Think Ahead Graduate Programme Jobs in Kings Cross, Greater London
Reports to: Head of Inclusive Leadership Course
Start date: ASAP or mid-August 2024
Location: London / Hybrid - minimum 3 days per week in office (The Difference’s office in Bethnal Green). Willingness to travel for programme delivery across the North East, North West, and the Midlands 3 days per half term.
Contract: Permanent, full time/flexible working considered
Salary: £55k - £65k per annum (+6% employer pension contribution and sector-leading parental leave policy shared with all applicants)
Closing Date for Applications: Sunday 21st April 23:59
Person Specification
The Difference is seeking an outstanding school leader to take on the role of Programme Lead through an exciting period of growth and development, with a particular focus on developing our People and Practice work. The successful candidate will be instrumental in the delivery of our various programmes, actively engaging in their implementation and with valuable insights for continuous improvement. This role offers a distinct chance to make a significant impact on The Difference's overarching strategic goals. As the Programme Lead, you'll have the opportunity to shape our programmes, ensuring they align with our mission and vision. Your contributions will not only drive tangible outcomes but will also shape the future direction of our organisation. You will have the opportunity to make a significant impact on the outcomes for children who experience vulnerability and disadvantage by working closely with school leaders to develop school practice and systems.
You will have real ownership over your area of work, be happiest in a flexible and ambitious environment, and enjoy testing out new ideas. You will have experience in professional development design, delivery, project management and supporting school staff and leaders through professional coaching .
Essential knowledge, experience and skills
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Demonstrated Alignment with The Difference’s values: a history of actions and decisions that align with The Difference's values, showcasing a personal commitment to the mission of improving life outcomes for vulnerable children.
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Credibility as a proven school leader of inclusion: as a Trust middle leader, Headteacher, Deputy or Assistant Headteacher in a Primary or Secondary setting in contexts of high disadvantage and vulnerability.
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A record of impact for children experiencing vulnerability: including designing and delivering work that led to reduced harmful behaviours, repeat suspension or persistent absence.
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A record of empowering work with children and families.
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Evidence of designing and delivering impactful professional development: high quality learning sessions, fostering sustained staff development and contributing to a culture of continuous learning.
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Understanding of Relational Practice within Education: A track record of utilising or implementing practice aligned with the relational approaches to deliver improved student outcomes.
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Aiming high and holding people accountable through visionary leadership: Ability to articulate an ambitious vision, inspiring and motivating others to meet high standards. A proven ability to hold individuals accountable for their contributions.
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Flexibility and a willingness to travel: including overnight stays, particularly within London,and across the North East, North West, and the Midlands. A likely travel pattern of 2-3 days travel per fortnight.
Desired knowledge, experience and skills
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Stakeholder management & relationship-building: proven experience in managing relationships with various stakeholders, including navigating HR processes and demonstrating effective stakeholder engagement skills. Experience of sales and a business to business sales process would be advantageous.
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Adaptability: track record of prioritising and creating clarity in ambiguous, challenging, or fast-paced situations. Experience in working directly with colleagues, implementing strategies such as coaching and structured reflection to establish clear and effective plans.
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Research Engagement: engagement with research and evidence-based strategies for school improvement. Demonstrable quantifiable impact using evidence-informed approaches.
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Contextual Awareness: varied experience in different schools, showcasing an understanding of how contextual factors impact schools and teachers, and an awareness of the wider educational landscape.
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Teaching Qualification: possession of Qualified Teacher Status, demonstrating the foundational qualification for the role.
Why Work for The Difference?
Schooling isn’t working for the children who need it most. Every week in England 109 children – equivalent to three full classrooms – are permanently excluded. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Since the pandemic, school suspensions have risen significantly, as has persistent absenteeism. 1 in 5 children are missing more than 10% of their time in school. Children who are excluded or persistently absent are much more likely to already be experiencing vulnerability or disadvantage. They are more likely to live in poverty, have additional learning needs, suffer mental health challenges, or experience a lack of safety outside school. Certain ethnicities are also disproportionately affected, notably Gypsy Roma Traveller and black Caribbean children.
Exclusion and high rates of absence can have a dramatic effect on life chances. These young people are more likely to drop out of education or employment, become vulnerable to long-term mental ill health, or be at risk of criminal exploitation. The Difference believes that children and young people deserve better and that the education system has to change.
