Job Description and Person Specification

Job Description and Person Specification

Job Title: Team Leader

Accountable to: Registered Manager

This post is based at Clumber Care, Freshfields

Nugent

The origins of Nugent date back to the 1800’s and the pioneering work of Father James Nugent (1822-1905) in relation to child welfare, relief from poverty and social reform. The work of Father Nugent had a dramatic impact on the lives of thousands of vulnerable people and his work continues to this day through Nugent. We are the social welfare arm of the Catholic Archdiocese of Liverpool.

Today, Nugent offers a diverse range of support to adults and children in Merseyside through our schools, care homes, community and social work services and social enterprise. As a health and social care provider, we work at the heart of some of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged communities. We strive, not only to provide the best possible service to individuals and their families in these areas, but to generate interest, awareness and an understanding of the issues they face and the impact of this on our wider communities.

Nugent supports on average 6,000 people each year. We are a major employer in the area, employing 650 staff and supporting 350 volunteers. We courageously advocate on issues of justice and fairness.

Our Mission:

·  To care, educate, protect and inspire those in need.

·  To be an employer of choice.

·  To be an advocate: A voice for the voiceless.

Vision:

·  Our vision is be an entirely dignified & outstanding organisation by 2020.

Our Values:

·  Integrity, Ambition, Courage, Compassion, Optimism, Respect and Dignity.

Nugent celebrates diversity in our organisation and in society as a whole and is an equal opportunities employer welcoming all people with a positive view of age, caring responsibilities, gender, disability racial origin, religion, sexual orientation or socio-economic background.

Overall purpose of the post:

To assist the Team Leader in the management and supervision of House team working with children and young people in a residential setting.

To develop and implement care plans based on the assessment of individual need and developmental functioning.

To assist in the management of the Home as required.

Main duties and areas of responsibility

1.  COMMUNICATION

1.1  The Team Leader must keep the Manager and Deputy Manager fully informed of all matters of concern within his/her delegated authority, and must consult with senior staff if these matters of concern involve outside agencies.

1.2 He/she must keep all staff informed about matters relating to their work, including briefing sessions for Night Staff when they come on or leave duty.

2.  PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES

2.1 To assist the Team Leader in the management and supervision of House team working with children and young people in a residential setting.

2.2 To develop and implement care plans based on the assessment of individual need and developmental functioning.

2.3 To assist in the management of the Home as required.

3.  RELATIONSHIPS

3.1 In addition to the relationship determined by the structure and lines of accountability, close working relationships should be maintained with:-

Other Team Leaders, senior staff, appropriate Society staff;

Outside Agencies - schools, Local Authorities, families, etc, in accordance with Home policies;

Professional support - psychologists, doctors etc

4.  RESPONSIBLE FOR

4.1 The organisation and care practices of a residential unit in accordance with Nugent’s and Home’s policies, the relevant Acts (especially Children Act 1989) and Statutory Instruments and Department of Health good practice guidance, in consultation with the Manager.

4.2 The management of the Home, if so requested, in the absence of both the Manager and Deputy Manager.

4.3 Assisting the Health and Safety representative within the Home and the Manager inv relation to Health and Safety matters throughout the Home.

4.4 All other matters of delegated authority, including work as Duty Officer as required.

5.  KEY AREAS OF WORK

5.1 The effective running and administration of a Home in accordance with Nugent and Home policies, and record keeping of relevant finance, child and House files and logs.

5.2 The effective control of professional areas of work relating to good child care practice, care practice and House routines, in accordance with Nugent and Home policies, and relevant guidance from the Department of Health and the Department for Education;

5.3 The management and supervision of staff in the Home in accordance with the Nugent ‘Society and Home policies and relevant guidance from the Department of Health.

5.4 The development of staff and their training, both with regard to good child care practice and professional development and appropriate encouragement with regard to obtaining professional qualifications.

5.5 To ensure that anti-discriminatory practices are maintained throughout Nugent.

5.6 To attend initial PRICE training and refresher training as required.

5.7 To provide training to staff as an accredited PRICE instructor, attending

instructor training and providing instruction as required.

5.8 Maintaining PRICE instructor accreditation

5.9 Planning and recording the delivery of PRICE training.

6. PROFESSIONAL AREAS OF WORK

Key tasks will include assisting the Manager in the following

6.1 Promoting good childcare practice through the provision of a therapeutic and caring environment for the children and young people admitted, in accordance with the Code of Practice of the Home.

6.2 Devising and implementing individual care programmes in accordance with the philosophy of the Home, and ensuring that all staff given responsibility in this area carry out their tasks.

6.3 Ensuring that all children and young people referred are the subject of regular planning meetings, case conferences and reviews - and that case conference and review decisions are carried out;

6.4 Working closely with families of children and young people referred with a view to rehabilitation or placement in substitute families as appropriate, in conjunction with Manager;

6.5 Being aware of and responding to the needs of children and young people - physical, emotional, spiritual, intellectual and social.

6.6 Encouraging and assisting all staff to take responsibility in such a way that decisions are made at as low a level of line management consistent with good child care practice, Society policies, and legal requirements.

7. OPERATION OF THE HOME

Key tasks will include:-

7.1 Ensuring that all children, young person and staff records and files in the Home whether statutory or those required by Society or Home policies, are maintained in the prescribed manners and completed accurately and contemporaneously.

7.2 Ensuring that staff, children and young people themselves in the domestic running of the Home including the undertaking of the cleaning and cooking tasks. These tasks should be used as a basic instruction for the children and young people in preparing for independence; they should be planned methodically in advance so that each person learns dietary and culinary skills appropriate to their stage of development, and progress and achievement should be recorded in their files.

