Head of Care

Head of Care -Witham Prospect School

Salary - £41,600.00 per annum (£20.00 per hour) plus Private health insurance.

Average Working Hours – 40 Hours Per week

30 Days Annual Leave P/A

We are looking to appoint an experienced and dedicated Head of Care to take responsibility for the leadership and management of the Children’s Homes alongside working with the Registered Manager and the Responsible Individual. The Head of Care will need to possess an excellent leadership/managerial skill and be able to develop and mentor staff at all levels to ensure a competent workforce that provides children and young people with the highest standards of care.

Working with Witham Prospect School is incredibly rewarding and in return, we offer extensive training aimed at developing and enhancing skills further and other benefits which includes:

• Bike2Work Scheme.
• Full funded DBS Checks.
• An automatic Pension Scheme.
• Employee Assistance Programme.
• Death in Service Insurance Scheme.
• Christmas Bonus- Voucher for all staff.
• Loyalty Bonuses (length of service award).
• Refer a Friend Scheme Bonus (payment of £450 on successful completion of 6 months).
• A fully paid two weeks induction prior to working with children and young people.

Key duties include:

• To be accountable for compliance with the Children’s Home’s Regulations and support the Registered Manager during Ofsted inspections.
• Ensuring that staff have the skills and knowledge to follow company policies and procedures.
• Staff management all levels, induction, probation, supervision, appraisal, disciplinary investigations, capability, mentoring, coaching and supporting.
• Dealing with complex level staff related issues.
• maintaining a high-quality service, ensuring that the children’s home provision meets and exceeds the requirements of the regulatory standards.
• Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) duties – point of contact for staff regarding safeguarding concerns, undertake fact finding and report Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) if meets thresholds. Inform Registered Manager throughout process (Responsible Individual in her absence).
• Establishing and maintaining good and effective working relationships with children and young peoples family and social care representatives.
• Work alongside the Therapy and Behaviour Support Team to develop Positive Behaviour Support Plans and oversee their implementation within the care team’s daily practice. Ensure care team understand these plans and their importance for the children and young people.

Criteria for all Applicants include:

• Hold or be working towards a Level 5 in Leadership/Management in Health & Social Care or Level 5 Registered Manager for Residential Childcare.
• Have previous experience in management positions within Residential Children’s homes and be familiar with the regulatory requirements of Children’s Home’s regs and other relevant legislation and guidance.
• Respect for people suffering from a range of disabilities and medical conditions with different backgrounds and beliefs to your own.
• Commitment to non-discriminatory care practice. Ability to create a culture of equal opportunities and prevent discrimination across all areas of the children’s home.
• Self –motivated and keen to learn.
• Good managerial and organisational skills and able to manage own workload.
• Ability to work flexibly to meet the needs of the business and its ability to provide high quality care to all children and young people. To be included on the on-call rota system and be willing to alter working hours to ensure safety and adequate staffing numbers.
• Attendance at all extra-curricular activities, such as fates, children and young people’s holidays, proms and fund-raising events. Ensure these are well organised to maximise experience and enjoyment for all children, young people and their families.
• Be enthusiastic, confident and resilient also be able to manage behaviours that challenge.
• Excellent time keeper, reliable and honest.
• Excellent caring and compassionate skills towards people in need of care and support.
• Must have an in-depth knowledge of the Quality Standards and revised Ofsted inspection framework as well as recent experience of management within a residential setting. Good knowledge of Residential Care Practice.
• Ability to act calmly, listen and respond effectively to different situations. Ability to deal effectively with crisis/emergencies.
• Ability to plan, allocate and delegate duties appropriately. Have the skills to develop positive relationships within the work setting and contribute effectively to achieve consistency and quality.
• Understand and be able to follow the procedures for reporting safeguarding to the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) and send Statutory Notifications to Ofsted. Have knowledge and understanding of Safeguarding Legislation policies and how to recognise the signs and symptoms of abuse and how to report concerns and be able to provide appropriate advice to the care team.
• To uphold confidentiality on all levels. Understanding of the importance of confidentiality and the ability to maintain confidentiality in line with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA).
• Excellent knowledge of the current legislation and regulations relating to children and young people with learning disabilities.
• Knowledge and understanding of the Registered Manger’s responsibilities to promote and ensure the general health, safety and welfare of the children and young people.
• Has the ability to communicate effectively with the children and young people using a variety of different communication methods and support/implement their use within the home/school.

Witham Prospect School is an independent specialist residential care and education organisation that has been created to meet the needs of children and young people aged between 11 and 19 years who have severe and profound learning disabilities and who may also be on the autism spectrum, have complex care needs and behavioural concerns. We are situated on the outskirts of Norton Disney in Lincolnshire. Our ethos is to provide warm, safe and nurturing environments where children and young people entrusted to us are supported and enabled to achieve their full potential in all areas of their social, emotional, physical and academic development.