West Presbyterian Church, Bangor

Children’s Worker

Job Title:Children’s Worker

Hours:20 hours which may include evening and weekends.

Remuneration: TBA

Location:West Church

Reports to:Youth & Children’s Associate

Responsible for: Children’s Work

OVERALL AIM:

  • The Children’s Worker will assist in the implementation of West Church’svision and strategy for its children and contribute to its activities. The post will primarily focus on pre-school and primary school aged children.

In general, the successful candidate will

  • play an important role within the Youth and Children’sTeam specifically in relation to developing ministry amongst pre-schooland primary school aged children;
  • assist in the planning and delivery of Bible-centred learning incrèche and J Club*;
  • assist in identifying, training and supporting a team of youth and adult volunteerleaders in crèche and J Club;
  • follow up with newchildrenand casual attenders and look for opportunities to integrate them into the life of the congregation;
  • assist with the development and delivery of a range of programmes that effectively meets the needs of children;
  • liaisewith and assist the uniformed organisations within the younger age sections;
  • assist the Youth and Children’s Team in primary school based ministry;
  • act as resource and coordinate activity amongst children to reach out from West Church to the surrounding community;

Note: West Church refers to what is normally called Sunday School as ‘J Club’.

KEY DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The successful candidate will:

Work with pre-schoolers and primary school aged children

  • to build relationships with the children associated with the church, with those who live or attend school locally or who have connection with West Church through these links;
  • to lead, teach and develop the children of the church in the meaning and significance of a biblical faith, through a range of ministries, particularly through J Club, special eventsand the uniformed organisations;
  • in association with the Youth and Children’s Associate to oversee the development and running of crèche and J Club;
  • to assist in primary school ministry, including school assemblies and after school programmes
  • to assist the Youth and Children’s Team in equipping parents in their role in passing on faith to their children (e.g. Faith @ Home)

Provide volunteer development by

  • recruiting and supporting new and existing leaders and developing the leadership capability with particular emphasis on the needs of children’s organisations; and

Play an active role within the staff team at West Church through

  • active participation within the Youth and Children’s Team, attendance at weekly meetings and an accountable relationship with Pastoral Team members;
  • sharing the general responsibilities of the Youth and Children’s Team;
  • assisting the Youth and Children’s Associate in the planning and runningof J Club, after-schoolprogrammes and mission events involving children;
  • strengthening the integration of the children’s work within the congregation of West Church.
  • ensuring adherence to West Church’s Child Protection Policy.

The responsibilities defined above should not be interpreted as exhaustive. It may be necessary for different tasks to be added or removed in accordance with the overall requirement of the needs of the children and youth, as defined by the Youth and Children’sAction Team, the Minister and the Kirk Session. However, the list above is recognized as extensive and the duties associated with this post are complementary with that of the Youth and Children’s Team. The focus of the position will be with pre-schoolersand primary school aged children.

Salary

West Church will pay a salary commensurate with experience, directed by the scales set by the Presbyterian Church of Ireland (PCI)

This a position which is offered initially for a period of 2 years.

Application Forms.

Application Forms are available from Church Office, West Church, 91 Crawfordsburn Road, Bangor, Co. Down, BT19 1BG, or:

Completed forms should be returned to the same address byFriday 18th August 2017 @ 1pm

References.

Two referees are required; each should have known the applicant for the past two years at least. Ideally one should be the applicant’s Minister or Church Leader, and one should be from the applicant’s current work or study situation.

West Presbyterian Church

Children’s Worker: Person Specification

  1. Eligibility Criteria
  1. Beliefs

The successful applicant must evidence a personal Christian faith in practice and expression, and by membership of a Christian congregation. (The essential nature of this post requires that the successful candidate be a Christian as provided for under excepted occupations in the Fair Employment Treatment (NI) Order 1998.)

3. Experience, Knowledge and Skills

Essential

The successful applicant must demonstrate:

  • experience in working with children in either a paid or volunteer role;
  • experience in coordinating programmes and activities;

Desirable

The successful applicant should demonstrate:

  • a working knowledge of current children’s issues;
  • experience of leading a team in either a paid or volunteer role;
  • an ability to evaluate and review programmes and activities;andgood ICT skills

B: Key Competences

In addition to the above eligibility criteria, applicants will be expected at interview, to demonstrate evidence of the following competences:

Essential

The successful applicant must demonstrate:

  • good oral and written communication skills;
  • the ability to relate to pre-school and primary school aged children;
  • the ability to relate well to parents, other volunteers and the members of the wider congregation;
  • teamwork & teambuilding ability;
  • self-motivation and personal organization skills;
  • the ability to make decisions and exercise sound judgement.

It is expected that the successful applicant would be in sympathy with the mission statement and core values of West Church.

Selection Process

  1. It is essential that applicants provide sufficient details to demonstrate that they meet both eligibility criteria – both the essential criteria and the desirable criteria. Should shortlisting be necessary, this will be done by an assessment of the strength and quality of evidence provided by the candidate on the application form.
  1. In addition to the above eligibility criteria, applicants will be expected at interview, to demonstrate evidence of the Key Competences. The selection panel will design questions to test the applicant’s knowledge, skills, experience and competences in the above areas and award marks accordingly.
  1. Presentation: those candidates invited for interview will be required to make a 10 minute presentation to the panel before the interview commences. Candidates will be advised on the subject of their presentation in their invitations to interview. It will not be possible to use any electronic aids as part of the presentation.
  1. Interviews: it is intended that the interviews for this post will take place the week commencing 29th August 2017.

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