7.3 Participating in the preparation of the annual budget as requested.

7.4 Being accountable for expenditure from House funds and the use of resources.

7.5 Being familiar with and complying with Nugent of Health and Safety at Work, which includes fire safety precautions.

7.6 Facilitating the work of the designated Health and Safety Representative of the Home.

8. MANAGEMENT AND SUPERVISION OF STAFF

Key tasks will include assisting the Manager in the following:

8.1 Providing effective leadership of staff.

8.2 Establishing and attending regular team meetings.

8.3 Recording and sharing information and policy.

8.4 Ensuring effective use of resources in a flexible manner in response to the assessed needs of the children.

8.5 Ensuring that adequate staffing levels are maintained at all times.

8.6 Establishing a clear system of delegated authority.

8.7 Being accessible to all staff and children.

8.8 Being part of the Senior Management Team of the Home and participating in a Senior Staff rota which involves responsibility for supporting RSW’s and NSO’s as required.

8.9 Supervising Senior RSW’s and NSO’s regularly, in accordance with the programme laid down by the Manager to undertake their first stage appraisal and their annual appraisal, and to record all these supervision and appraisal.

8.10 If you are appointed Health and Safety Representative, then in consultation with the Manager, setting up and chairing a Health and Safety Committee in the Home; organising regular Health and Safety Inspections of the Home on a planned basis; arranging with the Manager how deficiencies and recommendations can be dealt with, liaising with Nugent’s own Health and Safety Officer, promoting good Health and Safety practises amongst staff and residents, and preparing written reports for presentation by the Manager at each meeting of the Home’s Building and Finance Sub-Committee.

9. STAFF DEVELOPMENT AND TRAINING

Key tasks will include;

9.1 Identifying trends and priorities for training and development among all staff in the Home, and informing the Manager.

9.2 Participating in training activities, in particular induction and practice development.

9.3 Motivating and encouraging all staff to meet their maximum potential professionally, thereby ensuring good standards of practice and service delivery.

9.4 Taking personal responsibility for and showing commitment to one’s own professional development and training.

9.5 Becoming and acting as an NVQ work based assessor in accordance with Nugent’s policies and procedures.

Safeguarding

Ensuring safe practice guidelines are followed and safeguarding policies and procedures are adhered to at all times.

Additional Duties

Additional duties as and when required. The role may include evening and weekend working.

NUGENT AND FUNDRAISING

Nugent is a Charity and as such relies on its good reputation and voluntary contributions and donations from members of the public, from grant making bodies and corporate sponsorship.

All employees of Nugent are expected to behave in a way that enhances the reputation and image of the Charity. In addition staff are expected to be responsive to fundraising initiatives, attend public events whenever possible and generally take seriously their role in raising income for the Charity at every opportunity.

EQUALITIES

Nugent affords all employees equal opportunities in employment irrespective of disability, gender, race, religion, age, sexuality, sexual orientation, marital status, parental status etc. Nugent will ensure that discriminatory practices are identified and removed and non-discriminatory practices introduced in all areas of employment.

INFORMATION GOVERNANCE & CODE OF CONFIDENTIALITY

The Information Governance standards outline how employees must deal with personal information about employees, service users, corporate and finance information. It is a requirement that all Nugent employees’, in the course of their work treat such personal data confidentially and comply with Nugent’s confidentiality policies. A failure to comply with Information Governance standards may result in disciplinary action.

BASIC PRINCIPLES

The post holder is expected to be familiar with and work within the Basic Principles of Nugent. He/she must be prepared to operate within a Catholic Agency, while ensuring that people of other denominations and religions have their spiritual needs met.

CONDITIONS OF SERVICE

The Conditions of Service are set out in the Nugent Handbook.

Person specification for Tea Leader

Please use these specifications to define your application statement.

All areas assessed through application form, interview and references

QUALIFICATIONS Essential

Professional Social work qualification,

e.g. CSS, CQSW, DIP SW, CRCCYP, NVQlll, DIP NN, NNEB

Desirable

C & G, D32 & D33

Assessment

Application form, production of original certificates

at interview.

EXPERIENCE Essential

Minimum 3 years residential care experience in a relevant setting involving children and young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties.

Assessment of needs of individual children.

Ability to work with families and with other professionals.

Ability to promote harmonious staff/staff and staff/ child relationships.

Familiarity with LAC reviews, Child Protection procedures and case conferences.

Suspension of staff

Desirable

Implementation of child care policies.

Challenging staff practice and ideas.

Experience of disciplinary and grievance procedures.

Assessment

Application form, references and interview

SKILLS Essential

Good oral and written communication skills.

Ability to keep records.

Ability to write reports.

Ability to promote good child care practice and ideas.

Ability to challenge children and young people constructively.

Ability to organise and run a staff rota.

Ability to delegate.

Leadership skills.

Desirable

Ability to contribute to policies and decision making process.

Assessment

References and Interview

KNOWLEDGE Essential

Understanding of relevant legislation, especially the Children Act 1989.

Understanding of child development and needs of children and young people.

Understanding of restraint issues, ant-discriminatory care practices and child protection procedures.

Desirable

Some understanding of Health and Safety Procedures and Equal Opportunities procedures.

Assessment -Interview

PERSONAL QUALITIES Essential

Listening and counselling skills, emotional stability. Ability to handle conflict, ability to work under stress. Leadership. Flexible approach with regard to time, outlook, ideas.

Assessment

Interview and references.

SPECIAL FACTORS Desirable

Hold a full driving license.

Ability to drive a car.

Willingness to drive a mini bus.