Barnardo's Caern Disability Services consists of three unique Projects who deliver a variety of quality services for Autistic and Neorudiverse children and young people, often with learning disabilities and/or physical disabilities.
At the Caern Community Project, we support up to 50 children and young people across the Lothians aged 7-18 by offering outreach, groups, youth clubs and training to children and their families.
We are looking for two Project Workers (37 hours or 22 hours) to join our small team to support young people in the community. Working primarily in the community, you will promote the happiness, safety and welfare of the young people. You will play an active role in supporting them and their families/carers to achieve positive outcomes, as identified in the Young People's Individual Support Plans.
You will work on a Rota of day shifts, including weekends, early mornings and evenings.
About You
We are looking for a Project Worker who has experience in working directly with children and young people. Experience in supporting Neurodiverse children and young people would be advantageous, or at the minimum an understanding of these factors and its impact on child development.
Experience of group work is desirable, with good planning skills.
You will need to communicate effectively with a range of people, including neurodiverse children and young people, their families and other professionals. This also includes being able to work sensitively within family homes.
You will have the confidence to lone work and can use your own initiative with support from team and managers.
You will have experience in or an understanding of supporting Neurodiverse children and young people. Communication with the young people is paramount - the key is time tabling; structure; reliability and consistency. You will be faced with behaviors that challenge, including physical.
As this post is in the community, a clean current drivers' license is essential.
Ideally, you will hold (or be willing to work towards) a relevant professional qualification at SCQF level 7 or above (for example SVQ3 children and young people) plus an HNC in social services. These qualifications are required to register with the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) as part of your employment. There may be external grants available to partly fund this.
For an informal chat about this role – please contact Lynne Melville (Team Manager) on 07789 941421
We know that our colleagues go above and beyond in delivering our vital work, driven by their passion and commitment to Barnardo's values. We also know that we can only realise our ambitions and achieve better outcomes for more children, thanks to the talent, hard work and creativity of our people.
For all these reasons, we are committed to a new approach to pay and reward, to ensure it is fair, attractive and progressive, which should be in place by 1st April 2023. This is a positive change for the charity, and a key pillar of our People & Culture Strategy. It will assist us in supporting colleagues to grow and develop in their career at Barnardo's.
Please note due to the high volume of applications for some posts, this advert might close before the displayed closing date. We recommend that you apply for this role as soon as possible.
At Barnardo's we are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and we expect all staff and volunteers to share in this commitment. Our safer recruitment processes mean that the safety and welfare of the child is paramount at every stage of the process and therefore, we adopt rigorous scrutiny in our pre-employment checking. This post is subject to a range of pre-employment checks including a Criminal Records Enhanced Disclosure for the successful candidate.
About Barnardo's
At Barnardo's we believe in children – no matter who they are, what they have done or what they have been through. Please read about our basis and values following the link below. You will be asked questions relating to them as part of the recruitment process for this role.
Barnardo's is committed to having a diverse and inclusive workforce for staff and volunteers. We actively encourage applications from disabled, Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic candidates as they are under-represented within Barnardo's.