Universal, SEND & Emerging Needs Practitioner

One YMCA; St Albans; On-site; GBP 25,000 - 35,000; Full time

Job summary

A charitable organization in community support is seeking a dedicated individual to promote parent engagement and support children's development in St Albans. This role involves creating resources for families and delivering initiatives tailored to local needs. The ideal candidate will hold an NVQ Level 3 in health or social care and have a valid UK driving license. Exceptional interpersonal skills are essential for engaging with diverse families and vulnerable groups. This position is pivotal in fostering meaningful community connections and enhancing family support services.

Qualifications

• Valid UK driving licence and access to a car during working hours.
• Willingness to travel on a regular basis.
• Ability to engage with vulnerable members of society.

Responsibilities

• Promote parent engagement in children's development.
• Create tools and resources for parents.
• Develop understanding of local community services.
• Plan and deliver initiatives for families.
• Conduct sessions face-to-face and digitally.
• Plan responses to meet families' needs.

Skills

Experience in engaging with parents

Understanding of child development

Knowledge of local community services

Education

NVQ Level 3 or equivalent in health, social care or early years

Job description

Key responsibilities

• Promote the engagement of parents in their children's development and learning, covering emotional development, communication and language, physical health, SEND etc.
• Create and develop a range of tools, resources and information that parents can access through workshops, webinars, by attending sessions, to further support home learning.
• Develop a good working knowledge of the demographics of the local community and an understanding of the local services, networks, facilities and support systems, including digital, available for families during ante‑natal and post‑natal periods.
• Design, plan and deliver initiatives to meet identified needs of local communities and individual families, encouraging engagement and co‑production wherever possible.
• Delivery of sessions will be a combination of face‑to‑face and also over a range of digital platforms.
• To plan creative responses to best meet families' needs and deliver relevant support interventions and activities in the home and community, using various parenting models and programmes, individually and in groups.

Qualifications & requirements

• NVQ Level 3 or equivalent in health, social care or early years (essential)
• You will need a valid UK driving licence and access to a car during working hours, and willingness to travel on a regular basis. You must have insurance that allows you to drive for business purposes.
• As some of our roles involve working with vulnerable members of society, this position may require a Basic or Enhanced Criminal Disclosure, which will be conducted once a conditional offer is made.

Service Unit Description

Hertfordshire's Family Centre Service is made up of the Public Health Nursing Service (Health Visitors and School Nurses) and the Family Support Service. Our purpose is to support children and families to have the best start in life, develop well and thrive. We provide families with children aged up to 5 years with a wide range of services, information and support on key areas relating to family life. One YMCA and its subsidiaries, the Early Childhood Partnership (ECP) and Signpost are on an exciting journey to double our impact by 2025. We are over half way through an exciting new strategy launched in the first hour of the new decade, via email where all staff and volunteers were invited to put themselves forward to apply and attend an intensive, three‑day Kickstarter Event. By the end of these three days, there was a brilliantly multi‑faceted set of themes and ideas, which formed the starting point for the rest of the Mission 25 process to build on. The aim of Mission 25 is to give every staff member and volunteer the opportunity to play their part in shaping the strategy to do "more and better, together" so that we double our impact by 2025. We deliver a vast array of services across Herts, Beds and Bucks that reach over 135,000 individuals annually.

Our Services

• Provision of over 700 units of accommodation for homeless people
• Move‑on accommodation for individuals moving onto independent living
• Housing and practical/emotional support for young asylum seekers
• Community HUBs hosting a range of activities and meeting space hire
• Childcare provision in Hertfordshire
• Family support through a network of children's and family centres covering Hertfordshire and Bedford
• Therapeutic and non‑therapeutic support for male and female victims of domestic abuse and their children
• Independent sexual violence services across Bedfordshire, Luton and Hertfordshire
• Domestic abuse perpetrator reform programmes across Bedfordshire
• Youth services offering emotional wellbeing support and youth club opportunities for 11‑19 year olds alongside our National Airplay programme funded by the RAF Benevolent Fund
• A community gym where everyone can enjoy the benefits of physical exercise

Our values remain at the forefront of how we operate as a charity, and it is important to us that all staff and volunteers can fully buy in to our ethos.