Family Hub Practitioner

About the role

Family Hubs are an evolution of our Children’s Centres, expanding our parenting programme and working closely with the youth service and other partners for an all-age offer. All families with children aged 0 - 11 and expectant mothers and fathers, can attend to help their children to get the best start in life. The facilities and activities are designed for all children and their families.

Family Hubs across Kingston and Richmond are key contributors to the Protect and Early Help agenda and their core purpose is to identify, reach and help the families in greatest need. The aims of service provision are to support child development and school readiness; support parenting skills; promote good physical and mental health for the whole family; ensure safeguarding; support parents to improve skills that enable them to access education, training and employment; and address risk factors so that children and their families are safe, free from poverty and able to improve both their immediate wellbeing and their future life chances.

• Delivery of sessions such as stay & play, messy play, rhyme and story times to support children's learning & development 
• Supporting the delivery of afterschool and holiday activities for primary age children and their parents. 
• Support the learning and development of all children attending the Hub and other sessions through planning and delivery of high quality sessions in accordance with evidence based practice, working under the guidance of the Hub Lead Coordinator and/or Early Help Team Leader. 
• Support parental knowledge of child development and the importance of learning through play and promote an effective home learning environment.
• Evaluating the impact of provision for children and parents/carers
• To work as part of a team to ensure sessions are of high quality including the maintenance of the equipment and resources. To be involved with the planning of activities in line with the EYFS and other national statutory guidance and support tracking and monitoring where appropriate.

For further information about the role please contact Brenda Wood, Brenda.wood@achievingforchildren.org.uk Kingston Family Hub Manager for an informal discussion.

About you

We are looking for enthusiastic and qualified practitioners with a good knowledge of the Early Years Foundation Stage and proven experience of supporting children's learning and development in the early years, together with experience of supporting families, especially those families that may be considered vulnerable or at risk of poor outcomes. 

In addition you will have:

• A level 3 in early years childcare and education, OR a willingness to gain such a qualification, with proven experience of supporting learning & development in previous positions
• A minimum 5 years post-qualification experience working in childcare or similar provision 
• Experience of monitoring progress of children’s development and planning quality experiences to support next steps in learning
• Knowledge of Early Years Foundation Standards and how children 0-5 learn and what activities support their development
• The ability to deliver creative and engaging sessions for both children with a range of ages and needs and their parents/carers
• Commitment to addressing specific equality or diversity issues within your practice with colleagues/service users and taking action to solve them

About our benefits

We are focused on creating a positive supportive environment, where you will have access to a really wide range of resources, as well as a competitive salary and all the perks to enable hybrid working. In AfC you will also have access to:

• 29 days annual leave, increasing to 33 days after 2 years and 35 days after 4 years with an additional day off in your birthday month (Or for term-time workers, your leave entitlement consists of the non-working periods in your contract)
• Tailored induction sessions commencing on the date you start working for AfC
• Local Government salary and pension scheme (LGPS or Teachers Pension)
• Flexible working options - helping to keep a good work life balance
• A comprehensive Employee Assistance Programme
• A range of staff benefits and discounts
• An excellent learning and development offer to support your career pathway

To find out about all of the breadth of benefits of working for Achieving for Children click here. For our social work offer click here. For our Recruitment Journey, click here.

Important Information

Start dates: Achieving for Children have set start dates meaning successful candidates join on a set date in each month. Candidates are advised to prepare for this should a job offer be accepted to ensure eligible continuous service is not affected.

Right to work: The UK has introduced a new points-based immigration system affecting EU and Non-EU workers and sponsorship requirements. We advise checking the GOV.UK website for right to work guidance.

Equality: We particularly welcome applications from sections of the community who are currently underrepresented within our teams. Achieving for Children are committed to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible for everyone. We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and developing a culture that values differences, recognising that employees from a variety of backgrounds bring important and positive contributions and can improve the way we deliver services. We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer.

Safeguarding: We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. We expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. This post is exempted under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and as such appointment to this post will be conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory response to a check of police records via Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).

For more information about AfC: Drop in and meet Regina on the first Wednesday of every month at Civic Centre, Twickenham.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received. Therefore, it is strongly advised that you complete and return your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.