Our Organisation
The Difference is a young education charity, founded to change the story on lost learning. By 2030, we want rates of exclusion and absence to be falling nationally and for schools to be better equipped to support all children, including those who may be vulnerable. The Difference was born out of a year of research into school exclusions with think-tank IPPR. This research identified a lack of inclusion expertise in schools and proposed a new leadership development programme to fill this gap. In 2018, Difference founder Kiran hired the team who took this idea from concept to reality, beginning work with our first schools.
The Difference is now a 22-strong team delivering multiple school leadership programmes, alongside a growing research and policy arm. The team is supported by our Youth Advisory Board, made up of young people who have experienced exclusion and who provide their expertise and insights on how school inclusion work should be done. This work is needed more than ever. Effects of COVID-19, coupled with the spiralling cost of living, have substantially increased levels of vulnerability. Schools serving excluded pupils face under-funding. The Difference has had excellent early impact but there is work ahead to scale this impact through our programmes, share learning with schools and policy-makers, and grow our capacity to lower exclusions across England.
The Task Ahead: Programme Lead
In 2019 The Difference launched our programmes working with 22 school leaders in London. Since then we have worked with 447 school leaders nationally. We want to continue to scale our programmes and reach more school leaders to help shape their schools practice and systems to improve pupil wellbeing, safety and belonging. We intend to further develop our programmes to improve inclusion in schools and successfully change the story for students currently struggling in school.
Key tasks for this role include:
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Deliver The Difference’s Inclusive Leadership Course to senior leaders from a range of school settings. This takes place in venues across the country including but not limited to London, the North East, North West, and the Midlands. Confidence and passion to deliver the course to the high standards required.
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In-school support for The DIfference’s School Partnership (DSP). Delivering across a variety of schools including mainstream secondary, mainstream primary and Alternative Provision settings. Supporting the implementation of key themes and content from The Difference’s Inclusive Leadership Course.
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Working closely with The Differences Research, Impact & Influencing team to capture case studies, research and impact metrics that demonstrate the impact of the Difference’s programmatic work.
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Input to the evolution and development of the Difference’s programmatic offer using insight from delivery and feedback from programme participants
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Working closely with the The Difference’s Partnership and Sales team to support the reach and impact of the programmatic work.
Our Values
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High Expectations - We are ambitious for excellence from young people, colleagues and ourselves. We don’t believe in writing off someone’s potential because of their identity or experience of crisis.
-
Strong Relationships - We prioritise genuine relationships over transactional interactions, and know that this requires deliberate relational practice. We see colleagues and partners as people first and their roles second; and know this greater trust allows us to take more risks, gain more feedback and have greater impact.
-
Internalised Locus of Control - We work hard to reframe difficult situations to discover what we have within our power in terms of solutions. We take it upon ourselves to walk towards challenges and can take a high level of ownership and agency in our work/
-
Pragmatism - We believe leadership means recognising current limitations and striving for improvements within and beyond them. We develop consensus and chart new ways forward, challenging false and extreme positions like “zero exclusions” or “no excuses”.
-
Scientific approach - We take a diagnostic approach to unpicking causes of problems. We are loud and proud of our failures, recognising failing fast and often is key to finding the best solutions. We test solutions and are willing to use data and feedback to make adjustments and choose new directions.
-
Not Squeamish about Structural Inequality - We believe patterns of inequality can and should be disrupted. We strive to be clear-eyed about these inequalities, and both the individual practice and system-changes required to address them. We push ourselves to overcome awkwardness in talking about this; and begin by acknowledging our own biases and blind spots.
-
Asset-based - We work hard to avoid deficit thinking and aim to start with what’s strong, not what’s wrong. We are careful not to frame our colleagues and stakeholders - particularly young people and families – as victims but instead to recognise their agency.
-
Wise selves - To both enjoy work and do their best, we want to make decisions and work with others in our “wise” - or regulated - selves. We also want to bring our compassionate self to those we work with, externally and internally, to support one another through challenging times.
How To Apply
To apply, please complete all sections of the application form by midnight on Sunday 21st April.
First round interviews will be held during the week beginning 6th May, over video call. Please indicate if you would not be available to attend an interview during this week.
If successful in this stage, second round interviews (including a task to be completed the same day) will take place on the week beginning 13th May, at our office in Bethnal Green.
