Residential Support Worker (Casual)

About the Borough

The London Borough of Sutton is situated less than 30 minutes by train from Central London, with direct connections to London Victoria and London Bridge. Found in zone 5 with good transport links in and out of London, Sutton boasts award winning parks and open spaces, low crime rates, affordable housing and great schools. As well as high levels of resident engagement and satisfaction, providing quality services and success in addressing our financial challenges, whilst involving residents in key issues and high street changes.

Sutton is continuously investing in the health, wellbeing and education of our residents and the future generation, as set out in the “Ambitious for Sutton” corporate plan. We are home to the Royal Marsden Hospital and the Institute of Cancer Research. Together with the development of the London Cancer Hub, Sutton will be the world’s leading life-science district, specialising in cancer research and treatment. Our vision will create around 13,000 jobs while contributing £1.2bn to the UK economy each year, a vibrant community of scientists, doctors and innovative companies intended to deliver real benefits for cancer patients and drive economic growth. With the regeneration of the local areas with new homes and schools, Sutton is passionate about working closely with our residents and vulnerable groups to help them maintain their independence and create a balance between support and independent living.

The Council is seen as a driving force within the South London Partnership of five outer south west London boroughs focused on strategic growth, regeneration and investment. As we strive to improve our services and spaces for our residents as set out in the ‘Ambitious for Sutton’ corporate plan, Sutton aims to shape the future of the borough and adapt to the needs of its residents to make our Borough a great place to live, work and raise a family.

About the Service and Team

We work within children’s social care's well-established Restorative practice and trauma informed model. Sutton is fully committed to training which fosters skills and expertise around therapeutically working with and supporting children who have experienced developmental trauma. All staff will be required to undertake Restorative Practice and Trauma Informed practice training.
We expect our Residential Care Support workers to offer dynamic evening routines and activities to holistic support the needs of the young people at Willow Rise.
We are a registered provision and we expect to achieve outstanding status.
Our Residential Care Homes
We offer those young people that have experienced traumatic life events a home where they can be nurtured and supported with a shared vision of determination for a positive future. Supported by a multi-agency team who are passionate about helping these young people find their strengths and explore what they want to achieve with their lives, our homes are a uniquely dynamic and supportive place to be.

About the Role and Our Ideal Candidate

Our Residential Care Support Workers transform lives. Our objective is to apply a restorative approach to achieving the best outcomes for children in our care.

Following significant Council investment and the continued growth and success of our Residential Services, we are proud to announce new and exciting opportunities to join us as a Residential Care Support Worker on a flexible hours contract. Working across 3 homes in the locality of Sutton, you will form part of a dedicated, supportive team responsible for providing the day-to-day safe and secure care of the children at our residential homes. Keeping the children engaged and occupied, you’ll encourage and participate in fun, enriching activities with the young people in a safe and inclusive environment.

Our Residential Care Support Workers understand the importance of getting it right for our young people and offering them the best we can by applying knowledge and research into practice and working innovatively to understand the impact of trauma, we are committed to the highest quality of care. We believe in nurturing positive relationships and are wholly dedicated to never giving up on a child.

Our new Residential Strategy seeks to bring children closer to families and the communities that they know, living in high quality provision designed around them. We are looking for Residential Care Support Workers who will be fully supported by hands on and committed managers, great access to training and a support network including our integrated youth services.

About You

• We are looking for compassionate individuals with the capacity to connect with teenagers. While you will bring plenty of empathy to the role, you will also be able to set boundaries – so you will need to demonstrate patience and resilience.
• It would be ideal if you have experience of working with children or young people in a residential setting.
• Ability to find and use creative ways to communicate with children, you will also be quick to learn, and willing to work flexibly and innovatively to meet the changing and challenging needs of the children.
• Ability to form trusted relationships with young people in your care by supporting them with their social and emotional development, educational achievement, whilst setting boundaries and bringing consistency to their lives as any good parent would.
• Applying a restorative practice and trauma informed model as a therapeutic form of intervention you will help teenagers make sense of their backgrounds and find a positive way forward. Full training is given which fosters skills and expertise around therapeutically working with and supporting children who have experienced developmental trauma.
• Must be willing to work flexibly as part of a varied shift pattern which will be late afternoon, evenings and weekends
• Must be willing to be innovative and creative in your practice and approach and continually explore new ways of engaging and achieving positive outcomes for young people.

These roles will provide you with the opportunity to study for a fully-funded NVQ level 3 health and social care in a residential setting. You will also be expected to work shifts including evenings, weekends, bank holidays and sleep-in duties. Additional payments are paid for out-of-hours work.

Our Offer to You

As an organisation that values and nurtures talent, we’re committed to helping you fulfil your potential and will offer you a supportive, friendly and collaborative environment to grow and develop your career and skills. We’re constantly striving to improve our ways of working so putting your ideas across however big or small; will be fully encouraged and supported by your colleagues and our dynamic and experienced management team.

Employees have access to a wide range of benefits to enable staff to achieve a work life balance, some of which include:

• A generous annual leave entitlement of 26-31 days plus bank holidays (pro-rata if part-time working hours apply) depending on service and grade
• Enhanced Maternity, paternity, shared parental, adoption and dependents leave
• Two volunteering days per year
• Flexible Working - Smarter Working Scheme (dependent on the role)
• Adjustable and agile working arrangements using Google Chromebooks
• Learning and development portal offering a range of courses
• Discounts on a range of local shops, restaurants, gyms and leisure centres
• Interest free season ticket loans
• Local Government Pension Scheme
• Bicycle loan facilities and cycle to work scheme
• Zip car scheme
• Confidential health & wellbeing and counselling support

Application Process

Apply online outlining what skills, abilities and experience you can bring which makes you an ideal candidate for this role. Please refer to the requirements outlined in the job profile when completing your application and check your CV details have been uploaded correctly in the relevant sections.

We understand and recognise the benefits of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the workplace and are embracing AI where appropriate, to boost our productivity and streamline how we deliver our Council services efficiently; to provide the best possible outcomes for our residents and communities.
However, we reserve the right to reject applications where it is apparent that AI-generated content has been used in isolation and without personalised responses. At Sutton we value authenticity and are looking for individuals who can clearly demonstrate their own skills, experience and motivation for the role that they are applying for and embrace and demonstrate our PRIDE values.
Here at Sutton we have core values of Transparency and this is to be demonstrated during the application process and completion of the supporting statement and will be further tested at interview and selection stage for those who progress forward.

The closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received, it is strongly advised that you complete and submit your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

As part of our award winning Diversity Programme we anonymise all applications received to reduce conscious and unconscious bias enabling every application to be reviewed on the knowledge, skills and experience shown in your application. We encourage our interview panels to be as diverse as possible (age, cultural, neurodiverse etc.) to reduce bias where possible. We are fully committed to removing barriers and enhancing the diversity of our workforce.

Additional Information

We are proud to be a diverse and welcoming Borough and we strive to create a workforce which reflects the community we serve, and instil a sense of belonging in our staff. We celebrate and respect differences and appreciate the value of having a diverse workforce, therefore we welcome applications from under represented groups.

To support our workers and their families we offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements, staff engagement forums and inclusive staff networks who help drive our diversity agenda.

We are also proud to be a disability confident employer and guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum essential criteria for a role. As an accredited London Living Wage Employer all our employees are guaranteed the London Living Wage regardless of their length or type of contract.

The UK has a 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. Sponsorship availability varies and is subject to eligibility requirements and budget limitations. As a result, we cannot guarantee sponsorship for all roles and will evaluate sponsorship requests on a case-by-case basis.