Team Leader - Children's Home (Maternity Cover)

Catch22; Sutton; On-site; GBP 33,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

Lighthouse Pedagogy Trust in Sutton is recruiting a Team Leader to join our children’s home on a maternity cover basis. You’ll lead shifts, coach and develop practitioners, and work directly with children and families to create a safe, nurturing home where children can thrive.

Our model rests on four foundations—People, Place, Purpose and Social Pedagogy—and you’ll help uphold high standards of care, safeguarding and continuous improvement while collaborating with families and professionals to

Qualifications

• Experience of working with children or vulnerable groups in care settings.
• Ability to lead, motivate, supervise and develop staff to high standards of care.
• Strong relationships with children and families and risk awareness.

Responsibilities

• Lead shifts and role model excellent practice, creating a safe, nurturing home.
• Line manage, coach and develop practitioners, including induction and supervision.
• Build strong relationships with children, supporting wellbeing, development and goals.
• Safeguard children and promote welfare, responding to risks and changing needs.
• Oversee care plans and activities, ensuring meaningful experiences for children.
• Collaborate with families and professionals to strengthen support networks.
• Contribute to leadership and continuous improvement of the home, including on-call rota.

Skills

Team leadership

Staff development

Communication

Conflict de-escalation

Relationship building

Safeguarding awareness

Education

Level 3 Diploma for Residential Care (or equivalent)

Job description

Team Leader - Children's Home (Maternity Cover)

• Contract
• Contract type: Full time - fixed term
• Department: Lighthouse Pedagogy Trust
• Service type: Lighthouse Pedagogy Trust
• Compensation: up to GBP 36,500 - yearly

Lighthouse Pedagogy Trust is a charity creating children’s homes where children can thrive. We believe every child deserves the chance to achieve great things and lead fulfilling lives.Our first home opened in the London Borough of Sutton in February 2022, supporting up to six children aged 11–18.

We are recruiting a Team Leader to join the diverse team of practitioners working in our home. This role is being offered on a fixed-term basis to provide maternity cover. However, we are growing our team and our second children’s home is opening in 2027, so we anticipate there being a strong likelihood of an opportunity to stay with us in a permanent role.

Our model is built on four foundations:

• People: Our people are the heart of our organisation. We want the very best people to develop authentic relationships with the most vulnerable children. We invest in great staff and offer high levels of training and development.
• Place: We create thoughtfully designed spaces that feel like home, in places of need. You can see for yourself with a virtual tour of our home here.
• Purpose: Children need to be able to discover their potential. We work closely with learning providers and other support services to allow every child to achieve their ambitions. Holistic education is at the top of our list of priorities.
• Social Pedagogy: We use social pedagogy as an excellent basis for supporting children who live in residential care. It is an academic discipline drawing on core theories from education, sociology, psychology and philosophy, and is commonly used by residential care workers in many European countries.

As a Team Leader, you’ll combine hands-on work with children with the opportunity to develop your leadership skills.You’ll work directly with children and families, lead and develop practitioners, and help create a safe, nurturing home where children can thrive.

Key responsibilities include:

• Lead shifts and role model excellent practice, helping to create a safe, nurturing and well-run home.
• Line manage, coach and develop practitioners, including supporting induction, supervision and reflective practice.
• Build strong, trusting relationships with children, providing hands-on care and supporting their wellbeing, development and goals.
• Safeguard children and promote their welfare, responding confidently to risks, concerns and changing needs.
• Lead and oversee children’s care and activities, ensuring plans are followed and children have meaningful experiences and opportunities.
• Work closely with families and professionals, advocating for children and helping strengthen the relationships around them.
• Support the leadership and continuous improvement of the home, including quality of practice, records, staffing and regulatory requirements.
• Share leadership responsibility, including contributing to management meetings and taking part in the out-of-hours on-call rota.

We’re looking for an experienced, proactive and caring leader who can role model great practice, develop others and build strong relationships with children with complex needs.

You’ll be kind, patient, adaptable and resilient, with the ability to look beyond behaviour and understand what children need. You’ll be willing to get stuck into life in the home, have fun with children and help create a warm, nurturing environment where they feel safe and can thrive.

• Experience of working with children or vulnerable groups in a children's home or similar residential setting.
• The ability to lead, motivate, supervise, support and develop staff to ensure high standards of care/
• The ability to build strong and trusting relationships with children.
• A strong understanding of the risks and issues facing children in care and their families and strategies to support these
• Skills in de-escalating conflict and working with challenging situations and behaviour.
• Teamwork and communication skills to be able to work effectively as part of the team and in partnership with families and other professionals and agencies.
• Level 3 Diploma for Residential Care (or equivalent)

Safer Recruitment

At Lighthouse Pedagogy Trust, we safeguard all children and young people in our care. As part of our recruitment process, we conduct rigorous checks and vetting of all applicants, in line with legal and regulatory requirements and best practices.Everyone who works in our homes will be responsible for safeguarding young people and putting their safety and wellbeing first.

This role is subject to an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (police records) check, including overseas police checks where necessary. Please note that this post is exempt from the limits of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act, and as such, all previous cautions and convictions will need to be disclosed as part of any application.

Maternity cover role until 30 September 2027.

We will conduct an online search as part of our due diligence checks for successful candidate(s). This will involve a search of all publicly available information online and in social media.