We are committed to building a diverse team and strongly encourage applications from under-represented groups in the charity sector such as people from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, LGBTQ+ people, people with disabilities, people with experience in the care system, non-graduates and first-in-family graduates.
Please note that we're not able to sponsor work visas for this role and can only move forward with candidates who are eligible to work in the UK.
As part of our commitment to fairer recruitment, all applications will be assessed with names and any protected characteristics redacted.
Recommended Reading
If you’d like to understand more about The Difference and what we are trying to achieve, we would recommend the following:
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The research which underpins our organisation.
Our latest Impact Report, sharing our work in 2023
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Reports to: Director of Research, Impact and Influence
Start date: ASAP
Location: London or Flexible Working (remote with weekly travel to London)
Contract: FT or 0.8FTE, Permanent
Salary: £50-57k per annum, skills and experience dependent (+6% employer pension contribution and sector-leading parental leave policy shared with all applicants)
Closing Date for Applications: Sunday 28th April 23:59
Person Specification
The Difference is looking for someone who can lead the team’s impact function as the charity goes through a really exciting period of growth and development. You will refine our monitoring and evaluation work in order to drive continuous improvement across the charity, and to shape future programme design. You’ll feed into the development of new tools for use by schools to better understand and respond to their own inclusion data. You’ll also play a key role in helping The Difference and its partner schools to understand the mechanisms for change in our programmes, and identify what supports and hinders change. Our programmes work with schools as they become more inclusive, support all of their students to succeed, and reduce the amount of learning lost to exclusions and absence.
You will have real ownership over your area of work, be happiest in a flexible and ambitious environment, and enjoy testing out new ideas. You will have experience in working on programme evaluation, impact measurement or applied research, and will combine strong data and project-management skills.
Essential knowledge, experience and skills
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Experience of designing and carrying out both formative and summative evaluation understanding how to appropriately design, collect and analyse quantitative and qualitative data.
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Organisation & project management skills, demonstrable through past work whether this was delivering a project independently or coordinating a team. You feel confident planning multiple workstreams, working to timelines and juggling deadlines.
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Strategic communication – Confident in organising ideas and information to highlight the more salient and strategically significant elements, with internal and external audiences. Experienced in communicating with stakeholders from different backgrounds, from CEOs to service-users or young people.
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Experience in contributing to organisational change processes - working with senior leadership to utilise insights from programme evaluation to support the evolution of programme design and using evaluation to identify areas for continuous improvement.
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Values – A career (or voluntary experiences) which evidence shared values with The Difference - see these values below - plus a personal commitment to our mission to improve life outcomes for vulnerable young people.
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Self-directed – Evidenced capacity to take high levels of ownership in your work and over your own development, proactively diagnosing skills and information gaps, and making use of others’ expertise.
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Agile & solutions-focused – Ability to thrive in a fast-paced start-up environment, comfortable with making decisions in ambiguous contexts and casting a critical eye on systems, processes and practice.
Desired knowledge, experience and skills
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Knowledge of the education sector and school data systems.
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Experience in the start-up or small charity sector. An ability to thrive in the flexible, fast-paced and sometimes ambiguous context of start-up.
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Quantitative data analysis skills. Experience using software to analyse large datasets (e.g. R, SPSS, Stata), and ability to interpret results, plus confidence in using Excel and other programmes to present this.
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Insight through work or life into school experiences of over-excluded young people, including young people with experience of the care system, of mental ill health, of special educational needs, or racism.
Why Work for The Difference?
Schooling isn’t working for the children who need it most. Every week in England 109 children – equivalent to three full classrooms – are permanently excluded. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Since the pandemic, school suspensions have risen significantly, as has persistent absenteeism. 1 in 5 children are missing more than 10% of their time in school. Children who are excluded or persistently absent are much more likely to already be experiencing vulnerability or disadvantage. They are more likely to live in poverty, have additional learning needs, suffer mental health challenges, or experience a lack of safety outside school. Certain ethnicities are also disproportionately affected, notably Gypsy Roma Traveller and black Caribbean children.
Exclusion and high rates of absence can have a dramatic effect on life chances. These young people are more likely to drop out of education or employment, become vulnerable to long-term mental ill health, or be at risk of criminal exploitation. The Difference believes that children and young people deserve better and that the education system has to change.
