Children & Young Adult's Deputy Manager (Special Needs & Disability)

Hours: 37.5 hours a week (including weekends, flexibility required).

Annual Leave: 33 days including bank holidays.

Location: Harrow

Salary: £30,500 per annum

The role:

Facilitate the day-to-day management of operational aspects to ensure positive outcomes for children and young adults engaging in play and support activities. Collaborate with the Children & Young Adults Service Manager in overseeing both permanent and sessional special needs play workers management.

Create empowering activity programs for children and young adults with learning disabilities and complex needs. Activities include storytelling, dance, drama, music, cooking, arts and crafts, sports, group games, messy play, and community outings.

Care for children with high support needs, including distressed behaviours. Operate within our centre, the community or family homes while adhering rigorously to our established policies and procedures.

Demonstrate in your practice our values of:

* Kindness

* Choice

* Ambition

* Inclusion

Person-Centred Planning & Support:

Ensure the needs of every child and young adult are met by having Ambition about learning outcomes and collaborating effectively with a multidisciplinary team of external professionals. Exhibit flexibility, enthusiasm, and self-motivation to support forward thinking, change, and swift responses to the unique needs of each child and young adult.

Speak up against practices that do not align with Safeguarding or our Core Values.

Support the team in monitoring, reporting, and acting on safeguarding matters. Proactively ensure the team safeguards and protects children & young adults from abuse.

Foster relationships with the families of children, involving them and providing factual professional feedback on their child's development.

Complete assessments and develop plans that promote Kindness and enabling environment for children & young adults with a learning disability.

Lead by example on our Positive Behaviour Support framework, focusing on team members' understanding and addressing underlying needs rather than behaviours. Ensure the team works on assessed needs and support plans, with detailed, reflective observations providing developmentally challenging next steps for children.

Plan and deliver varied, balanced, stimulating, fun, and exciting play and learning activities for children and young adults with learning disabilities, including severe and complex health and communication needs, autism, and ADHD. Praise and celebrate children's accomplishments.

Take a proactive approach to Health and Safety and conduct thorough risk assessments and plan appropriately for groups and 1-to-1 activities, both within our building and the community, to support the children's needs and minimize risk.

Maintain a clean and inviting environment with well-kept play & learning resources. Develop nurturing and supportive environments for children, young adults, and staff to flourish and have fun.

Lead The Team:

Practice and promote empathy, commitment, and creativity to effectively work with children of varying abilities and diverse backgrounds. Support the manager in leading with patience and resilience required for the staff members. Assist the manager with induction, supervision, and professional development of team members. Be the line manager for staff in the services you are responsible for.

Lead the team in activities, providing coaching and support. Maintain high visibility, communicate confidently, and organise effectively. Ensure that paperwork, digital systems, and reports are consistently updated and complete by the team to facilitate exceptional care, learning, and feedback.

Support staff in understanding children's individual needs, health, and care requirements, including eating, using the toilet, nappy changing, as well as administering medication, tube feeding, and manual handling. Challenge any staff behaviours or practices that deviate from our expectations.

Participate the on-call system for out of office hours and weekends.

Administration:

Manage staff rotas for optimal coverage. Assist in children's bookings and changes.

Communicate with parents and professionals to facilitate children's care and safeguarding.

Use strong organisational skills for daily and long-term planning and foster efficient communication with staff and senior management. Maintain accurate and organised records.

Finance:

Manage effectively core team and sessional staff hours to meet service needs and provide financial sustainability. Ensure effective budget management and spending as instructed by the Manager.

Ensure internal policies and procedures are adhered whilst also meeting the external legislation and guidelines from our governing bodies.

To deliver the service effectively a degree of flexibility is needed, and the post holder may be required to perform work not specifically referred to the above. Such duties, however, will fall within the scope of the post. The post holder will need to work in a busy service during school holidays and annual leave may be limited during that time.

Essential:

* 4 years of work experience in childcare, education, youth work or similar.

* 1 years of experience in a role with line management responsibilities.

* Level 3 qualification in childcare, youth work, or relevant field.

* Understanding SEND.

* How to protect children and young adults from harm.

* Awareness of Health & Safety and how to manage risks.

* Understanding how to work with children and young adults in a person-cantered way.

* Positive approach to distressed behaviours.

* Ability to complete written work and use computer systems.

* Reliability and timekeeping, flexible with working hours including weekends.

* Commitment to personal skill development and learning.

* Work as part of team and lead others.

* Adapt communication to different needs.

* Self-leadership.

Desirable:

* Understanding of different development stages in relation to supporting children with their social, emotional, health and educational development.

* Positive Behaviour Support training.

* CALM training or similar.

* Multiagency safeguarding and child protection training.

* Ability to develop enabling environments.

* Drivers licence.

* Management of building and children's resources