Locum Children's Residential Worker
Temporary (3 months), Full Time
Pay Rate: £13.30 per hour
Location: Colchester
Working Style:
Closing Date: 17th July 2025
Day Shifts - 37 hour working week - Monday to Sunday, over a mixture of early (07:00am – 14.30pm) and late (14:00pm – 21.30pm) shifts with every other weekend off.
The Role
Essex County Council (ECC) is one of the largest and most dynamic local authorities in the UK, serving a population of 2 million residents, and has a very successful track record of delivering transformational change. ECC anticipated change was needed in the public sector and has worked to deliver better quality at lower cost. We have an ambitious transformation agenda – one with the scope to reach every part of the council. We are changing the way we think, the way we work, and the ways in which we deliver our services. We are committed to becoming a place where individuals, partners and communities feel proud to play their role and genuinely want to belong. We’re immensely proud of our flexible working options.
The Opportunity
Children and Families is recognised as a service in which social work can develop and prosper, with a culture of collaboration, integrity and compassion; promoting the development and wellbeing of children, young people and their families; protecting them from neglect and abuse. Working together with partners delivering a range of early help, family support and effective social work interventions which build resilience, remove barriers and enable children and young people to look forward to a brighter future.
The Residential Worker will effectively contribute to care planning and working with children and families directly to ensure the delivery of good quality care.
Experienced in supporting children and young people within a children’s home environment, the role will demonstrate support and collaborative working with children and young people to establish a positive working relationship in which to provide support.
Accountabilities
1. Responsible for directly supporting children and young people within a residential home to ensure all regulatory requirements and codes of practice are met.
2. Supporting the planning process for children and young people, contributing to the assessment of individual needs and developing placement plans, to ensure clarity on how these needs will be met, implemented and monitored on a regular basis.
3. Facilitate constructive contact with children and young people’s families to ensure that the young people receive care to support them in preparing for adulthood.
4. Supporting young people to ensure they are encouraged and supported to make decisions about their lives.
5. Work collaboratively with the management team to ensure that the young people live in a healthy environment in order to be more independent.
6. Contribute to ensuring young people are able to access education and pursue their particular interests to further develop their ability to be independent and preparation for adulthood.
7. Contribute to the operational effectiveness of Residential Home ensuring the care of young people is regularly monitored and on occasion and includes leading shifts, on occasion.
8. Specific individual and shared targets and objectives are defined annually within the performance management framework.
The Experience You Will Bring [Skills, Knowledge and Experience
9. Educated to NVQ level 3 Caring for Children and Young people or equivalent by experience.
10. Evidence of continuing professional development and knowledge in relevant professional area.
11. Evidence of experience of working with young people in a paid or voluntary capacity; or paid work in residential care with other service users.
12. Understands and demonstrates the ability to promote people’s equality, diversity and rights alongside experience of being able to protect children from abuse.
13. Experience of using relevant technology in which to store and access key client and retrieve information.
14. Experience of contributing to the development, provision and review of Placement and other care management plans alongside evidence of being able to encourage young people to develop and maintain a positive sense of identity
Why Essex? Essex County Council has a location to be proud of. Our 1,300 square miles stretch from Constable Country to the Thames Estuary, from the dynamic M11 corridor to the traditional seaside resorts of Clacton and Walton. England’s oldest town, Colchester, and two of its newest – Basildon and Harlow – are right here. Along with the City of Chelmsford, the county town, they form our major population centres. It means real choice and makes Essex the ideal place for your career. Read more
Essex County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We’re committed to interview all disabled applicants who choose to apply under our Job Interview Scheme if they meet the minimum requirements of the job. Please speak to our Recruiters if you require any reasonable adjustments during the process.
We’re also committed to interview all veterans and care leavers, who meet the minimum requirements of the role for which they are applying.