Our Organisation
The Difference is a young education charity, founded to change the story on lost learning. By 2030, we want rates of exclusion and absence to be falling nationally and for schools to be better equipped to support all children, including those who may be vulnerable.
The Difference was born out of a year of research into school exclusions with think-tank IPPR. This research identified a lack of inclusion expertise in schools and proposed a new leadership development programme to fill this gap. In 2018, Difference founder Kiran hired the team who took this idea from concept to reality, beginning work with our first schools.
The Difference is now a 22-strong team delivering multiple school leadership programmes, alongside a growing research and policy arm. The team is supported by our Youth Advisory Board, made up of young people who have experienced exclusion and who provide their expertise and insights on how school inclusion work should be done. This work is needed more than ever. Effects of COVID-19, coupled with the spiralling cost of living, have substantially increased levels of vulnerability. Schools serving excluded pupils face under-funding. The Difference has had excellent early impact but there is work ahead to capture this, share learning with schools and policy-makers, and grow our capacity to lower exclusions across England.
The Task Ahead: Head of Impact
In 2022, The Difference established a Research, Impact and Influencing Directorate, indicating the growing importance of this work to our mission. We’re doing more to understand (and evidence) how school leaders who take part in our programmes are driving impactful inclusion in their schools. And we intend to use this to have a national impact on how schools are measured and driven to put pupil wellbeing, safety and belonging at the heart of their work. Improving our understanding of the impact of inclusion is key to successfully changing the story for students currently struggling in schools.
Key Tasks for this role include:
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Strengthen our monitoring, evaluation and impact systems: using methods that are both qualitative (interviews, case-studies, roundtables) and quantitative (staff and student surveys, school data tracking), and collating and analysing the data collected to diagnose successes, challenges and opportunities within our work streams.
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Act as an internal consultant with the team: bringing stakeholder feedback together in clear presentations for other staff members and acting as a “critical friend” during delivery and strategy planning. Identify insights that point to continuous improvement of our programmes and work with Programme Team to utilise insights.
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Develop our qualitative framework to better track and measure whole-school inclusion. This framework will aim not just to support improved work for children in our schools, but to define what good looks like in the sector.
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Progress our ambition to make inclusion more tangibly measurable: plan user-research with school partners to identify inclusion data needs and use these findings to develop impact tools that collate exclusion, attendance and demographic data. Work with others in the sector using innovative methods to measure inclusion through national datasets.
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Expand our work on measuring school inclusion through student experience of safety, wellbeing and belonging. Grow the reach of our current survey tools and collaborating with others in the sector doing innovative work on student voice and inclusion.
Our Values
-
High Expectations - We are ambitious for excellence from young people, colleagues and ourselves. We don’t believe in writing off someone’s potential because of their identity or experience of crisis.
-
Strong Relationships - We prioritise genuine relationships over transactional interactions, and know that this requires deliberate relational practice. We see colleagues and partners as people first and their roles second; and know this greater trust allows us to take more risks, gain more feedback and have greater impact.
-
Internalised Locus of Control - We work hard to reframe difficult situations to discover what we have within our power in terms of solutions. We take it upon ourselves to walk towards challenges and can take a high level of ownership and agency in our work.
-
Pragmatism - We believe leadership means recognising current limitations and striving for improvements within and beyond them. We develop consensus and chart new ways forward, challenging false and extreme positions like “zero exclusions” or “no excuses”.
-
Scientific approach - We take a diagnostic approach to unpicking causes of problems. We are loud and proud of our failures, recognising failing fast and often is key to finding the best solutions. We test solutions and are willing to use data and feedback to make adjustments and choose new directions.
-
Not Squeamish about Structural Inequality - We believe patterns of inequality can and should be disrupted. We strive to be clear-eyed about these inequalities, and both the individual practice and system-changes required to address them. We push ourselves to overcome awkwardness in talking about this; and begin by acknowledging our own biases and blind spots.
-
Asset-based - We work hard to avoid deficit thinking and aim to start with what’s strong, not what’s wrong. We are careful not to frame our colleagues and stakeholders - particularly young people and families – as victims but instead to recognise their agency.
-
Wise selves - To both enjoy work and do their best, we want to make decisions and work with others in our “wise” - or regulated - selves. We also want to bring our compassionate self to those we work with, externally and internally, to support one another through challenging times.
