YOUTH WORKER - TERM TIME ONLY 22.5 hours per week
Job Purpose: As a Youth Worker, you will provide holistic pastoral support to young people accessing our service, as well as their families. Your focus will be on engagement, enjoyment, and comprehensive wraparound support for young people.
In this role, you will co-lead our secondary project, conducting research into the activity preferences of 12-16-year-olds living in 5 identified "activity cold spots" across Bedford. Using this data, you will help shape and deliver afterschool clubs in these areas, creating 500 spaces for young people over the academic year.
You will work closely with young people, their families, schools, and other supporting agencies to ensure our services meet their needs effectively. Additionally, you will support the smooth delivery of afterschool by coordinating with schools, tutors, providers, parents, and young people.
Your role will also involve promoting and developing courses aligned with educational frameworks and funding requirements, ensuring that activities are engaging, relevant, and beneficial to young people's growth and development.
This role is for 22.5 hours/week - Term Time Only -
Fixed term – 18 months
Attending 3 After school clubs per week.
Working hours (approx): Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday (some flexibility)
10.30am-6.30pm (days dependent on after school club delivery)
Gross Salary: £12, including pro-rata holiday allowance)
Key Responsibilities
Research
· Conduct surveys and focus groups using a range of methods, with young people (YP) aged 12-16 in identified activity cold spots to gather insights into their interests, barriers to participation, and preferred activities.
· Engage with schools, parents, and community organisations to gather insights and understand accessibility challenges.
· Analyse participation trends from previous after school and holiday clubs (across Bedford) to identify popular activities and gaps in provision.
· Attend youth forums and community meetings to gather additional perspectives and encourage involvement in research.
· Compile findings into actionable reports to inform club development and support funding applications.
Delivery and execution of Secondary Project
· Co-lead five after school clubs per week, ensuring smooth operation and young people engagement.
· Responsible for the planning and logistics of after school clubs, including filling spaces, Eventbrite event creation, admin, registers, equipment management, staffing, course bookings, and school visits.
· Ensure after school clubs meet staffing/volunteer ratio requirements and that risk assessments are conducted in line with health and safety guidelines.
· Delivery of sessions where needed e.g. arts and crafts/youth group style activities.
Pastoral Support for Young People
· Provide holistic pastoral care to young people, ensuring individual support plans are accurate, achievable, and effectively implemented.
· Conduct 1:1 school visits for young people as needed.
· Maintain accurate and up-to-date risk assessments for all relevant young people and ensure these are communicated and acted upon across the service.
· Offer ongoing support, referrals, and signposting to young people and their families.
· Act as the pastoral lead to secondary feeder schools for identified cold spot areas, developing and maintaining strong relationships with key school staff (e.g., family support workers) and promoting the F4YP referral service.
· Provide pastoral reports and termly updates to allocated schools, ensuring effective communication and collaboration.
· Attend safeguarding meetings (CP/CIN/TAF) where relevant and update the team accordingly.
· Identify and escalate cases where a young person's needs do not align with current behaviour policies or codes of conduct.
· Transport YP to and from delivery including therapy sessions in the F4YP van.
Family & Community Engagement
· Foster strong relationships with parents and carers, ensuring they feel supported and informed.
· Communicate young people's progress (positive or negative) to parents/carers, providing updates and guidance.
· Attend young people's forums, parent/carer forums, and coffee mornings, as well as community meetings as directed by the HOO.
· Actively promote F4YP's services within schools through assemblies, class visits, and parents' evenings to encourage engagement and referrals.
· Keep up to date with local services and effectively signpost families to relevant support.
Data Management, Reporting & Compliance
· Maintain accurate records for each young person/course, including bursary checks, profile updates, therapy session records, attendance, pastoral logs, evaluations, and outcome tracking and any other reporting requirements.
· Complete audits and ensure records are kept up to date.
· Use Salesforce to collect and analyse pre- and post-activity data, including enrolments, permissions, registers, staff briefings, and evaluations.
· Create case studies that highlight the impact of F4YP's services on young people and families.
· Create termly school reports for schools responsible for.
· Research venues, transport, and local activity costs to compare them with F4YP services.
· Assist in preparing 6 monthly reports and updates for funders based on course data and evaluations.
Organisational & Administrative Duties
· Represent F4YP as the first point of contact in the office—answering calls, greeting visitors, and managing inquiries.
· Drive the F4YP van for transporting young people, staff, and equipment to and from therapy sessions, afterschool clubs, and holiday clubs.
· Create and distribute promotional materials in collaboration with the HOO, ensuring effective outreach through various media platforms.
· Attend 1:1 meeting with the line manager and participate in annual appraisals.
· Attend regular staff meetings, complete regular training and other CPD opportunities including Team Teach and First Aid.
· Uphold F4YP's values, acting as a positive role model and maintaining strong relationships with young people, families, schools, funders, and stakeholders.
· Support and assist in holiday club logistics & preparation as directed by HOO.
Person Specification
Qualifications & Experience:
* Educated to NVQ Level 3 (or equivalent) in a relevant field.
* Good standard of education, including GCSEs in English & Maths (A-C).
* Current First Aid Qualification (or willingness to obtain).
* Minimum of 2 years' experience in a similar role within a school, youth environment, or young person support service.
* Experience working in the charity sector (desirable).
* Experience in health & safety, including risk assessments, and safeguarding.
* Evidence of continuing professional development within the children and young people sector.
* Experience working with children and families from diverse backgrounds.
* Experience and understanding of working with people with additional needs (e.g., disability, neurodiversity, mental ill health).
Skills & Competencies:
* Strong interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to build rapport with young people, families, and school staff.
* Effective behaviour management strategies.
* Excellent time management, organisational, and administrative skills, with the ability to prioritise a varied workload.
* Ability to work independently and as part of a collaborative team.
* Empathy, patience, and a non-judgmental approach when supporting young people and families.
* Knowledge of local community resources and partnership agencies that support young people.
* Solution-focused and proactive approach, with enthusiasm for working with children, parents, carers, and professionals.
* Experience in monitoring, assessing, recording, reporting, and implementing actions to support young people's attendance, well-being, and safeguarding.
* Conflict resolution and problem-solving skills.
* Proficiency in IT systems, including Microsoft Office, for administrative tasks, reporting, and maintaining accurate records.
* Experience in managing admin systems efficiently.
Additional Requirements:
* Full, clean UK driving license and access to a reliable vehicle for travel between sites, including home visits.
* Ability to work flexible hours, including evenings and occasional weekends, to accommodate family needs and emergencies.
* Commitment to Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion policies.
* Willingness to undertake further training and professional development as required.
* Enhanced DBS check (clean and up to date).
* Commitment to upholding health and safety standards in all areas of work.
Job Types: Part-time, Fixed term contract
Contract length: 24 months
Pay: £12,850.50 per year
Work Location: In person