Early Years Practitioner

Are you passionate about helping others? Do you want to make a difference to the lives of vulnerable families? Have you considered working in the Charity Sector and are you passionate about supporting Volunteers? If so, we want to hear from you! Home-Start Medway is a well-established Charity which has been supporting parents with children aged 0-5 years since 1987. Our ethos is simple and clear, ‘To be there for parents when they need us the most because childhood cannot wait’. Job Title: Early Years Practitioner Employer: Home-Start Medway (Charity no: 1108057) Location: Medway Hours of Work: Full time Salary: £26,355 – £29,190 per annum dependant on experience Responsible to: CEO Purpose of the Job The main purpose of the role of Early Years Practitioner is to: Plan and facilitate group work for children to support them to reach their age-appropriate milestones and ensure their readiness for School. Support parents/carers to understand how they can assist their children’s development and ensure that learning is extended into the Home Environment. Ensure that children with additional needs are identified, parents are offered practical support to manage emerging SEND needs and referred to services that can appropriately support them. Main Responsibilities To plan, prepare and implement groups to support children aged 0-7 to reach their developmental milestones. Undertake assessments to ascertain the needs of the children attending the groups and provide activities to extend their learning and address any identified gaps. Design effective tools to measure the impact of attendance at the group sessions and oversee their completion. Provide support for parents/carers of children with emerging SEND needs. Identify children with additional needs that may need support from specialist services and refer or signpost to these services where necessary. Ensure key public health messages are integral to the activities offered and work with partner agencies to promote these as necessary. Work closely with parents/carers to increase their knowledge and confidence around their child/ren’s development and ensure learning is extended into the home environment. Undertake regular reviews of progress, including case studies and feedback from children and their parents/carers to show the impact of the group work. Support with feedback for impact reports as necessary. To ensure inclusion and diversity in all aspects of Home-Start’s work within the groups. Liaise with partnership agencies including Nurseries, Schools and the local Council to monitor the progress of children supported. To ensure effective communication with our venues, ensuring access to spaces is agreed. Ensure all groups are risk assessed and comply with Health and Safety regulations, in line with the policies and procedures of the associated venue and policies of Home-Start Medway. Model age-appropriate play activities to parents/carers and offer a range of strategies and activities to manage behaviour and assist child development. Signpost parents / carers to relevant services to ensure they have the necessary provisions to meet their child/ren’s needs.  This may include referring to internal services within Home-Start, such as our Home-Visiting programme. Provide parents/carers with resources that they can use at home to further extend children’s learning in their home environment. Ensure children are safeguarded during all groups and work in collaboration with statutory services such as Social Care as and when required. Work co-operatively with Management to support the preparation of the monthly, quarterly and annual reporting requirements. To maintain accurate records of the support that you have provided for families in the groups on our database system.  This would include the use of evaluation tools to enable us to evidence the impact of our work. To work within all Home-Start’s policies and procedures including: Confidentiality, Safeguarding Children Policies and Procedures and Health and Safety Policies. Be flexible and carry out other associated duties as may arise, develop, or be assigned in line with the broad remit of the position. To work within the ethos of Home-Start and have high standards of practice. The need to respect confidentiality is paramount, as is a mature and flexible approach to the work. Maintain and improve competencies through continuous professional development. To attend regular supervision meetings and annual appraisal. This role is a permanent post. You will be based at our office in Strood although will be required to work across the Medway area. As well as joining a friendly, dedicated, and hardworking team you will have access to numerous benefits, including: · 30 days annual leave (including 8 Bank Holidays) · 2 days special leave days per year · Birthday leave day · Free tea and coffee provided in the office · Pension contribution of 3% · Christmas staff appreciation token · Annual pay reviews · Employee Assistance Pro