How To Apply
To apply, please complete all sections of the application form by midnight on Sunday 28th April.
First round interviews will be held during the week beginning 13th May, over video call.
Please indicate if you would not be available to attend an interview during this week.
If successful in this stage, second round interviews (including a task to be completed the same day) will take place on the week beginning 20th May, at our office in Bethnal Green.
We are committed to building a diverse team and strongly encourage applications from under-represented groups in the charity sector such as people from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, LGBTQ+ people, people with disabilities, people with experience in the care system, non-graduates and first-in-family graduates.
As part of our commitment to fairer recruitment, all applications will be assessed with names and any protected characteristics redacted.
Please note that we're not able to sponsor work visas for this role and can only move forward with candidates who are eligible to work in the UK.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
We're looking for 5 kind, compassionate and resilient Specialist Behavioural Support Workers to join our Lester Court Service in Tower Hamlets.
£27,726.60 per annum, working 40 hours per week. Benefits include 25 days Annual Leave, pension schemes, staff discounts, healthcare and career progression.
Want to feel like you have an exciting future? You'll feel at home here.
Making you feel at home here means helping you thrive in every way. That's why we offer a wide range of benefits, award-winning Learning & Development and a culture that welcomes all. These aren't token gestures - we've thought long and hard about how best to support our team. After all, our people are doing something amazing: helping to transform lives every day.
Lester Court is a supported living service, serving the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The service will supports seven adults with learning disabilities to thrive.
Specialist Support Workers within Look Ahead are required to have either an extra dimension of experience or a higher qualification level as determined relevant for the particular post. Specialist Support Workers provide information, social inclusion and vocational opportunities to support people to recover and stay well; exercise choice and control in their care and lives; and participate on an equal footing in the community. Support is also provided to develop a model of re-enablement towards self-advocacy, self-management and empowerment, incorporating the principles and practice of recovery, co-production and peer support.
This role requires a valid Right to Work for the UK as Look Ahead are not a sponsoring organisation.
What you'll do:
Building supportive, trusting relationships with customers and creating a positive atmosphere
Carrying out holistic assessments of new customers which incorporate relevant statutory referral information
Conducting regular key work sessions that are innovative and engaging in order to achieve Support Plan goals
Create support plans for providing appropriate services based on on-going assessment and reflecting the services and resources available to enable customer to progress in their recovery
Ensuring ongoing assessment and management of risks associated with customers within an attitude of positive risk taking
Provide support and access to relevant services to enable customers to continue their recovery and empower customers to self-manage their medication regimes through individual re-enablement programmes and informed decision making
Undertake support work in partnership with external stakeholders to compliment their interventions
Developing productive relationships with partner organisations to improve service outcomes
Demonstrate strong commitment to the functioning of the staff team and to support colleagues in providing a high level of service and safety to customers
Involving customers in the design, development and delivery of the service
Adhering to lone working protocols and maintaining high levels of awareness in relation to the health and safety of yourself and colleagues
Ensuring Look Ahead Health and Safety policies and local protocols are adhered to at all times e.g. fire risk assessments, fire alarm checks etc.
Please see our website for more information.
This is not an exhaustive list of all the duties and responsibilities that may be required from time to time and is subject to change in accordance with the needs of Look Ahead
About you:
What you'll bring:
Enjoys social interaction and the company of others, joins in local activities to encourage customer involvement
Exudes a warm friendly presence and open behaviour
Prefers working as part of a group or team
Is fundamentally calm and resilient, does not let emotion adversely affect them or obscure their judgement
Has a practical and logical mind and is naturally well organised
Thrives on change and enjoys dynamic diverse environments
Is confident with high levels of self-esteem
Is respectful, articulate and sensitive in style of communication
Is motivated towards excellence and improvement of personal performance with a can do attitude
Ability to cope positively with challenging and diverse behaviour
Essential:
NVQ Level 2/3 or equivalent with some or equivalent sector work experience
Desirable:
Experience of working within PBS frameworks or following PBS plans
About us:
Look Ahead is a dynamic, leading, not-for-profit care and support provider in London and the South East. As an organisation we deliver over 110 services, providing support to around 7000 customers each year. We work across mental health, homelessness, young people and learning disabilities so there are plenty of opportunities to grow and progress your career with us.
Look Ahead is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and adults at risk, and expects all employees, workers and volunteers to share this commitment.
