Are you looking to take the next steps on a rewarding career ladder? Are you an experienced caring and enthusiastic support worker that wants to play a part in making a real difference in a child’s life.?

This is an exciting opportunity to help create the ideal nurturing, caring, safe environment from the start of us opening our new children’s home. Working together we can make a difference, to develop and learn, and support each other.  Every day with us is different, but our goal remains the same: To champion the rights, needs and ambitions of the children we support - they are at the heart of everything we do. 

We are looking for that special someone who embodies resilience, empathy, and a deep commitment to making a positive impact. Someone who can believe in the untapped potential of children when others may have given up. You will also need to be willing and happy to get immersed in all sorts of activities – from arts and crafting to gaming buddy, cinema or swimming coach to cooking. As a role model and mentor, you will play a key part in the child’s support system, providing valuable guidance and care to help them thrive. You will be the hero in their story as you help them build healthy relationships. It can be tough, it can be challenging, but it is always incredibly rewarding.

Steps for Tomorrow is our new children’s home in Keighley, It is opening in July. We will care for 2 children with a range of social and emotional challenges who may have experienced abuse, neglect, or exclusion in the past. The age range for the children in the home is 6- 11 years old.

Our staff provide care, support and interventions to ensure each child, and their family or care givers can engage, heal and thrive.

The main purpose of placing children in Steps for Tomorrow is settlement into a foster care placement or back to their family home, without prejudice or stigma associated with the adverse experiences that has made life traumatic for them in the past.

Our staff are committed to promoting the confidence, positive mental health, and well-being of the children in our care.

Salary: £30,163 – £31,668   plus “sleep in” payment, pension and many other benefits. As part of this role, you will be required to do either 1 or 2 “sleep ins” per week. if you complete eight sleep-ins per month, that will add approximately £4,000 to your annual salary. 

Post: Permanent.  Full Time 37 hours per week on average

Closing Date:  Thursday 1st May 2025        

Interview Date:  All applicants shortlisted must be willing to attend a visit to at the home prior to a formal Interview.

Our Vision: 

At Steps for Tomorrow,  we believe that with support and opportunities, children can overcome challenges and shape their future. We see their untold stories, possibilities, dreams, and their potential – and we believe in their ability to rewrite their destiny. All while having lots of fun along the way.

Our work is about supporting children whose lives have been affected by childhood trauma, to build authentic and caring relationships with adults who continuously role model healthy behaviour and offer a creative combination of good boundaries, high hopes and expectations, sensitive care and positive experiences. Our work enables our children to feel valued and respected, from here they can grow through cherish and challenge.

Steps for Tomorrow will be a particularly nurturing, fun, structured and comfortable home that will also be an encouraging and calm place, offering our children a wide range of opportunities and experiences to ensure they can feel confident and loved enabling them to thrive and to feel fully prepared for their next steps.

Why Join Catholic Care? 

Catholic Care is a vibrant and forward-thinking charity that continuously adapts its services to meet the needs of today and tomorrow. Our specialist support enables children to live happy and fulfilling lives. Our children are at the heart of all we do and we work together with them to agree how we will support their needs and aspirations 

Each year the work we do makes a positive difference to nearly 4,000 people, both through our CQC and Ofsted regulated services and in our local communities. We care passionately about the people we support who remain at the heart of what we do. We are a values led charity. Our values are what drive everything we do. They help us to make decisions about what we do, how we do it and who we do it for. 

Your wellbeing is important to us, and we will make sure you feel valued and part of the Team.  We are a Mindful Employer and accredited with Investors In People and our approaches are there to support you along the way. We also offer benefits which reflect your hard work, including generous annual leave, pension scheme and sick pay policy. 

Overview of Role 

Our trauma informed staff specialise in providing nurture and care to children who are looked after. We work hard to create a home environment that exceeds the needs of our children enabling them to express their characters, feel safe and enrich their lives. 

The children that we care for can demonstrate a wide range of behaviours and can be very demanding of time, attention, and emotions. A Senior residential childcare worker advocates pro-actively for each child’s needs, rights, views, and ensures that these are met. 

They also make certain that each child’s individuality, difference and diversity are always appreciated and that our children are provided with equal opportunities and are not discriminated against. Senior Residential childcare workers encourage each child to be involved in all aspects of their care. This will involve skill development, problem-solving and assessment of risk, while being mindful of their individual capabilities. 

You will also support staff to ensure we have positive and effective team working, that can achieve high quality standards of care that are set and agreed by the Registered Manager to establish an enabling culture, which actively promotes children’s life chances to achieve optimal outcomes in line with the Quality care standards.

You will contribute to the development, implementation, monitoring and review of systems and policies which ensure compliance with legislative regulations and that high standards are achieved thus maximising quality of care, protection and appropriate control.

Your role will also include the supervision of staff and key working responsibilities so you should be able to develop, demonstrate, promote and maintain a good level of awareness of safeguarding issues, assessing and recording of risk.  

What We Can Offer You: 

• Competitive salary
• 24 days annual holiday plus bank holidays (full time equivalent)
• Additional 3 days annual leave after 5 years of service
• Comprehensive Induction Programme with ongoing learning and development
• Career progression opportunities
• Regular supervision
• Regular performance and development meetings to support your ongoing development
• Investors in People and Mindful Employer
• Group Personal Pension Scheme
• Healthcare Cash Plan
• Life Insurance Cover
• Sickness Pay
• Cycle to Work Scheme
• Employee Referral Bonus Scheme 

Please send your CV to recruitment@catholic-care.org.uk

The above post is not a Leeds City Council vacancy and has been advertised on behalf of the relevant organisation. To apply please follow their application instructions.