Support Worker

Phoenix Learning & Care Group; Plymouth; On-site; GBP 24,000 - 26,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player is seeking a compassionate Support Worker to make a lasting impact on children's lives. In this rewarding role, you'll provide essential support, encouragement, and guidance to children facing challenges. Your work will involve creating joyful experiences, helping them navigate daily routines, and ensuring their overall well-being. With a flexible schedule that allows for a great work-life balance, you'll have the opportunity to build meaningful connections with the children you support. Join a team dedicated to nurturing potential and making a positive difference in the lives of young individuals.

Benefits

28 days annual leave

Pension scheme

Learning & Development Opportunities

Employee discounts

Wellbeing Support

Cycle2Work scheme

Covered DBS costs

Potential sleep-in allowance

Medicash scheme after 12 months

Life assurance

Qualifications

• Empathy and understanding are essential due to children's past trauma.
• Great verbal and written communication skills are necessary for updates.

Responsibilities

• Support children in daily activities and maintain their care plans.
• Ensure children's safety and provide emotional support during tough times.

Skills

Patience

Compassion

Resilience

Communication Skills

Flexibility

Education

Qualification in Residential Childcare

Tools

Driving License

Job description

About The Role

Job Title: Support Worker

Job Location: Plymouth

Salary: Between £24,960 - £26,000 (based on 40 hours/week) plus potential sleep-in allowance of up to £6,183 annually

Contract Type: Permanent

Do you want to make a lasting impact in a child’s life?

Picture yourself as the person who brightens a child’s day after they’ve faced challenges. The one they turn to for support and encouragement, helping them grow in confidence, flourish in their abilities, and navigate life’s obstacles. This is more than a job—it’s your opportunity to nurture their potential, create moments of happiness, and leave a lasting, positive mark on a child’s future.

These children have so much potential, but they need someone like you to help them thrive. Your compassion, patience, and encouragement can be the difference that helps them build confidence, achieve independence, and find happiness.

You’ll become more than just a support worker. You’ll be a role model, a motivator, and a trusted support system. Whether you’re baking together, exploring Plymouth’s amazing attractions, or simply lending an ear on a challenging day, your presence will matter. Not every day will be perfect—there will be tough moments where your resilience and patience are truly needed. But being that constant source of support and stability for the children, especially during difficult times, is what makes all the difference.

Working in either a one or two-bedroom home based around Plymouth, you’ll have the chance to build deep and meaningful connections with the children you support and your team. The children need support 24 hours a day, meaning you’ll be able to work your full week in 2-3 days, which is only 10 shifts per month! You’ll have the time to enjoy your own life giving you a great work life balance.

A day in the life of a Support Worker will involve:

• Supporting children to have the best quality of life possible, whether through baking at home, fun days out, or holidays with the children.
• You’ll play an essential role in the children’s daily routines, including picking them up and taking them to school, and helping them maintain a healthy diet throughout the day to promote their overall well-being.
• Helping children thrive by assisting with activities like shopping trips, playing games, or simply lending a listening ear.
• Ensuring the children are safe and supported, keeping care plans and records updated as part of your role. Don’t worry—you’ll have comprehensive training to set you up for success!

To be a successful Support Worker, you’ll need:

• Patience, compassion, and resilience – The children you’ll support may have experienced trauma, which may have an impact on their behaviour, so empathy and understanding are essential.
• Great communication skills – Both verbal and written communication is important in this role as you’ll be speaking to a lot of different people at different times and need to be able to update the children’s plans.
• A driving licence – The children love being out in the community, so you’ll need to be able to drive. We’ll provide the vehicles!
• To be flexible – You’ll need to sleep at the home during your shifts, as our children require 24-hour support. This allows you to complete your full week in just 2–3 days.
• If you don’t already hold a qualification in residential childcare, don’t worry—we’ll fund this for you. It’s key that you have this within your first two years, and we’ll support you every step of the way.

In return for your time, you’ll get:

• Holidays: You’ll get 28 days annual leave. You’ll still need to work on bank holidays if the rota requires. You’ll also get an extra day off for your birthday after your first year with us.
• Pension scheme: Our pension scheme is based on you paying in 5%, and us adding 3%.
• Learning & Development Opportunities: We provide comprehensive learning opportunities for team members to develop themselves.
• Discounts: You’ll have access to brilliant discounts through the Blue Light Card and our own employee benefits platform.
• Wellbeing Support: Your wellbeing is always our priority. You’ll have access to mental health and wellbeing support. On top of this, our therapies team offers a monthly confidential check in clinic, and group reflective practice sessions.
• Cycle2Work: The cycle to work scheme enables you to buy a bicycle at a discounted rate.
• DBS: As this role requires you to have an enhanced DBS carried out, we will cover this cost.
• Sleep-in Allowance: You have the potential to earn up to an additional £6,183 per year, based on completing 10 sleep-in shifts per month - but these are not guaranteed.
• After 12 months service: You’ll also be eligible for our Medicash scheme which covers a wide range of medical, health and wellbeing expenses (Including immediate access to a GP!). You’ll get life assurance paid at x2 your annual salary, and even more high street discounts.

In line with safer recruitment guidelines, we will run an online check on the successful candidate. This can and may include any public social media profiles.

At Phoenix Learning and Care, we pride ourselves on our diverse workforce, and ensuring we have an inclusive environment for all our team members. We remain committed to ensuring our teams can bring their true selves to work without risk or fear of discrimination.

INDC