If your application for this role is unsuccessful, but we feel that you would be suitable for another role, we may contact you to discuss alternative opportunities. If this occurs you would not need to submit another application for the alternative role.
We reserve the right to close this advert early if we are able to appoint to the vacancy before the advertised closed date.
We are committed to diversity and inclusion at work and are accredited with Silver in the Inclusive Employers Standard 2021. We are a proud member of the Employers Domestic Abuse Covenant and encourage applications from a diverse range of applicants of all backgrounds.
We're looking for a kind, compassionate and resilient Support Worker to join our Horn Lane service in Acton.
£24,856.00 per annum, working 40 hours per week. Benefits include 25 days Annual Leave, pension schemes, staff discounts, healthcare and career progression.
Want to feel like you're making a difference? You'll feel at home here.
Making you feel at home here means helping you thrive in every way. That's why we offer a wide range of benefits, award-winning Learning & Development and a culture that welcomes all. These aren't token gestures - we've thought long and hard about how best to support our team. After all, our people are doing something amazing: helping to transform lives every day.
Horn Lane service, is for young children / adult between the ages of 16 and 21, we are Ofsted registered.
We a re a dynamic and caring team
We are based in Acton, West London, 2 minute walk from Acton Main Line, with the Elizabeth line and 10 minutes walk from Central Acton central line.
We are a 24/7 service, and operate a 4 week rolling program which includes early shifts 8-4, late shifts 2-10 and weekend work, no sleep ins.
Support Workers will provide support to customers to help them develop the life skills they require to meet the assessed needs of the customers of the service. They will work with customers to promote social inclusion and alongside other members of the team to promote independent living, encouraging customers to maximise their skills and choices.
This role requires a valid Right to Work for the UK as Look Ahead are not a sponsoring organisation.
What you'll do:
This is not an exhaustive list of all the duties and responsibilities that may be required from time to time and is subject to change in accordance with the needs of Look Ahead
- Building supportive, trusting relationships with our young people
- Working proactively with other members of the team to handle the service caseload and administrative responsibilities
- Supporting young people to set personalised goals in the form of a Support Plan
- Conducting regular key work sessions that are innovative and engaging in order to achieve Support Plan goals & Independent Life Skills
- Ensuring ongoing assessment and management of risks associated with our young people within an attitude of 'positive risk taking'
- Proactively manage risk and safety both in and outside of their physical living environment
- Providing support with daily living activities, including practical assistance where skills are not yet developed, to ensure that our young people enjoy a high quality of accommodation
- Proactive development of links with local statutory and voluntary organisations to provide a range of engagement opportunities for customers in the community
- Involving young people in the design, development and delivery of the service
- Empowering young people to ensure they receive the service and benefits they are entitled to
- Ensuring Look Ahead Health and Safety policies are adhered to at all times and to uphold all health and safety responsibilities within relevant policies and local protocols
- Adhering to all other Look Ahead's policies and procedures
- Engaging in learning and development activity to increase knowledge and skills
- Undertaking any other duties consistent with the grade and nature of the post as assigned by the Team Leader/ Manager
About you:
- Enjoys social interaction and the company of others, joins in local activities to encourage customer involvement
- Approachable and open behaviour
- Prefers working as part of a group or team
- Is fundamentally calm and resilient, does not let emotion adversely affect them or obscure their judgement
- Has a practical and logical mind and is naturally well organised
- Flexible
- Open to feedback and self-development
- Thrives on change and enjoys dynamic diverse environments
- Is confident with high levels of self-esteem
- Is respectful, articulate and sensitive in style of communication
- Is essentially customer-focused
- Is motivated towards excellence and improvement of personal performance with a can do attitude
- Ability to cope positively with challenging and diverse behaviours
What you'll bring:
Essential:
- NVQ Level 3 or equivalent experience in the social care/charity sector or willing to work towards NVQ Level 3
Desirable:
- Experience working with young people
About us:
Look Ahead is a dynamic, leading, not-for-profit care and support provider in London and the South East. As an organisation we deliver over 110 services, providing support to around 7000 customers each year. We work across mental health, homelessness, young people and learning disabilities so there are plenty of opportunities to grow and progress your career with us.
Look Ahead is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and adults at risk, and expects all employees, workers and volunteers to share this commitment.
