Full-Time Opening
- 3-day rota – 37 hours average week
- £28,008 p/a minimum
- Generous holiday
- Advancement opportunities
We are looking for Full-Time Carers to work in a Residential Children’s Home near Colchester. We currently have two homes and are working on opening our 3rd soon. This advert is for the 3rd home – we are looking for applicants so that we can open as soon as everything else is in place. We will aim to train new staff shortly before the home is due opens; this will likely mean some downtime before we can officially commence any employments.
The children will be 12 to 18 and have emotional, social and/or behavioural difficulties.
We need Full-Time Carers who can work to a three day rota – that means one full day on, including a sleep-in and short handover period in the morning, followed by two days off.
Our care is attachment based work and we work using empathy, nurture and understanding of the needs of the children. You will therefore need to be able to control your own emotions in response to challenging situations and have bags of empathy for the children.
We will teach you about behaviour management and trauma informed care. We also periodically hold other training events for our teams.
We are looking for people who will allow themselves to enjoy working with these children, and to do the household chores when time permits – cooking, cleaning, tidying, washing etc to keep the home in order. Candidates also need to be able to produce the required documentation and logs throughout the day, so a decent writing proficiency is required.
Applicants will preferably be able to drive a manual car and be over 25 to be covered by our car pool insurance. No other qualifications necessary at application. A level 3 (residential childcare) must be completed within 2 years of starting; we can offer support and funding for this.
The minimum £28,008 per annum salary is based on a rate of £10.62ph. Sleep-ins pay a fixed sum of £56.10, regardless of how long the sleep actually was. There is also the possibility, if you choose, to take on extra shifts – although we firmly believe in the need for a good work/life balance.
We offer our full-timers 13 full days of holiday. This equates to more than 5 weeks on the rota system. Unlike most other children’s homes, we also pay a sleep-in for every day of holiday.
This is not only a job, but potentially a career. After only a few years, a carer could progress all the way up to Home Manager, earning upwards of £40k. We endeavour to support and encourage our staff to advance wherever possible. Our current managers, for example, worked their way up from the bottom.
If you are able to work to our ethos, show good emotional control and demonstrate empathy for our young people – there is no reason why you wouldn’t be considered for this position. Come join us!
Click here to go to our online application or email your CV and cover directly to apply@shalamarchildren.co.uk
Please be sure to specify which role you are applying for.