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Ref no:
331424
Published:
22/05/2023
Closes:
09/06/2023
Location:
Modley Park, Ellon, Aberdeenshire, AB41 9BB
Salary:
£11,440 per year salary is pro-rated to working 20 hours a week
Contract Type:
Permanent, Temporary
Position Type:
Full Time
Hours:
20 hours per week

About Gordon Park ELC

Gordon Park ELC (“GPELC”) is a small charity based in Ellon, Aberdeenshire. We strive to provide high quality play-based learning and childcare that is fun, nurturing, safe, inclusive and has the child at the centre in everything we do to enable children to become successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens, and effective communicators. We are committed to our aims and values and delivering first class childcare.

About the role

Job Title: Family Learning Practitioner

Department: Pre-school

Location: Ellon

Reporting to: Operations Manager

Working Hours: 20 hours per week working 5 days out of 7 with some weekend work

Contract Status: Fixed Term (3 years)

Salary: £11,440 per annum.

Having recently secured funding, Gordon Park ELC is actively recruiting for an experienced Family Learning Practitioner to establish and lead a new group.

The earliest years of life are crucial to a child’s development and have a lasting impact on outcomes in health, education and employment opportunities later in life. Gordon Park ELC works to ensure that all families have access to high quality family learning within the early years which ensures that parents/carers can support their children and equip them to grow up health, happy, attaining and achieving.

The Family Learning Practitioner will run group sessions which encourages family members to learn together, with a focus on intergenerational learning.

Main tasks & responsibilities

  • To provide support in the group, to model practice to assist parents/carers to develop practical skills and strategies to parent their child/ren
  • To coordinate and share information to support a team around the child
  • To support parents/carers care of their child through targeted work in the home, group work and coordinated services and activities and support with barriers such as housing and financial matters that impact on parenting
  • To coordinate and deliver parenting programmes to support parents/carers to develop an understanding of their child/ren’s needs and strengthen their parenting skills
  • To provide structured and individual support to children and families using the appropriate assessment tools, to create an individual plan with agreed outcomes, targets and review dates with the family
  • To deliver and evaluate a range of parenting and family programmes and groups to meet the needs of the community
  • To promote an environment that safeguards and protects children and when necessary take responsibility for ensuring the appropriate safeguarding procedures are adhered to
  • To work flexibly as required by the service and to participate in Gordon Park ELC and multiagency meetings and events to contribute to the agenda and advocate on behalf of children and parents/carers
  • To undertake office and administration duties in connection with the Family Learning Group as required
  • To manage own workload and plan time effectively
  • To keep line manager informed of all concerns, issues and potential areas of conflict
  • To adhere to interagency child protection policies and procedures and attend regular safeguarding training.

The Family Learning Practitioner will also have a creative way to develop positive relationships with families through organising a range of family learning opportunities in the local community and these may include:

  • Peep Learning Together
  • Eat Well Play Well
  • Talk, Learn, Do
  • Bookbug
  • John Muir Award
  • Peep Progression Pathway
  • Brunch & Blether
  • Incredible Years
  • Story Safari.

We anticipate running three hour sessions, five times a week. Some of these will be ‘open sessions’ with multiple parents and children, some will be smaller focus sessions (for example, working with children and families who have the same vulnerability i.e. substance misuse, social isolation, bereavement etc) and others will be 1:1 keywork sessions with a parent and their child.

We also anticipate that some sessions will run on a Saturday/Sunday to ensure that working parents are not excluded from participating in family learning. As such, a level of flexibility will be required from the successful candidate in relation to weekend work.

Person Specification

Essential

  • SVQ 3 Health and Social Care (Children & Young people) or working towards
  • Confident in a group setting
  • Strong planning skills
  • Good communicator
  • Great manner when interacting with parents and children
  • Relevant work experience in an early years setting
  • Non-judgemental
  • Empathetic/emotionally intelligent.

Desirable

  • Strong IT skills
  • Proven track record in a similar role in Family Learning.

We are a diverse organisation and our staff team and Management Committee should represent the community that we serve, so we welcome applications from groups that are under-represented, including those with disabilities, LGBTQIA+ and BAME applicants and those with lived experience as a looked after child.