If your application for this role is unsuccessful, but we feel that you would be suitable for another role, we may contact you to discuss alternative opportunities. If this occurs you would not need to submit another application for the alternative role.
We reserve the right to close this advert early if we are able to appoint to the vacancy before the advertised closed date.
We are committed to diversity and inclusion at work and are accredited with Silver in the Inclusive Employers Standard 2021. We are a proud member of the Employers Domestic Abuse Covenant and encourage applications from a diverse range of applicants of all backgrounds.
We're looking for four kind, compassionate and resilient Support Workers to join our Learning Disabilities service in Hammersmith & Fulham.
£27,352.00 per annum, working 40 hours per week. Benefits include 25 days Annual Leave, pension schemes, staff discounts, healthcare and career progression.
Want to feel like you have an exciting future? You'll feel at home here.
Making you feel at home here means helping you thrive in every way. That's why we offer a wide range of benefits, award-winning Learning & Development and a culture that welcomes all. These aren't token gestures - we've thought long and hard about how best to support our team. After all, our people are doing something amazing: helping to transform lives every day.
Specialist Support Workers within Look Ahead are required to have either an extra dimension of experience or a higher qualification level as determined relevant for the particular post. Specialist Support Workers provide information, social inclusion and vocational opportunities to support people to recover and stay well; exercise choice and control in their care and lives; and participate on an equal footing in the community. Support is also provided to develop a model of re-enablement towards self-advocacy, self-management and empowerment, incorporating the principles and practice of recovery, co-production and peer support.
This role requires a valid Right to Work for the UK as Look Ahead are not a sponsoring organisation.
What you'll do:
* Building supportive, trusting relationships with customers and creating a positive atmosphere
* Carrying out holistic assessments of new customers which incorporate relevant statutory referral information
* Conducting regular key work sessions that are innovative and engaging in order to achieve Support Plan goals
* Create support plans for providing appropriate services based on on-going assessment and reflecting the services and resources available to enable customer to progress in their recovery
* Ensuring ongoing assessment and management of risks associated with customers within an attitude of positive risk taking
* Provide support and access to relevant services to enable customers to continue their recovery and empower customers to self-manage their medication regimes through individual re-enablement programmes and informed decision making
* Undertake support work in partnership with external stakeholders to compliment their interventions
* Developing productive relationships with partner organisations to improve service outcomes
* Demonstrate strong commitment to the functioning of the staff team and to support colleagues in providing a high level of service and safety to customers
* Involving customers in the design, development and delivery of the service
* Adhering to lone working protocols and maintaining high levels of awareness in relation to the health and safety of yourself and colleagues
* Ensuring Look Ahead Health and Safety policies and local protocols are adhered to at all times e.g. fire risk assessments, fire alarm checks etc.
This is not an exhaustive list of all the duties and responsibilities that may be required from time to time and is subject to change in accordance with the needs of Look Ahead
About you:
* Enjoys social interaction and the company of others, joins in local activities to encourage customer involvement
* Exudes a warm friendly presence and open behaviour
* Prefers working as part of a group or team
* Is fundamentally calm and resilient, does not let emotion adversely affect them or obscure their judgement
* Has a practical and logical mind and is naturally well organised
* Thrives on change and enjoys dynamic diverse environments
* Is confident with high levels of self-esteem
* Is respectful, articulate and sensitive in style of communication
* Is motivated towards excellence and improvement of personal performance with a can do attitude
* Ability to cope positively with challenging and diverse behaviour
What you'll bring:
Essential:
* NVQ Level 2/3 or equivalent with some or equivalent sector work experience
About us:
Look Ahead is a dynamic, leading, not-for-profit care and support provider in London and the South East. As an organisation we deliver over 110 services, providing support to around 7000 customers each year. We work across mental health, homelessness, young people and learning disabilities so there are plenty of opportunities to grow and progress your career with us.
Look Ahead is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and adults at risk, and expects all employees, workers and volunteers to share this commitment.
If your application for this role is unsuccessful, but we feel that you would be suitable for another role, we may contact you to discuss alternative opportunities. If this occurs you would not need to submit another application for the alternative role.
We reserve the right to close this advert early if we are able to appoint to the vacancy before the advertised closed date.
We are committed to diversity and inclusion at work and are accredited with Silver in the Inclusive Employers Standard 2021. We are a proud member of the Employers Domestic Abuse Covenant and encourage applications from a diverse range of applicants of all backgrounds.
