House Coordinator

Today, Ochil Tower School is a thriving educational and residential community, where 27 children and young people, aged 8-21, with special and complex additional support needs live, learn and grow together.
The school is part of the Camphill Community which comprises 11 different Camphill sites in Scotland. Camphill is an international movement. Inspired by the work of Rudolph Steiner, it was founded by a group of Austrian refugees in Aberdeen at the start of WW2. At this time people with any form of learning disability were often excluded from many aspects of society in general and education in particular. Camphill took a different view and created the first Camphill school to care for and educate children with special needs. It is now a global ideology and movement.
The aim is to create a beautiful and calm experience. Ochil Tower School is set in seven acres of stunning Perthshire countryside. This enables its children and young adults to feel more relaxed and better able to forge relationships with peers and staff. They are then more able to build self-esteem, confidence and their capacity for resilience.
The School provides excellent care and education and is not short on ambition. In October 2018, it opened a new Life Skills Centre. This facility is for young adults aged 18 - 21 and is designed to help them so that they are better prepared for the challenges of living an independent adult life by developing their skills in learning, life and work. OTS is now focused on extending the residential provision to 52 weeks. This is already being provided to eight young people with plans in place for this to be extended to all young people residing in the school by January 2023. As a result there are exciting opportunities to join Ochil Tower School as we increase and develop our workforce.The Board of Trustees have a commitment to further enhancing and developing their residential houses, and plans to build new educational facilities for the school.
We are looking for a House Coordinator responsible for providing a high standard of care and education in the residential house as part of the 24-hour curriculum.
**Job Purpose**
To work as part of a team that is responsible for ensuring a high quality of care is provided which meets the needs of each individual child and young person at Ochil Tower School.
This will include involvement with the direct care of children and young people, acting as a key-worker when necessary. The house co-ordinator will lead the care team in compiling individual Care and Education Plans, termly SMART aims, reports for reviews, annual reports etc. The co-ordinator will provide support and supervision to residential care staff and also volunteers who are part of our care delivery model at Ochil Tower.
The house co-ordinator will liaise with families and a range of external professionals (educational psychologists, social workers, medical professionals), that provide the support around the child or young person.
**Main Duties**
- Provide young people with with a nurturing, active, healthy and safe environment where they will feel included, respected and supported in the development of skills, confidence and self-esteem
- Create a homely, nurturing and and supportive environment for young people, volunteers and residential care staff based on the principles and values of social pedagogy within Camphill communities
- This will include acting as a role model and providing structure, routine and clear boundaries
- Contribute to maintaining and developing the ethos of Ochil Tower School
- Actively engage within an improvement agenda where we all work together at Ochil Tower to improve the standards of care and education within the school community
- To manage the house budget within the parameters set and reporting as required
- To manage house meeting(s) for residential staff and young people
- The above duties are considered a guide and may vary due to the changing needs of children and/or the community
- Play an active role in ensuring compliance within the house managing the implementation of the organisations policies and procedures and regulatory requirements
- Ability to induct new employees and support the training and development of the care team
- To be part of a shared on-call rota to including sleepovers where necessary

**Qualifications**
Essential (one of the following):

- HNC Social Care or equivalent
- SVQ 3 Children and Young People or equivalent

Desirable (in some circumstances a willingness to work towards one of the following may be considered):

- SVQ 4 Social Services at SCQF Level 9 (Children & Young People)
- BA (Hons) Social Work (or equivalent)
- Degree or Diploma in Community Education or equivalent

**Experience and Skills**
Essential:

- Excellent communication skills
- A good listener
- Good problem-solving skills
- Involving young people in decision-making about their lives
- Assertiveness
- Ability to communicate concerns directly and comfortably to young