Relief Support Officer – Kingfishers Children’s Home

Team: CWD – Kingfishers and Maythorn Children’s Homes

Job Family: Supporting – CBG8+2

Salary: £32,051 – £35,742 per annum pro rata (£16.62 – £18.53 per hour)

Hours: 0 hours per week – as required by the service

Location: Kingfishers Children’s Home, Houghton Regis

Contract type: Fixed – Permanent

Closing Date: 14th December 2025

Interview Date: TBC

About the role:

Our Children and Families directorate want every child to have the chance to reach their full potential. By promoting independence, we help support them to make their own choices and become part of the community. Our Short Break and Residential Services play a big part in this; offering accommodation, overnight short breaks and social opportunities to children with disabilities. As a Support Officer you’ll help support these children/young people to expand their knowledge and skills.

Our Children’s Home teams are passionate about providing children within our care a ‘home from home’ environment which is safe, stimulating and welcoming. The Home is in Central Bedfordshire with good transport links providing easy access to the M1 and train links.

As a Support Officer, you will help ensure the physical, emotional and identified personal care needs of children and young people are met through the provision of a supportive and caring environment. You will also work with young people and others to assess needs and to work jointly in the preparation, implementation and delivery of Care Plans, maintaining the development of positive child care practice, in keeping with the aims and objectives of the service.

From the most basic hygiene, daily life skills and interactions, through to more challenging tasks such as shopping and financial management, our Support Officers provide support and development to the young people in our care, helping to meet their potential and improve their access and enjoyment of the wider community.

You will help with personal care, individual development, meals, medication, education and all other day to day activities, as well as make sure that the home is clean, tidy, warm and inviting; fulfilling the needs of children, young people and families regardless of disability, racial/cultural origin or gender.

This is an excellent opportunity to make a real difference to someone’s life whilst developing your career in a business that can offer support, training and progression.

Who are we looking for?

We are looking to speak to enthusiastic, reliable and flexible people with excellent communication skills and a passion for caring for young people with disabilities. Diploma Level 3 in Residential Childcare is preffered, experience of supporting children with disabilities is essential, preferably in a residential setting. Applicants with skiils and experience in supporting complex young people are particularly welcome.

We provide ongoing training opportunities for our team members to ensure that the successful candidate feels confident and competent to work with our young people. Our homes offer care 24/7 so you will need to work on a shift basis, including, days, nights, sleep-ins, evenings and weekends. Relief Support Officers will support the home to cover staff shortages, this will be on an adhoc and often short notice basis.

The successful candidate shall be supported to complete a Diploma Level 3 in Residential Childcare if they do not hold this already. This is a statutory requirement for working in a children’s home.

To join us, you must have experience in working with children, young people or adults. You’ll be willing to develop an understanding of children and young people with disabilities, and how to meet their needs and provide them with great opportunities. With potential experience in a caring role, you’ll be a positive, practical person. You will be adaptable, flexible and people-focused, with the ability to build professionals relationships. You will need to be able to write reports and use your initiative and think on your feet.

Desirable Criteria

• Diploma Level 3 in Residential Child Care (England) qualified or equivalent. DESIRABLE
• Good communication and listening skills.
• Demonstrates a caring nature.
• Excellent organisational skills.
• Recognises cultural diversity.
• Good team player.
• Track record of showing initiative and sharing ideas.
• Experienced in being positive and consistent.
• Accurate record keeper.
• Takes accountability for own training and continual professional development.
• Ability to work flexibly.

Our Offer

We have a number of rewards and benefits available to our staff, to view these please visit our Rewards and Benefits page

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You will be expected to demonstrate how you meet the key accountabilities and competencies in this Recruitment Pack.

Our Competency Framework and Qualification Guidance are to be read in conjunction with our Recruitment Pack.

For an informal discussion about this position, please contact: Becky Perry at rebecca.perry@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk or on 0300 300 4400

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Safeguarding:

Central Bedfordshire Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all employees, volunteers and contractors to share this commitment. This post is subject to the disclosure of criminal records.

To maintain a fair and consistent approach for applicants, it is Central Bedfordshire Council’s policy to only consider applications made via our online application system and we therefore thank you for not submitting your application offline.

Our National Careers Service team offer a free monthly workshop covering CV writing and how to complete the statement sections of the Central Bedfordshire Council online application form. This MS Teams workshop is open to anyone from the UK and lasts around 1.5 hours. Please book your place here.

More information about this service can be found here: Support getting into work or learning | Central Bedfordshire Council