Are you looking for a role where your input can make a genuine difference in the lives of children and young people?

Pebbles Care has an incredible opportunity for you to work in partnership with our established team to become an essential part of our children’s lives. This will include every aspect of home life, from school preparation, and household chores to making lasting memories through fun-filled activities and outings.

If you enjoy working with children and have the resilience to deal with challenging behaviours, while still being able to offer a caring and supportive therapeutic approach, this may be the perfect opportunity for you.

Your role as a Residential Child Care Worker

You will work on a full-time basis, which is an average of 56.4 hours per week (including sleep hours), as part of a team on the shift you may provide support on a one-to-one or two-to-one basis, depending on the needs of the child.

You will benefit from expert advice and training from our psychology, education, and learning and development specialists.  

Safeguarding our young people from risk and harm is our main priority. With the support of your team, you will ensure that our children and young people are cared for in every element of their lives, including keeping them safe, having someone to talk to, having fun, supporting them in education, travelling to school, cooking, cleaning, and learning new life skills.

You will be required to drive our company vehicles to ensure our young people attend appointments, education, and other activities, therefore you must have a full, valid, UK driving licence for manual vehicles. If you have a licence from overseas, we require you to apply for a UK driving licence upon receiving an offer of employment.

The role is challenging and requires resilience, determination, and patience. Your role will allow you to be creative when caring for our children and young people. Your skills, hobbies, and interests will bring additional inspiration to our homes.

You will be based within one home on a full-time basis. However, you may occasionally be required to support other homes within the same geographical area. 

What we offer you

• Full-time roles operate on a rota pattern of one day on (24 hours including sleepover) and two days off (48 hours).
• Your average working hours, including your sleepovers, are 56.4 hours per week. If you require flexibility, we may have part-time and zero-hour contracts available.
• You will receive 5.6 weeks annual leave per annum (this will be pro-rata for part-time contracts)
• Our Learning and Development team can support you to receive 100% funding for your Level 3 SVQ /NVQ qualification in Residential Child Care.
• You will receive a career review upon completion of your induction, training, and minimum qualifications.
• Auto-enrolment into our salary sacrifice pension scheme (Scottish Widows)
• A cash-back health care plan via Medicash, allows you to claim for dental and optical treatments, discounted gym memberships, 24/7 access to a GP, free access to counselling and much more.
• Blue Light Card – for store discounts
• Meals are provided while on shift, this is dependent on the menu choice of the home each day.

What sets Pebbles apart from other care providers?

• Our mission is to continue to lead the way in offering bespoke therapeutic care and education to vulnerable young people.
• We apply value-based recruitment, all successful candidates will be asked to complete a short assessment. These responses will help us to tailor your interview process to make it unique for you, as well as provide the foundation for your future career development plan.
• We offer a clear development pathway and have recently incorporated our new Leadership and Development training to support with progression.
• Pebbles has 51 beautiful homes and 2 established schools for children and young people across North England and Scotland.
• We specialise in providing residential child care for vulnerable young people between the ages of 8 and 18.
• We have innovative plans for growth in 2024 and beyond.
• We have a wealth of skills and knowledge to share with you, and 21 years of experience in supporting young people to unlock brighter futures.
• You will receive your full rate of pay for all sleepovers and rest breaks.  
• Pebbles have excellent employee benefits and discounts that support your health and well-being.

Additional benefits and rewards

• You will attend an in-depth induction and receive training, including a detailed introduction to therapeutic parenting.
• Intervention training
• Instant access to our employee portal, intranet page and quarterly newsletters
• We will cover the cost of updating your disclosure certificate and professional membership fees, if relevant and essential for your role.

Essential qualities that we look for include: 

• Highly responsible and accountable when it comes to safeguarding children and young people.
• A keen interest in pursuing relevant child care qualifications and training.
• Resilient and confident when facing challenging situations.
• You must hold a full, valid, UK driver's licence (all homes have well maintained vehicles)
• A nurturing and caring nature
• Patience, allowing you to form non-judgemental relationships.
• An active and supportive listener
• A creative ability towards having fun and learning new skills.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Proficient IT skills and experience in using Microsoft packages. 

Desirable Qualities include:

• Up to 12 months experience working with children or young adults. (If you have more than 12 months experience, then our grade two and three level salaries may apply)
• Working towards, or a desire to obtain, SCQF Level 7 or Level 3 Diploma, relevant to Children and Young People's Residential workforce (funding may be available)
• Familiar with the Codes of Practice set out by regulatory bodies.
• An existing PVG / DBS certificate

Are you ready to join our family?

Please complete our online application form or if you would like to discuss the role further with our team, please email recruitment@pebblescare.com to ask a member of our team to contact you.