Senior Practitioner Children and Young People SEND Services (18979)

Due to service expansion, we have a fantastic opportunity for a dedicated and enthusiastic Senior Practitioner to join Barnardo's as part of the SENDiass and SHINE services in Rochdale and Bury. We currently have one 30 hour post available. Would you like the chance to lead/line manage a team working with Children, Young People and their families?

SENDiass is a service that provides information, advice and support to children/young people 0-25years and their families, based on Education, Health and Social Care.

SHINE is a block of sessions delivered over 6 weeks, supporting parents whose children have social/communication needs. It covers a range of topics including, brain development, understanding sensory needs, communication, promoting positive behaviour, sleep and SEN support in settings.

Covering the Rochdale and Bury areas, it is essential to hold a valid UK driving licence with access to your own vehicle. As the senior practitioner across SENDiass/SHINE, you will have passion, commitment and confidence when working with Children and Young People and their families. You will lead and organise a team of up to 8 people, ensuring they receive regular supervisions, performance and growth reviews, and support. You will liaise with a range of services to plan the delivery of workshops for SENDiass and SHINE.

The role provides lots of opportunities to develop your skill set, knowledge and career progression going forward. The service has a comprehensive training offer including 3 levels of legal training via IPSEA. To be a successful, you will need to have the following:

• 3 Levels of Legal Training relating to SEND, or the commitment to complete this within a specific period of time.


• Excellent team working skills including the ability to confidently line manage. You will work as part of a team that covers the Greater Manchester area.


• Excellent organisational skills


• Safeguarding knowledge and good recording skills


• Use of a car


This service is dynamic, no two days are the same. You will work with a diverse range of families. The service runs 52 weeks per year, 5 days per week.

Within Barnardo's, the job title for this role is Project Worker 2. This will appear on the job description. You will be supported by team managers and Childrens Services Managers within the service.

We know that our colleagues go above and beyond in delivering our vital work, driven by their passion and commitment to Barnardo's values. We also know that we can only realise our ambitions and achieve better outcomes for more children, thanks to the talent, hard work and creativity of our people.

For all these reasons, we are committed to a new approach to pay and reward, to ensure it is fair, attractive and progressive, which was rolled out in April 2023. This is a positive change for the charity, and a part of our People & Culture Strategy. It will assist us in supporting colleagues to belong, thrive and grow in their colleague journey at Barnardo's and in time will offer clear routes of progression for colleagues in both their career and their pay., At Barnardo's we believe in children - no matter who they are, what they have done or what they have been through. Please read about our basis and values following the link below. You will be asked questions relating to them as part of the recruitment process for this role.

Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) is reflected in our values and our practice, and we have invested in this area of our work to ensure that we can deliver on our commitments to be an inclusive employer. EDI is a key enabler of our purpose as a charity and we want to ensure that the diversity of our teams is reflective of the communities we serve and that we continue to learn and develop our work with a focus on inclusion. We particularly encourage applications from candidates from Black, Asian and Minoritised Ethnic Communities, candidates who are LGBT+ and Disabled candidates.

The starting salary for this role is £27,573.00 (Full Time Equivalent), other salaries are shown so that applicants are aware of the progression salaries., Workplace Offer: What it means for you

The world of work has changed. We are understanding of what works best for our colleagues both current and future as we look to embrace this new way of working. Our hybrid working initiative is based on trust, flexibility and empowerment. We understand our workplace offer means different things to different people, and we encourage those conversations. This may mean working at one of our stores, services, working at home, at one of our Collaboration Hubs or any combination of these.

• Barnardo's believe in creating equality of opportunity in the workplace and supporting people to manage their work-life balance; we are therefore open to offering flexible working arrangements.


• 26 days annual leave plus bank holidays, increasing after 5 years service


• The ability to buy up to another 5 days annual leave via our HolidayPlus scheme


• A host of family friendly leave options including company Maternity Paternity and Adoption pay; together with all family additional leave options


• Service related sick pay from day 1


• Access to a Group Personal Pension with a matched 4% or 6% contribution from Barnardo's. Ability to pay via salary sacrifice to garner both tax and NI savings on your own contribution


• Death in service cover of 4x annual earnings for all staff contributing to our Group Personal Pension


• Cycle2work scheme


• Interest free season ticket loans


• Discounts and cashback from at high street shops including major supermarkets, cinemas, gyms, leisure/theme parks, holidays and much more via our Benefit Portal


• 20% discount at Barnardo's stores


• Opportunity to purchase a health cash plan to claim towards dental, glasses, therapy etc


• Free access to round the clock employee assistance program for advice and support


• Access to Barnardo's Learning and Development offer