Description The Police Cadet scheme supports young people aged 13-17 from all backgrounds, including those who may be vulnerable to the influences of crime and social expulsion. The weekly Cadet sessions and activities run during the school term time and gives the Cadets an opportunity to become involved in a youth group, make new friends and learn about the police. Alongside that, they get to take part in numerous different activities, such as drill sessions, volunteering in the community, sports activities, WMP visits, talks and also assisting local policing teams with knife sweeps, leaflet drops and community events. The scheme operates across the Force with cohorts of up to 30 Cadets per unit and the aims are to: Build active citizens Provide early intervention. Act as a platform for positive engagement between West Midlands Police and community groups To achieve these aims, Cadet sessions involve an exciting variety of volunteering within the communities, curriculum-based learning, speciality talks and visits. The Cadets are also involved in local and regional events such as Stephen Lawrence Day and Remembrance Day services. The post holder will lead and supervise the Cadet Programme in the Dudley & Sandwell LPA. They will be responsible for 2 Cadet Units located in Dudley and 1 Cadet in Sandwell. The role primary focus is to seek opportunities to connect policing with young people and increase confidence in policing through engagement, consultation and active citizenship, whilst collaborating with neighbourhood policing teams to support force and community priorities. Role Responsibilities: Identify opportunities to improve engagement and public confidence with under- represented groups, demographics or geographical areas in order to support neighbourhood policing units with young people. Develop relationships with 3rd sector organisations, ensuring the delivery of planned youth activities in areas of need. Support the volunteer Cadet Leaders and Citizens in Policing team in organising and planning external activities and trips. Review the termly timetable and provide support with sessions ensuring a comprehensive lesson plan is in place for all meetings. Maintain discipline and good behaviour during Cadet sessions. Identify behaviour changes or safeguarding concerns. Ensure completion of all appropriate risk management and insurance paperwork for Cadet events and sessions. Assess the wider, longer term Cadet curriculum, ensuring a programme of activities enables the progression and attainment of individuals. Market and communicate Cadet activities in partnership with key stakeholders, assist with the recruitment and selection of both cadets and cadet leaders. Skills, Knowledge and Experience Essential: Experience of working with young people in a social or education setting. Excellent communication skills. Experience of dealing and liaising with external agencies and community groups. Able to deliver lessons/sessions. Ability to build good working relationships. Good organisational skills and work with minimal supervision. Proficient use of Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Desirable: Experience of working in multi-agency environments Prospective officers and staff must be held to a higher standard of behaviour and accountability than members of the public, and that therefore their right to privacy can be fettered in certain circumstances. This is to ensure that members of the police are fully aware and accountable for the unique powers entrusted to them and the standards of professional behaviour they swear to uphold. Vetting: Applications are required to undergo an Enhanced DBS in addition to vetting for the role. Medical: Appointment to this role will be dependent upon successfully medical checks, which may include a drugs test and if required a fitness test. Hours of Work: Core hours will be completed between 0800 and 1900 hrs Monday – Friday however, due to the nature of the role there will be a need for flexibility to work outside of these hours/days to fulfil the requirements of a Cadet Youth Engagement Officer. This in turn provides candidates with the opportunity to plan their schedule, allowing for an ideal work life balance. Cadet sessions are run during term time Monday - Friday for two hours on a set day after school hours. Additionally, the role will require individuals to accompany the Cadets on trips outside of the Cadet sessions. The post will be based at the Neighbourhood Policing Partnership office and designated locations for Cadet sessions. Interviews : Interview dates to be confirmed. Contact: If you require any additional information about this role, please contact Helen Fenton via e-mail on: helen.fenton@westmidlands.police.uk. POLICE CADETS SAFEGUARDING POLICY West Midlands Police Cadets Safeguarding Statement. The Volunteer Police Cadet (VPC) scheme is a national programme designed to provide a safe and secure environment where young people can meet with others and learn about policing and policing issues, contribute to community initiatives and take part in police organised activities and events. Allowing young people to have fun is at the heart of the experience too. West Midlands Police is a provider of the VPC scheme through a number of Cadet Units across the force area. Each unit has a leader team comprising of police staff, police officers and adult volunteers, who follow policies, programme and procedures overseen by the Citizens in Policing Team, based at Lloyd House. Our police cadets and the police staff, police officers and adult volunteers who support our cadet units all come from a wide variety of different backgrounds, so we will all uphold the highest standards in safeguarding and supervising our children, young people and adults at risk. We will ensure that everyone involved in our Volunteer Police Cadet scheme knows what is expected of them, so that we can promote trust and confidence in what we do in our young people and the adult support networks that surround them. We will build and maintain a culture where our young people and vulnerable adults are respected and listened to, know what safeguarding matters are and how they can confidently report any concerns they may have. We will give equal priority to keeping our young people and adults at risk safe from all types of harm and abuse, regardless of their age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion, belief, sex or sexual orientation (all defined as protected characteristics within the Equality Act 2010). We will ensure that all of our VPC staff and leader teams are checked and vetted by us prior to being able to participate in cadet unit work and activities, and will undergo a programme of continuous training for as long as they support the cadet scheme. Our Safeguarding Policy and Safer Recruitment Policy are available for anyone to access and read and can be accessed here Safeguarding Statement | Volunteer Police Cadets (vpc.police.uk) Our Designated Safeguarding Officer for West Midlands Police is Chief Superintendent Richard Harris or Helen Fenton, Head of Citizens in Policing. If you or anyone you know has any concerns about the safety or wellbeing of anyone involved in our VPC scheme, then please contact us Cadets@westmidlands.police.uk or alternatively you can contact: National Safeguarding Manager for Volunteer Police Cadets at: vpc.safeguarding@vpc.police.uk The NSPCC helpline 0800 800 5000 or email help@nspcc.org.uk The Independent Office for Police Conduct 0300 020 0096 or cadets@policeconduct.gov.uk West Midlands Police is a Disability Confident Leader - the highest level an organisation can achieve under the scheme run by the Department of Work and Pensions. As part of our commitment we operate a ‘Disability Confident Interview Scheme’ - all candidates who declare a disability and meet the essential criteria for the role will be offered an interview. It is important to note that there may be occasions where it is not practicable or appropriate to interview all disabled people who meet the essential criteria for the job. For example: in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. In these circumstances, the employer could select the candidates who best meet the essential criteria for the job, as they would do for non-disabled applicants. "Diversity and Inclusion Vision: Maximise the potential of people from all backgrounds through a culture of fairness and inclusion to deliver the best service for our communities