Post Titledreamweaver(Residential Play Worker) Dolfor, Mid Wales

Post TitleDreamweaver(Residential Play Worker) Dolfor, Mid Wales

Responsible toChildren’s Services Manager

About Us

Since 1996 Honeypot has been working to enhance the lives of young carers andvulnerable childrenaged 5 – 12 years old. We are the only charity in the UK to provide respite breaks and on-going outreach support throughout a child’s formative years. Honeypot gives young carers a break from demanding and stressful responsibilities at home and provides a safe, nurturing environment where children can develop their full potential.

These children are hosted at our two Honeypot Houses, one in the New Forest, and the other in mid-Wales, and we welcome up to 12 children on each holiday. Our sites are buzzing throughout the year, and are open throughout the school holidays and on many weekends. We also support the children throughout the year by running playbus sessions in their local communities and distributing Christmas presents and Easter eggs. Our aim is to give them some wonderful memories and help them make the most of their once chance at childhood.

Purpose

This role is crucial to our services as you will be providing a welcoming, stimulating and safe environment for children attending Honeypot holidays and outreach sessions to have fun and enjoy a break while creating magical memories. You will provide daily supervision and serve as a positive role model to our children and young people. You will assist the Team Leader in providing a caring, secure environment, through individual attention and group activities, and to organise appropriate range of leisure activities for children between the ages of 5 and 12

Main Duties

Play

• Prepare activities, organize programmes/themes and arrange equipment to ensure that all activities are inclusive for all children
• Assist in assessing and managing risk in the play opportunities available through a robust and considered approach to risk benefit assessments
• Consult with the children and involve them in the planning of activities.
• Assist with the preparation and maintenance of materials and equipment;
• Assist in the creation and management of a play environment where children can make choices, access a range of resources and be supported by a responsive and adaptable approach to their play
• Manage challenging behaviour when it occurs, in a calm and fair manner, whilst using positive behaviour techniques

Care

• Provide a clean and safe environment for the children to live and play, including making sure the site is kept clean and tidy during the breaks through tasks such as sweeping or washing up.
• Use various intervention and response methods in order to create a child-friendly, non-authoritarian and co-operative environment
• Respond appropriately to the emotional, physical and practical needs of vulnerable children and young people
• Help the children under your supervision to wake up in the morning and to go to bed at night, including helping the children stay clean (egencouraging showering, brushing teeth etc)
• Help with preparing and serving meals, ensuring that food preparation and handling within thehouse is carried out within the guidelines of the Food Safety Act and the Food Standards Agency.

Admin and Record Keeping

• Participate in the planning and preparation of respite breaks with the staff team, maintaining a structured and varied program of activities that are child lead.
• Read, accurately complete, and safely store all necessary records and paperwork for each respite break

Other

• Attend and participate in a debrief meeting at the end of each respite break. And contribute to lessons learned for ongoing service improvement
• Attend regular supervision with the line manager.
• Build and maintain professional relationships and boundaries with both children and staff
• Understand, promote and adhere to the Honeypot Childrens Charity’s Policies & Procedures.
• Participate in activities which fall outside of normal working hours as required, e.g. Training, Staff Meetings, fundraising events etc

Essential/Desirable
Knowledge and Experience
Experience of working with children in a group environment eg school, Cubs/Brownies / E
Experience of working with children from diverse backgrounds / D
Awareness of equal opportunities, inclusion issues and how it applies to a child-based setting. / E
An understanding of the principles of playwork / D
Experience of organising trips, outings and/or residential holidays for children. / D
Ability to complete concise and legible records of incidents and accidents and contribute to evaluations and reports. / E
Knowledge of issues and general procedures around Child Protection and Safeguarding. / E
Basic administration such as keeping attendance records, report writing. / E
Skills and abilities
Creativity to devise new ideas and engage the children in activities / E
Excellent communication skills with children, colleagues and parents/carers / E
Practical arts, crafts, sports and/or games skills / D
Ability to work as part of a small team / E
Ability to work under pressure, deal with challenging behaviour and use own initiative / E
Personal qualities
Sense of humour, enthusiasm and imagination. / E
Desire and commitment to improve the lives of vulnerable children, by the provision and engagement of a varied program of activities / E
Confident, compassionate and level headed nature. / E
Enthusiasm for consulting with children / E
Commitment to the provision of high quality childcare and play work / E
Patience, punctuality, reliability and trustworthiness / E
Education and Qualifications
Relevant Child Care or Playwork Qualification (NVQ Level 3) / D
Food Hygiene Certificate / D
First Aid Certificate / D
Full, Clean driving licence / D

Conditions of Service and other considerations

LocationHoneypot House, Dolfor, Wales

Pay Rate£8.50 per hour plus additional overnight payments

When the children are in residence, you will sleep on site. Staff bedrooms are separate from children’s rooms. Although you will sometimes have your own bedroom, there will be occasions when you will need to share with a colleague of the same sex.

There will be occasions where you will need to work late and be on call during the night to deal with incidents/emergencies.

All of your meals will be provided during the respite breaks, and all dietary requirements will be catered for.

Because of the nature of working with children, tasks and responsibilities can be unpredictable and all staff are expected to work in a flexible way depending on the situation.

This post requires a DBS check. An Enhanced DBS and satisfactory references would be obtained prior to commencement of employment.

NOTE:

This job description is intended as a guide to the general duties required of the post which may vary from time to time.

It does not form part of the terms and conditions of employment.

The post is subject to an exemption order under section 4(2) of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. Employees are required to co-operate with the management on issues relating to the Health & Safety at Work Act.

This post is bound by the Honeypot Children’s Charity’s regulations on confidentiality.