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Practitioner - Short Breaks for Children (Career Graded Post)

Children’s Social Work

‘Are you looking for an opportunity to make a positive difference to a child or young person life?’

Can you show us how you would treat the children and young people we support, with the dignity and respect they deserve? Are you kind, caring and compassionate and a good listener who is patient?

If helping people comes naturally to you and you find reward in supporting people, this could be the perfect job for you!

No qualification? No Problem! Although experience and qualifications are always desirable, for this role your personal values and attitude are the most important attributes. We are looking for thoughtful, caring and inspiring people to join our team!

Short Breaks for Children - what we do:

The Short Breaks for Children Service is part of Children’s Social Work within the Council’s Children’s Services Directorate. The Short Breaks for Children service supports children and young people with complex additional support needs, providing a range of outreach and community based activities, day care, and overnight support.

The service provides short breaks for children and young people away from their parents / carers as respite support for the family.

This area of work can be complex and challenging while very rewarding and requires people who are caring and compassionate.

What you’ll be doing:

As a Practitioner in Short Breaks for Children:

You will be responsible for providing direct care and support to children and young people to achieve positive outcomes.
You will play a key role ensuring the environment is nurturing and that children and young people grow up feeling loved, safe, and respected, and that they realise their full potential.
You will support people with varying abilities and complex needs, and will be responsible for developing person-centred care plans that promote the young person’s independence as they grow and mature.
You will work as part of a team to provide the highest quality of care to children and young people. You will support children and young people with a variety of activities that are important to them.
You must evidence that you can demonstrate the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) core values of;

Respect,
Collaboration,
Participation & Dignity and Empowerment

What’s in it for you? Following a review of responsibilities and reward for social care worker roles across Council services, it was recognised that an uplift in salary was required. In this respect, you’ll be undertaking valuable work in more than one way! Your benefit package includes:

Excellent Salary and Conditions
Distant islands allowance
Generous holiday allowance
Local Government Pension scheme
Flexible working and family friendly policies
A varied and interesting workload
Excellent training and development opportunities
Various other employee benefits

Opportunities to progress!

You may have noticed that this vacancy is Career Graded? It therefore provides an excellent career development opportunity (see attached for further details) and means that the Council will provide you with all the training and support you need to become fully competent in this rewarding role.

Above all else we’re looking for someone who’s compassionate, respectful, empathetic and honest, with a values and integrity to make a very real and positive difference to the children and young people we support.

Do you share our values?

In Shetland Islands Council, Excellent service is at the heart of everything we do. We provide excellent service by taking personal responsibility and working well together.

It is important that you share our values and would demonstrate this by:

Providing an excellent level of service, by making sure you understand, meet and manage our service users’ needs.
Working in an open and honest way, reflecting on your performance and looking for opportunities to improve and develop.
Having a positive attitude by being open-minded, fair, respectful, trustworthy and honest.
Taking your responsibilities as an employee of the council seriously.

Practitioners shall provide care in a variety of settings including within the community. Therefore the worker will, in the majority of cases, be required to travel to undertake their duties. An ability to drive with a full driving licence is therefore highly desirable and may be essential depending on the demands of the service. The travel requirements of each post will be made clear through the recruitment & selection process.

Information about Shetland

Shetland is an archipelago in the north of the British Isles where you'll find freedom, wildlife and wild beauty, but also a rich culture and dynamic, forward-looking society. The Islands have a thriving and diverse economy full of opportunities and offer residents the ideal work/life balance. Shetland combines stunning coastal landscapes and wide open spaces with friendly, bustling island communities. Factor in Shetland's impressive modern amenities, highly regarded schools and the Islands offer a work life balance rarely found elsewhere.

Find out more about:

Social Care careers in Shetland: here
Values for a career in Social Care: here
Living and working in Shetland: here
The Shetland Islands Council: here

The grade of this post is H/I
This post is career graded - your salary and career progression will depend on your experience and qualifications
Rate of pay shown in the advert is inclusive of Distant Islands Allowance of £1.4808 per hour
Permanent Part Time post for 24.0 Hours per Week , 52.18 weeks per year
Preferred candidates will be required to join the Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme or undergo a PVG Scheme update prior to a formal offer of employment being made
The successful candidate will have to complete registration with the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) when they begin in post
This vacancy does not meet Home Office rules for UK visa sponsorship. Please only apply if you do not require UK visa sponsorship.
A relocation package does not apply to this post
We will pay interview expenses from within Shetland
You must have the ability to travel throughout Shetland at short notice and where public transport is limited
We are happy to talk flexible working

During the application process you are required to give the names of two persons not related to you, who we can contact to provide a reference to support your application.

This post is based at Short Breaks for Children, Laburnum House

For further details relating to this post, please contact: Kelly Tait, Registered Manager, Tel - 07904804991, Email - kelly.tait4@shetland.gov.uk

If you have a disability which prevents you from applying online, please call 01595 744032.

If you’re a kind, compassionate person who’d like to make a difference to people’s lives, then social care could be the right career for you.

https://www.shetland.org/life/work/professions/social-care

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