Senior Residential Childcare Workers & Residential Childcare Workers

*Sleep In allowances are paid at £40 per night. There are opportunities to work additional hours and overtime across the Service.
Hours: 37 per week
Contract: Permanent

"It’s the best job in the World"
"The work life balance is brilliant"
"Without the support of my team and managers this would be a really difficult job"
"I am at home more than I am at work - both families benefit"
"Thanks for running me a bath - is what made me smile today - win/win"

Working in our Bright Skies environment these are some of the things you could say about your role on a day to day basis and if you REALLY REALLY want to make a difference to a young person’s life then read on……

Bright Skies is a unique service offering in Hertfordshire, where we are able to offer an extended family support mechanism for 3 young people (between 11 and 17) with complex needs, who desperately need our help, support and guidance.

It is hard to put a job title on a role where you can be mentor, teacher, coach, deliverer of parental guidance, role mode, therapist, councillor and family liaison…..often all in the same day.

Curiosity is our mantra and we give full training on Informed Practices, we do not act in a punitive way and we adapt our ways to each individual in our family. We help you to develop your understanding of working and supporting in Trauma situations.

We also have several statutory training courses along with intensive training around our ARC framework , NVR (non violence resistance) Therapeutic skills and all our team will undertake the NVQ 4 for Children and Residential Services. Basically you will get paid to go to College!

On a daily basis you will be liaising with a host of individuals and services, from our young person’s family, to schools and education authorities, social workers, police and a whole range of other internal and external contacts.

The essence of the role is to support, almost as an extension of the family, one young person to help them develop into adulthood as effectively as possible, establishing routine, boundaries and consistency in a calm not judgemental manner.

Describing the day to day is like " how long is a piece of string" the easiest way is to say

"You are there when I rise, when I eat, when I play and you are there to put me to bed at the end of my day"

On your working days you could be taking your young person horse riding, painting, for a drive, for a walk, out shopping, attending virtual schools, as such no two days are ever the same.

Our commitment to the young people in our care is to be there around the clock for them.

You will be part of a team of 8 people working on a shift/rota basis which you will work together with the rest of the team and your senior to organise in advance. Obviously due to the nature of our care there may be occasions where you may need to swap and working with the team we can achieve that flexibility.

Your passion and commitment to supporting the lives of young people is the most essential thing you can bring to the role/roles…..there are a few other things too that are essential:

• Previous experience of interacting with children/teenagers in our age category, either in a working environment, in voluntary roles coupled with a passion for making a difference to a child’s life.
• For the Senior role you must already have the NVQ level 4, for the other roles we will support your studies accordingly.
• For both roles; a manual UK Driving Licence - each young person has a car assigned to them.