Child and Family Development Worker – Finglas

Barnardos • Full-time • Finglas, Dublin 11 • €27.18k - €42.86k / year • 3w ago

Why work at Barnardos?

At Barnardos we seek to ensure that we have the best people working with us to support our work with children and families. The benefits of working with Barnardos are designed to promote continual professional development and a work-life balance for the most rewarding working experience.

Barnardos offers a competitive salary – recognising the experience you bring to the role
Generous annual leave entitlements plus discretionary Company days
Positive working environment with family friendly ethos and work – life balance policy
Tax saver and bike to work schemes in operation
Employee pension scheme with employer contribution
Paid sick leave
An opportunity to help improve outcomes for vulnerable children and families by working in a trauma informed way
Access to regular trauma informed support and supervision
Ongoing support and access to training and professional development opportunities
An opportunity to be part of a supportive team
Access to the Employee Assistance Program for employees and their immediate family members
Regular Breath, Body and mind sessions to support staff well-being

Name of the Project: Finglas Early Years’ service (FEYS).

Address/Location: St. Oliver Plunkett Junior School, St. Helena’s Drive, Finglas, Dublin 11.

Contact Details; Telephone: 01 8644040

What does our Project do?

Finglas Early Years’ service seeks to maximise the capacity of families to meet children’s needs by offering early interventions to improve child development outcomes for children in the Finglas area. The service delivers targeted support for individual children and bundle of integrated family support services for their families, which includes transport to and from pre-school daily. Specific attention is given to those families where child protection or welfare concerns exist, working with the most vulnerable and disadvantaged families, specifically focusing on parenting skills and child-parent relationships in order to reduce subsequent difficulties.

Barnardos aims to improve the emotional well-being of children, and to improve their capacity for learning and development. Barnardos is committed to inter-agency working and a partnership approach with families.

Services in our Finglas centre include Early Years and Pre-school programmes for children based on the Tús Maith curriculum and High Scope approach, parent and child work, practical family support and parenting work.

We work to provide a response which involves interagency collaboration to maximise outcomes for families.

Barnardos work is needs-based and research-led to work with children for an outcome focus to help reduce negative impacts of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) on development.

Early Intervention is at the core of our work as we are strongly aware of the importance of intervening as early as possible for prevention of further impacts.

Possible reasons for early intervention

We work with children who experience one or more of the following challenges:

understanding or expressing emotions
managing conflict or demonstrating empathy for others
playing in a co-operative manner
sharing
making positive choices
understanding speech/language
difficulties standing, walking, holding a pencil, picking up items or coordination due to poor gross and fine motor skills
Changes in home or community which impact on their daily life and development

The Impact of Early Intervention

With Early Intervention children are supported to develop important life and education skills, such as the ability to make and sustain friendships, literacy skills, manage conflict, problem solving and self-regulate.

Who do we work with?

Referrals are accepted from Tusla, HSE, local community groups, schools, and other agencies and individuals as appropriate, including other Barnardos services and parents/carers themselves.

All referrals will be responded to and following Barnardos assessment, services will be offered in line with presenting needs, criteria and service capacity

Job Purpose

To provide quality services to children and their families who experience disadvantage in partnership with families/ carers and other agencies in order to support children’s development.

Core Job Requirements

To deliver a high quality service to children attending the service.
To design, implement and evaluate individual and group programmes for children and their families.
To assess the needs of children referred to the service and their families/carers and prepare individual intervention plans.
To work in a partnership approach with the parents/ carers in order to meet the needs of the child.
To be vigilant for signs of physical, sexual and emotional abuse, neglect and any concerns regarding the welfare of children. To record concerns promptly and accurately. To consult with the Designated Liaison Person (DLP) and take appropriate action in accordance with Barnardos Child Protection policy.
Participate in the selection of children referred to the service.
To liaise with other agencies in order to provide an integrated approach to the needs of children and families, and to attend and contribute to reviews and child protection case conferences as required.
To keep regular records in relation to all aspects of work and prepare reports as required.
To choose, organise, present and care for equipment and materials relevant to the project.
To work as part of a team within Barnardos and to work in an integrated way with other agencies.
To gather information statistics and prepare reports as required, including administration of databases as appropriate to the role.
To identify and document to the line manager any unmet needs of children/young people/carers/families within the service and to participate in the advocacy work of the agency.
To supervise students and volunteers where necessary and to ensure they are aware of all Barnardos policies and compile placement reports as appropriate.

Requirements Specific to this Post

To provide a flexible service on a day-to-day basis within the Early Years’ team.
An experience or understanding of working with vulnerable children and families.
To be aware of the needs of children in our service and, in line with our Promoting Positive Behaviour policy, provide appropriate Promotion, Induction or External strategies in accordance with the needs of the child.
To become familiar with the Tus Maith curriculum and to work with the team in implementing and delivering this curriculum to the children in the preschool service.

Requirements of all Barnardos staff

Commitment to the purpose of Barnardos and to work within the values, policies and procedures of the organisation and in the context of current legislation and regulations.
To participate in regular meetings with your line manager and retail team
To actively participate in team and staff meetings and service reviews/ evaluations and to contribute to the development of policy and practice with your area of work and within Barnardos as a whole.
To report any area of concern to your line manager in a timely manner.
To show reasonable flexibility in relation to hours of attendance to meet the needs of the work. Work during unsocial hours may be required on some occasions.
Have a flexible approach to the work in response to organisational change, development and review of best practice.
Participate in and engage with a performance management programme.
Identify training needs with your line manager and participate in training opportunities appropriate to the role.
To be vigilant to any Health, Safety and Welfare risks in the workplace and bring any concerns to the attention of your line manager or local Health & Safety Officer.
To be vigilant to any concerns regarding the protection and welfare of children and to bring them to the attention of the Barnardos Designated Person in a timely manner, in keeping with the Barnardos Child Protection policies.
To participate in the efficient flow of information within the organisation by sharing and seeking information as appropriate.
To undertake other duties as may be requested by the line manager from time to time.
To undertake your work in a manner that is friendly, flexible and informal.

Note: This Job Description will be reviewed and updated in line with the needs of the work.

Personal attributes

Commitment to the delivery of a quality service to children and families.
Ability to assess the needs of children.
Ability to design, implement and evaluate individual and group programmes for children.
Ability to liaise with families and carers in relation to the welfare of their children.
Ability to work as part of a team and liaise with colleagues and other agencies.
Ability to keep clear records and prepare reports.
Flexibility and adaptability are essential for this post.
Ability to work on own initiative and to consult where appropriate.

Experience

A minimum of 2 years’ post-qualification experience of working with children (young children if relevant) and families required.
Experience of working with children who face disadvantage is desirable.
Experience and knowledge of working in the Traveller Community is desirable.

Qualifications

A Recognised third level qualification (minimum QQI Level 6, Course content should include relevant student placements) that is approved under the Early Years (Pre-school) Regulations.

Qualification in High-Scope is desirable.

Barnardos is an equal opportunity employer.

We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all.

For full job description and to apply please visit Current Job Vacancies – Barnardos

Closing date: 12pm on 29^th November 2023

Interview date: TBA

Shortlisting will apply (please note, CVs are not accepted on their own, candidates must complete and submit our application form through Barnardos website).