Residential Child Care Workers

Harmeny Education Trust is a charitable organisation providing therapeutic care and education to children who have experienced early years trauma through abuse, neglect and family disruption, referred from all over Scotland. We currently work with children and young people aged 5-18, both on a day and all-year-round residential basis.

Our core service, Harmeny School, comprises:

· An education service, which includes an outdoor learning team.

· A care service, with five residential cottages and one day service cottage.

· Support services, made up of a therapies manager coordinating evidence-informed approaches for children and young people, finance, estates, catering and domestic services, fundraising, IT, HR, learning and development, and admin teams.

Harmeny is committed to achieving the highest possible standards of care and education and to continuously improving our work. We have recently developed a practice framework, The Harmeny Way, which describes the unique combination of therapeutic approaches used to guide our work and ensure consistent practice with children and young people placed with us. 

We are looking for Residential Child Care Workers to join our Care staff team, which operates all year round. The post holders will contribute to the creation of a culture and ethos in which the needs of the children are paramount and provide them with security, safety, care and social development to enable them to reach their potential. 

While we are seeking for care workers for children aged 5-18, we are particularly keen to draw on the skills and knowledge of those who have experience working with the older young people (aged 15-18), or are keen to do so.

The successful candidates will work 39 hours per week, working five days from seven, according to a rota system*. Evening and weekend work is required. A driving licence allowing the use of our vehicles is essential.

Applicants should be registered, or will need to register within the first three months of employment, with the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) in line with the requirements for Residential Child Care Workers. We also welcome applications from practioners registered with regulatory bodies such as the General Teaching Council for Scotland, Nursing and Midwifery Council, the General Medical Council, or those professional groups regulated by the Health and Care Professions Council.

We will consider experienced and inexperienced applicants, with or without the necessary qualifications. We have a robust induction to support staff to work at Harmeny, and we will provide full funding and support for staff who need to undertake qualifications for their role. 

The salary for the post is as follows:

• £28,123 (unqualified)
• £29,624 (part-qualified)
• £32,455 to £35,605 (qualified)

Generous sleepover allowance of £75 per session is paid in addition to salary.

Our benefits include:

• Competitive salary
• 273 hours’ holiday per year, inclusive of public holidays
• Pension scheme
• Life assurance scheme (three times salary)
• Enhanced pay for maternity, adoption and paternity leave
• Policies and practices that promote health and wellbeing, including massage therapy and access to a wellbeing space
• We are highly committed to the professional development of all our staff and the post-holders will have access to comprehensive training and development opportunities 

*Rota system

Harmeny runs a nine-week rotating pattern in the care team. Full time Residential Child Care Workers work five weekends out of nine, so approx. every second weekend. On two of the five weekends, a 13-hour shift is worked on one of the days. On other shifts, timings are either 7:30am-3:15pm or 2:15pm-10:00pm / 2:45pm-10:30pm.

Sleepover duties (10:30pm-7:30am) are required as part of rota too and one will work approx. three to four per month. Rota is issued one month in advance, however ‘off duty’ pattern is available for the year (April to March).