Children's Support Worker - Welling

Role: Children's Support Worker
Location: Falconwood, 33-47 The Green, Welling, Kent, DA16 2PA (Children's Services Falconwood Residential Respite)
Hourly rate of pay: £12.49 per hour
Contracted hours:
2 Roles Vacant - 40 hours per week OR 16 hours per week to be worked over Saturdays and Sundays (Please specify what you are applying for in the questions as part of the application)

What you can expect from us:

• Fantastic paid training and career progression opportunities (including recognised qualifications in health and social care)
• Paid DBS (we will recover the cost should your employment terminate for any reason, other than redundancy, before passing your probation)
• Flexible work arrangements with opportunities to take on additional bank shifts too
• 30 Days Annual Leave (including Bank Holidays) / Pro rata dependent on hours. Annual leave entitlement increases with length of service
• Nest Pension and Death in Service Benefit
• Dedicated Employee Assistance Programme and Access to Mental Health First Aiders
• Access to the Blue Light Card (providing discounts on the high street and online) as well as 20% discounts in our own stores and Cafés.
• Refer a Friend scheme, so you can earn up to £250 for every person you refer to work for Aspens
• Recognition schemes, including ‘Employee of the Month’

At Aspens, we have over 100 years of experience in supporting people with learning disabilities and on the autism spectrum in the social care sector as well as children, young people and adults with a range of disabilities or complex needs in a respectful way.

We aspire to be honest leaders in our social care field, setting the highest possible standards for the care of the people we support. Our dedication to caring for people applies to our valued workforce as well as to the people our organisation exists to support.

We empower our staff by equipping them with the skills, knowledge and tools they need to do an excellent job, remain up to date with the latest developments and training in the sector and to achieve their own professional goals.

About the role

Falconwood Children’s Home (Ofsted registered) in the London Borough of Bexley is a residential short break service where children or young people with disabilities and/or emotional and behavioural needs have overnight stays, giving their parents or carers a break. This specialist service has up to 9 beds and accommodates young people from the age of 5 up to the age of 17.

The Support Worker is responsible for providing support, advice and guidance to those staying at Falconwood and ensuring that the children and young people experience high levels of personal, emotional and physical and support and social care.

They will need to work with young people and children with All SEND (special education needs and disabilities) as well as Autism Spectrum Conditions to help develop individual skills and confidence in all aspects of daily life, including building positive relationships, activities, leisure and social skills, education and accessing the local community and amenities. To provide a short break service for the young person, child, parents and/or their families.

The Support Worker will be contracted to 40 hours per week and the hours of work will be made up of 8 hour shifts and will include occasional sleep in duties. Overtime available.

About the candidate

Aspens Charities are looking for honest, respectable and professional people to join us to promote the values that Aspens champions; enabling and empowering people to learn new skills, live life to the full and contribute to society wherever possible.

• Qualified to Level 3 in Health and Social Care (or equivalent) or able to work towards acquiring this.
• Experienced with working with children and / or adults with SEND as well as ASC
• Driven and proactive to help others
• Have a positive ‘can-do’ attitude with lots of “get up and go!”
• Friendly, calm and helpful
• Have a good sense of humour
• A team worker with good communication skills
• Flexible and trustworthy
• Patient and have a caring attitude
• Good at listening
• Willingness to learn and develop
• Good English & Maths and IT skills

Aspens Charities are an equal opportunities employer.

Aspens is committed to the safeguarding and promotion of welfare of all children, young people and adults. All successful candidates will be subject to an Enhanced DBS disclosure, and satisfactory references. This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and the amendments to the Exceptions Order (1975, 2013,2020). Our safeguarding policies can be found on our website.

At Aspens Charities, we know diversity fosters creativity and innovation. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where all belong. We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are likely to be underrepresented in Aspens’ workforce, such as sex/gender, minority ethnic group, religion, belief, sexual orientation, age, and abilities. We believe that a variety of perspectives leads to better innovation and a stronger team. We are dedicated to creating an environment where everyone feels valued, heard, and has an equal opportunity to thrive.