Foundation for Active Community Engagement (FACE)

Based at: St Andrews MYC, Elm Park, Filton, Bristol BS34 7PS

Post DescriptionChildren & Families Development Worker

EmployerFoundation for Active Community Engagement (FACE)

Managed byYouth & Community Work Manager

Purpose of the jobTo manage and develop FACE’s children’s and families work.

To build community links to widen awareness of FACE’swork with children* and families and to signpost and refer to other relevant organisations as appropriate.

To support and encourage people to participatein activities that will assist in their social education and improve their lives.

*Children up to the age of 12, as we also have a Youth Development Worker focused on age 13+.

Main duties and responsibilities

  1. Tolead team planning and delivery of the provision of a social education curriculum which meets the needs of children and familiesin the community, combining ‘fun’ leisure activities with ‘informative’ needs-led activities. The programme FACE offersto children and familiesshould cater for different learning styles and abilities and ensure people are supported to reach their full potential, adapting resources and teaching styles as appropriate; This will involve leading planning meetings, researching / designing activities, gathering resources, and supporting other workers to develop activities; ensuring activities are fully accessible.
  1. To encourage and enable children and families to participate fully in the programme provided, including in the planning and decision-making processes;This will involve consulting with membersin a way that is accessible to them, and offering a range of accessible activities that excites, educates, and engages them.
  1. To build appropriate trusting relationships with children and families to enable them to talk openly about their hopes, ambitions, feelings, and concerns, in order to help them to reflect and improve their own lives. To ensure people are listened to and respectedand are referred on to other agencies as appropriate; This will include providing un-biased information, advice and guidance to help people make informed choices. This will include following FACE’s Information Sharing and Safeguarding procedures. This will include understanding referral processes and accessing other agencies.
  1. To take positive steps to counter discrimination however and whenever it occurs; to observe equalities legislation, and to operate within Safe From Harm guidelines; This will involve taking a lead on challenging behaviour and attitudes sensitively, ensuring that everyone follows FACE’srules and policies, as well as helpingto form and developfuture policies and procedures. This may also include whistle-blowing if colleague’s practice is witnessed which goes against the policies and ethos of FACE.
  1. To provide supervision and guidance to children and families support workersproviding children’s and family work sessions and liaise with the Volunteer Coordinator to ensure any volunteers and students are supervised and developed appropriately; This will include ensuring staffing ratios and safe working conditions are upheld, arranging regular management supervision with staff and students, liaising with the Volunteer Coordinator, reporting any concerns/issues to the Youth & Community Work Manager, and reporting quarterly on staff development targets.
  1. To facilitate and motivate the staff team toset up and clear away activities, complete registers and review sheets. To participate in staff team (and individual) training, supervision, and development activities as required, in order to develop the work of FACE and the post holder’s skills and abilities;This will include being fully involved in all aspects of sessions, facilitating the staff team in setting up/clearing up, evaluating and reflecting on the work, and completing supervision and training as required.
  1. To develop new areas of work and partnerships, and seek out new funding opportunities in order to enhance FACE’s offer to children and families. This will include:researching new projects and funding streams. Liaising with the Youth & Community Work Manager, leadership team, and Trustee Board on a regular basis.
  1. Toprovide members with appropriate opportunities for accreditation through such awards as VIPA awards, ASDANCoPE,Duke of Edinburgh’s awards,and Towards Independence;This will involveliaising with the Accreditation Worker to ensure accreditation on offer is accessible, promoting schemes to members and ensuring relevant paperwork is completed and filed / sent off appropriately in order for members to access and gain awards.
  1. To complete administrative tasks as required, including registers and review sheets, quarterly reports, letters, emails, minutes of meetings, and other tasks as required to ensure the smooth running of children and families work sessions. To have oversight of spending for the Children & Families work programme budget and to ensure this is kept within guidelines. To complete tasks as required to fulfil the funding and reporting requirements of funders;This will include liaison with the Administrative Assistant and Youth & Community Work Manager, keeping workspaces and electronic equipment tidy and maintained, completing reports, budget reports, and keeping administrative monitoring up to date.
  1. To be an active and integral part of the FACE leadership team, acting as advocate and liaison for news, developments, and updates throughout FACE and also ensuring the views of the staff team and members are heard at all levels of the charity. This will include attending leadership team meetings, reporting backafter meetings to ensure all are kept up to date.To also ensure FACE services are inclusive, working in harmony with other services, and not duplicated. To take a lead on participation in the range of FACE’s activities and role model behaviours and actions to other staff and volunteers.
  1. To attend community and partnership meetings and conferences to advocate and represent FACE and ensure member’s views and voices are included in local community action plans. To take an active role in meetings and ensure FACE is an active partner in the community. To build links with schools, the children’s centre, other youth organisations, and other local organisations; This will include attending meetings, reporting back and updating staff across FACE to ensure all are kept abreast of community plans. To promote FACE’s activities to members, schools/colleges, parent support groups, and other local organisations and publicise the good work of FACE in the community.
  1. To encourage support for the work of FACE by fostering good relationships with the church, parents, neighbours, other community projects, and related agencies. To facilitate and promote member’s involvement in community events and fundraising for FACE; This will involve promoting and upholding the core values of FACE throughout communications with others. This will also involve promoting and participating in a minimum of 4 weekend activities during the year; including Filton Festival, FACE’s Open Day, AGM, Christmas Fayre, and other fundraising activities.
  1. To ensure the good Health & Safety of the premises and good Well-being of all staff and users is maintained; This will include following Health & Safety & Child protection procedures, acting as Fire Marshal, Food Safety lead, and First Aider, liaising with the Leadership Team, Youth & Community Work Manager and Trustee Board on a regular basis and reporting any concerns or issues.
  1. To develop and maintain personal and professional skills and capability through on-going training; This will include maintaining training and development inFirst Aid, Midas, Fire Safety, Food Safety, Disability awareness, Managing Challenging Behaviour, and other relevant areas of work.

