks that have not been covered in the job description have to be undertaken.

Senior practitioners are expected to conduct themselves professionally and adhere to Greenleaf Policies and Procedures. They must successfully complete induction and ongoing training.

The Company reserves the right to vary duties and responsibilities at any time.

Requirements

Minimum Requirements

To be considered for this position, you must:

• Have significant experience of working in a residential children’s home.
  
• Possess an SVQ 3 and HNC in social care or other relevant subject.
  
• Be eligible for SSSC registration and PVG membership for work with children and adults.
  
• Possess a full manual UK driving licence and be eligible for car insurance for company cars.
  
• Be able to work shifts including evenings, sleepovers, and weekends.
  
• Possess excellent communication and teamwork skills.
  
• Understand safeguarding and child protection.
  

Benefits

Benefits

Greenleaf offers a comprehensive wellbeing package, including EAP with a 24/7 wellbeing line and free counselling sessions, a health cash plan, with dental and optical cover, physio therapies, and a 24/7 GP helpline, and a Greenleaf For You platform, which gives you access to a wide range of discounts and savings.

You will also have access to a wide range of development opportunities. At Greenleaf we believe in progression, we look after our staff so that they can focus on caring for our young people.

Requirements
Experience of working in a residential children’s home Full manual UK driving licence Excellent communication, IT, and teamwork skills Understanding of safeguarding and child protection