Please see our website for full job description.
We're looking for three kind, compassionate and resilient Support Workers to join our Mental Health service in Newham.
£27,352.00 per annum, working 40 hours per week. Benefits include 25 days Annual Leave, pension schemes, staff discounts, healthcare and career progression.
Want to feel like you're making a difference? You'll feel at home here.
Making you feel at home here means helping you thrive in every way. That's why we offer a wide range of benefits, award-winning Learning & Development and a culture that welcomes all. These aren't token gestures - we've thought long and hard about how best to support our team. After all, our people are doing something amazing: helping to transform lives every day.
Successful candidates will be given the opportunity to join a busy, dynamic and engaging team working in Newham. Support Workers enable people with particular needs to manage their tenancies and live independent lives of their choosing in the community and move towards greater independence by providing a flexible and individually tailored support package. Support Worker will give practical support to help people maintain their tenancy, stay well, exercise choice and control in their care and lives and participate in the community. Support is also provided to develop a model of re-enablement towards self-advocacy, self-management and empowerment, incorporating the principles and practice of recovery, co-production and peer support.
The service includes four sites and form a mini pathway of higher, medium and move on support accommodation.
The shift pattern for this role consists of three shift timings at: 9.00 - 17.00, 12.00 - 20.00 and 14.00 - 22.00. This includes weekends and bank holidays.
This role requires a valid Right to Work for the UK as Look Ahead are not a sponsoring organisation.
What you'll do:
- Undertake key-working responsibilities for a caseload assigned by the Senior Support Worker/Team Leader/ Contract Manager. Creatively working to engage with customers.
- Undertake initial and continuous assessment of needs and potential risks and agree levels of support and actions. Promote positive risk taking.
- Create support/action plans for providing appropriate services based on the assessment and reflecting the services and resources available
- Building supportive, trusting relationships with customers.
- Working proactively with other members of the team to handle the service caseload and administrative responsibilities.
- Support customers to undertake all domestic tasks wherever possible, including practical assistance where they have not yet developed the skills, to ensure customers enjoy a high quality of accommodation.
- Undertake all administrative work and keep accurate and comprehensive tenant/customer records to professional standards.
- Proactive development of links with local statutory and voluntary organisations to provide a range of engagement opportunities for customers in the community.
This is not an exhaustive list of all the duties and responsibilities that may be required from time to time and is subject to change in accordance with the needs of Look Ahead
About you:
- Enjoys social interaction and the company of others, joins in local activities to encourage customer involvement
- Approachable and open behaviour
- Prefers working as part of a group or team
- Is fundamentally calm and resilient, does not let emotion adversely affect them or obscure their judgement
- Has a practical and logical mind and is naturally well organised
- Flexible
- Open to feedback and self development
- Thrives on change and enjoys dynamic diverse environments
- Is confident with high levels of self-esteem
- Is respectful, articulate and sensitive in style of communication
- Is essentially customer-focused
- Is motivated towards excellence and improvement of personal performance with a can-do attitude
- Has the ability to cope positively with challenging and diverse behaviours.
What you'll bring:
Essential:
- Adept use of Microsoft programmes and an ability and willing to learn how to use new recording and reporting softwares.
Desirable:
- Experience working in Mental Health
- Experience working in supported accommodation.
- NVQ Level 2/3 or equivalent with little or some previous relevant sector work experience.
About us:
Look Ahead is a dynamic, leading, not-for-profit care and support provider in London and the South East. As an organisation we deliver over 110 services, providing support to around 7000 customers each year. We work across mental health, homelessness, young people and learning disabilities so there are plenty of opportunities to grow and progress your career with us.
Look Ahead is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and adults at risk, and expects all employees, workers and volunteers to share this commitment.
If your application for this role is unsuccessful, but we feel that you would be suitable for another role, we may contact you to discuss alternative opportunities. If this occurs you would not need to submit another application for the alternative role.
We reserve the right to close this advert early if we are able to appoint to the vacancy before the advertised closed date.
We are committed to diversity and inclusion at work and are accredited with Silver in the Inclusive Employers Standard 2021. We are a proud member of the Employers Domestic Abuse Covenant and encourage applications from a diverse range of applicants of all backgrounds.
Please see our website for full job description.