Person Specification

Qualifications:

A minimum Level 3 qualification in Health & Social care, children’s/family work, teaching, or other relevantarea of workis essential for this post. (A trainee post may be considered dependent on experience)

A willingness to learn and commitment to professional and personal development is essential.

A First Aid qualification is essential (or a willingness to undertake the training).

A Midas minibus assessment is desirable, as is a level 2 Food Safety certificate.(Or a willingness to undertake the training).

Skills:

You must be approachable and have an open communication style that enables you to communicate easily with people.

Your communication style must allow you to control both group and one-to-one situations with people, whilst ensuring that your interaction with them enables them to learn across the social education curriculum and practise their social skills.

You will be taking a lead on FACE’s children’s and familywork,therefore experience in this field is essential.

A range of experience with people of all ages and abilities is essential.

You should be observant and able to easily adapt to changes around you.

A good working knowledge of Microsoft packages is essential, as you will need to be able to understand and update Excel budget reports and write short reports using Word.

Good leadership qualities are essential, both in regards the leadership of members and staff.

Awareness of Health & Safety, Safeguarding, Data Protection, Information Sharing,Supervision of others, and Accreditation schemes are essential.

Activity skills are desirable (sports, arts, music, media, etc).

You will be required to travel around the community and wider afield, so a driving licence or access to appropriate means of transport is essential.

Personality:

Our members can be unpredictable and demonstrate lively, challenging, or emotional behaviours so you should have an ability to work within this environment in a safe and calm manner.

You should be self-motivated, honest and reliable.

You should be compassionate and patientwith a good sense of what is fair.

You should be aware of your own values and how these affect your judgements.

An ability to promote the learning of information and social skills through fun and ‘safe’ activities is essential, as is the ability to act as a ‘listening ear’ to the problems of some membersand offer unbiased advice so that they may make their own informed decisions.

You should be encouraging and motivating to others, and a fair and trusted enabler of action. Your practice should inspire others.

Empathy with the Christian philosophy is desirable.