Senior Practitioner

**Are you looking for a new challenge? Do you enjoy working with children & young people and positively impacting their lives? We have an exciting opportunity for a Senior Practitioner to join our friendly, passionate and dedicated team at our Include Me 2 Service based in Lancashire on a part time, permanent basis.**

**About the Service**:
Our Include Me 2 Service is a short breaks service facilitating group sessions across 6 locations in Lancashire for children & young people aged 4 - 18 with a wide range of Special Educational Needs/disabilities, offering them opportunities to get involved in play and leisure activities such as arts & crafts, cooking and trips out in the community whilst offering valuable respite to their families. We are a fun-loving team looking for an enthusiastic, happy and kind individual to join us as our Senior Practitioner

**Location**:
Must be flexible to travel across the Lancashire Locality delivering sessions across Chorley, South Ribble, Pendle, Burnley, Preston and West Lancs.

**Working Pattern**:
37 hours a week to include 2 evenings (until 7:30/8pm) and 1 weekend day. Other working days are flexible and can be discussed at interview.
- Must hold a valid UK driving licence, as driving our 9 seater minibus is an essential part of the role.
- Must hold **OR** be willing to work towards Level 3 Children & Young People Workforce qualification (or equivalent)
- Experience of working directly with children & young people (SEND)
- Ability to communicate effectively with children & young people, parents and carers.
- Ability to demonstrate a good understanding of safeguarding and the commitment to adhere to Barnardo's safeguarding & child protection policies/procedures.
- Driving licence & access to own vehicle desirable but not essential.
- Most importantly, you will need to enjoy the challenges and rewards of working with children & young people

**Some of the main responsibilities include but are not limited to**:

- To manage a case load of Children & Young people.
- Oversight of group deliveries and completing supervisions with our Play Workers & As & When staff.
- Attending meetings with other professionals and maintaining good working relationships with external stakeholders.
- To contribute to the planning, delivery and recording of sessions and activities.
- To ensure the sessions run smoothly and our safeguarding and Health & Safety policies and procedures are adhered to at all times.
- To provide a safe, fun and inclusive environment for all our service users.
- Pay & Reward Framework
- We know that our colleagues go above and beyond in delivering our vital work, driven by their passion and commitment to Barnardo's _values_. We also know that we can only realise our ambitions and achieve better outcomes for more children, thanks to the talent, hard work and creativity of our people._
- For all these reasons, we are committed to a new approach to pay and reward, to ensure it is fair, attractive and progressive, which was rolled out in April 2023. This is a positive change for the charity, and a part of our _People & Culture_ Strategy. It will assist us in supporting colleagues to belong, thrive and grow in their colleague journey at Barnardo's and in time will offer clear routes of progression for colleagues in both their career and their pay._

**Benefits**:
**Workplace Offer: What it means for you**

The world of work has changed. We are understanding of what works best for our colleagues both current and future as we look to embrace this new way of working. Our hybrid working initiative is based on trust, flexibility and empowerment. We understand our workplace offer means different things to different people, and we encourage those conversations. This may mean working at one of our stores, services, working at home, at one of our Collaboration Hubs or any combination of these.
- Barnardo's believe in creating equality of opportunity in the workplace and supporting people to manage their work-life balance; we are therefore open to offering flexible working arrangements.
- Annual Leave entitlement for full-time colleagues is 26 days per annum, increasing to 27 days per annum, after 3 years Barnardo's service, 29 days per annum, after 5 years Barnardo's service and 30 days per annum, after 7 years Barnardo's service. Those working less than full time are entitled to the same level of holiday pro rata
- The ability to buy up to another 5 days annual leave via our HolidayPlus scheme
- A host of family friendly leave options including company Maternity Paternity and Adoption pay; together with all family additional leave options
- Service related sick pay from day 1
- Access to a Group Personal Pension with a matched 4% or 6% contribution from Barnardo's. Ability to pay via salary sacrifice to garner both tax and NI savings on your own contribution
- Death in service cover of 4x annual earnings for all staff contributing to our Group Personal Pension
- Cycle2work sche