Senior Support Worker

Senior Support Worker - Residential Children's ServicesLocation: Cheshire (with flexibility to support neighbouring services as required)Purpose of the Job • To engage in the effective delivery of residential childcare in accordance with company policies and procedures. • To maintain good professional practices in accordance with the Quality Standards for children's homes and the Children's Homes Regulations 2015. • To help create a positive, safe, healthy, and educational environment for each child in our care. Main Duties and Responsibilities • Leadership & Team Support: Provide daily support, direction, and formal 1-1 supervision to Support Workers. Assist with rota management to ensure consistent shift cover, and confidently challenge and manage staff performance issues. • Care Planning & Records: Contribute to the delivery of effective individual care plans, risk assessments, and other essential records. Maintain high-quality daily logs with guidance from Team Leaders, the Deputy, and the Homes Manager. • Child Safeguarding & Advocacy: Ensure all children are actively safeguarded. Seek out and act upon the views, wishes, and feelings of the children whenever appropriate. • Therapeutic Support: Understand the impact of trauma and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), supporting children through behaviours that challenge. • Daily Home Operations: Keep the home clean, tidy, and safe, encouraging the children to participate in domestic duties. Prepare and cook nutritious meals that respect dietary and cultural needs. • Independence & Life Skills: Support young people to develop practical life skills, promoting their long-term independence. • Community & Transport: Safely transport young people to activities, education, and external appointments. • Rota Flexibility: Complete "sleep-in" duties on a rota basis and maintain flexible working hours to meet the needs of the service, including evenings, weekends, and bank holidays (including the Christmas period). Required Experience and KnowledgeEssential Criteria • A minimum of 12 months of experience working in a residential children's home or a highly similar care setting. • Proven ability to manage conflict and challenging behaviour effectively. • Strong skills in maintaining, planning, and prioritising home records to a high standard. • High level of applied literacy and numeracy, with a willingness to learn and develop new skills. • Ability to offer advice, support, and formal 1-1 supervision to junior staff, helping to develop their knowledge. • Readiness to work evenings, weekends, bank holidays, and sleep-ins as required by the rota • UK Driving Licence QualificationsEssential • A good level of applied literacy and numeracy. • Commitment to actively work towards achieving a Level 3 qualification relevant to the role. Desirable • A relevant care qualification, such as an NVQ or Diploma Level 3 in Caring for Children and Young People. How to ApplyIf you are ready to take the next step in your career and join a supportive team, please get in touch: • Phone: (Option 2) Randstad Care acts as an employment business when supplying temporary staff and as an employment agency when introducing candidates for permanent employment with a client. Randstad Care is an equal opportunities employer and decisions are made on merits alone. Did you know that Randstad Care have been awarded a place on the National Clinical Staffing Framework for the NHS? This means we will be able to bring you more opportunities within nursing & midwifery and clinical staffing.