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Job Information
Achieving for Children is a Community Interest Company that has a public sector ethos, combined with the freedom to innovate enabling us to do things differently. As a not-for-profit social enterprise owned by three local authorities (Windsor & Maidenhead, Kingston and Richmond), we offer the freedoms of a social enterprise with the employment benefits of local government. To find out more about us click here.
Parenting Support Worker Best Start in Life (BSIL)
We're proud to announce that AfC's Children's Services in Richmond have been awarded an Outstanding rating by Ofsted. This places Richmond alongside Kingston, which also holds an Outstanding rating, as a top-performing service. Our separately inspected Fostering Service has achieved a strong ‘Good’ rating, recognising our skilled and dedicated fostering workforce.
Come work with a skilled, stable workforce and be part of an organisation that's truly making a difference.
This role will be based within the Community Services and Partnerships Directorate working closely with Kingston and Richmond Family Hubs and with our Early Years Services and sector. This service is at the centre of the Protect and Early Help agenda, focusing on identifying and supporting families in the greatest need to improve their immediate wellbeing and future prospects.
In this role you will provide parenting support and brief interventions for parents and carers, deliver a range of parenting programmes across sites and at various times including some evenings and weekends. Supporting the delivery of a key strand in the Best Start in Life initiative which aims to improve the Good Level of Development for children at the end of reception.
This position is offered on a fixed-term basis for 36 months.
About the role
In this role you will focus on interventions for 3-4 year olds and the early years and will deliver one to one parenting programmes to parents in need of support and guidance, both individually and through group work. The role will support the training of professionals in a range of settings in the delivery of effective parenting work across the boroughs. Key responsibilities will include:
- Directly deliver support for identified families that promote the wellbeing of the whole family as well as individual children in the family and will work with parents to set appropriate and safe boundaries for each of their children in order to build better relationships and keep their children free from harm.
- Record all interventions and ensure that all required information is written and stored in accordance with local policies and quality assurance programmes and will collect evidence of impact of interventions delivered.
- Work with the Family Hub teams promoting the wider parenting offer and early intervention support services.
- Support service developments through researching relevant models of good practice, disseminating good practice guidelines and commitment to the modernisation of social strategic plans.
- Maintain a working environment in which diversity is respected and responded to, and equality of opportunity is promoted and will implement policies and procedures necessary to meet customer care needs.
For further information about this role, please contact Rebecca Eggleton-Wills at rebecca.eggleton-wills@
About you
- Qualification or accreditation in delivering parenting interventions.
- Evidence of ongoing CPD.
- A strong track record of working with parents and carers, children and young people with understanding of the early years and child development.
- Successful track record in delivering improved outcomes for families.
- Is able to communicate effectively with children and young people, their families, and other professionals in a transparent and honest way.
- Good verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to use different communication styles and techniques to present ideas and influence others.
- Is able to influence, develop and change the motivation and behaviour of people to achieve objectives.
- Experience of keeping and maintaining records (in accordance with local policy) and producing accurate reports, presentations, written updates to a range of stakeholders (which may include families, children or young people).
- Experience of 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).
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.
