Job Vacancy – Family Group Leader

Job Title: Home-Start Butser Family Group Leader

Location: At Family Group venues (currently Petersfield, Clanfield, Horndean) and the Home-Start Butser office

Hours of work: 16 hours per week

Responsible to: Community Development Coordinator

Responsible for: Family Group Worker, Group volunteers

Purposes of the job

• To plan, resource and deliver the Little Steps Family Groups and crèche facility, working alongside the Family Group Worker
• To build and manage a team of group volunteers
• To widen the reach and impact of Home-Start Butser in line with local needs

Main Responsibilities

Supporting families

• To take full responsibility for organising and leading the family groups and crèche with support from the Family Group Worker
• To welcome all parents/carers to the Family Group and provide a safe, nurturing space for families
• To ensure that the group rules are adhered to and to monitor the families in Group to promote an inclusive and non-judgemental ethos
• To create clear session plans and delivery procedures and communicate these with the team in a timely manner
• To offer a listening ear and understand the importance of confidentiality
• To respond sensitively and appropriately to safeguarding issues, ensuring compliance with Home-Start and local safeguarding policies and procedures
• To prepare the room providing safe and stimulating play and craft for pre-school children during term time, together with school age children during holidays
• To make sure that at the end of the session, the room is left clean and tidy with equipment stored away safely
• To promote the use of age and stage appropriate toys, books and activities
• To encourage the active participation of parents/carers in play and other activities as appropriate
• To inform all families of the services and opportunities provided by Home-Start Butser and to be able to signpost families to other organisations as and when needed
• To review families who only attend the family group
• To provide healthy snacks and drinks with awareness of food allergies and intolerances

Managing Volunteers

• To recruit and schedule volunteers for group and liaise with office when extra support is needed
• To ensure volunteers feel valued and engaged by providing regular sessions to thank them and review the group together and by supporting them to take on additional responsibility or training
• To provide all group only volunteers with 1:1 supervision as needed
• To arrange a crèche facility for families attending a Home-Start support session, ensuring that enough volunteers are scheduled and briefed in advance

Administration

• To liaise appropriately and positively with staff/trustees of each venue
• To keep a register at each session, detailing names of all those attending including visitors and to record this on the database
• To maintain and update list of phone numbers of families attending group and give advance warning in the event of cancellation
• To register families on the database

Health and Safety

• To ensure adherence to the Home-Start Butser Health and Safety Policy
• To record any accidents or incidents in the relevant accident or incident book and report as appropriate
• To ensure that all toys and other equipment are cleaned as appropriate and regularly checked for wear, tear and safety

Professional Development

• To attend regular support/supervision sessions with the Community Development Coordinator
• To be willing to undertake further training as appropriate

These are the essential and desirable skills, abilities, experience, knowledge, and special requirements for the post of Home-Start Butser’s Family Group Leader.

This form also indicates how the different requirements may be assessed during the selection process:

A = Application Form, I = Interview, E = Exercise

Please read these notes carefully before completing the application form.   It is important that you take your time to fill in the application form as fully and accurately as possible.   The decision whether or not to invite you for interview is based entirely on the information given on the application form.

Note: you can expand the boxes by using the ‘return’ key, or add additional rows in the tables by putting your cursor in the last box on the row and clicking the ‘tab’ key.

General Points

• Please complete all parts of the application form and type or use black ink so that when we photocopy the form, it is clear and legible.
• Do not send curriculum vitae, as these will not be considered
• The application pack contains a job description and person specification.   The job description lists the duties/main tasks of the post, the person specification lists the knowledge, skills, experience and qualifications needed and the methods used to assess each of these.

Personal Details

• Give your full name, address including post code, telephone numbers and email address.
• If this post requires the use of a vehicle, this will be indicated on the application form.
• Where a post is suitable for job sharing, applications will be asked to state if they wish to consider a job share.

References

• You are asked to provide the names and contact details of two people who can provide a reference for you.
• One of the referees must be your current or most recent employer
• Home-Start will only request a reference if we make you a conditional offer of the job.
• We may also contact your past employers where it seems necessary.

Education / job related and specialised training

• In the first box give details of your educational qualifications starting with the most recent.
• This first section must include school/college qualifications such as GCSEs, Highers, A’levels etc and should also include any further qualifications you may have such as a degree or management qualification.
• In the box headed ‘job related qualifications/specialised training, list any professional or job related qualifications you may have attained, for example in First Aid or child care etc.  Start with the most recent.
• Please also include any ‘on the job’ training or CPD courses relevant

to the post for which you are applying, for example supervision skills, fundraising courses etc

• Please include the grade attained (if applicable)

Present or Most Recent Job

If you are currently employed, please give details about your present job, including your notice period.

If you are not currently employed, please give information about your most recent job.

Previous Employment

Please give details of all your previous jobs since leaving school/college in date order starting with the most recent.  Any gaps in your employment history will need to be explained in the section on page 4.   Use a separate sheet if necessary – please name and number it.

Voluntary Work

Many people will have developed relevant skills and knowledge through voluntary work and work experience.   Think carefully about what you have done in the past, at home, school and leisure, paid or unpaid employment as you may wish to draw on the skills you developed.  Do not be put off if you have not worked for a long time, think carefully about any experience that you may have gained and record when and how you gained that experience in this section.

Gaps in employment history

Please list any gaps, and provide brief information explaining each – for example if you had time away from work while bringing up children or for travel etc.  The interview panel may ask to clarify any gaps that aren’t clearly explained.

Potential conflict of interest

Please record if you are related to / married to anyone who works for Home-Start Butser. If you are, it does not automatically exclude you from the process, but means that we can ensure a fair process for all concerned by not having your relative taking part in the selection process.

Other employment

Please record if you intend to continue working in any other capacity if you are

offered this post with Home-Start, for example if you have another part time job

or run a part time business etc.

Relevant Skills, Knowledge and Experience

This is a very important part of your application form as it gives you the opportunity to demonstrate why you are suitable for the post.   Before completing it, refer to the job description and person specification.  Your answer must demonstrate how you meet each of the essential criteria or you will not be short listed for interview.

• Give examples to show how you meet each of the essential criteria, and the desirable where applicable, indicated on the person specification.
• Be specific about your skills and specify your own responsibilities, demonstrate a particular skill rather than simply saying you have it.
• For example, if the person specification asks you to demonstrate an ability to recruit volunteers, you may want to describe what methods/processes you have used to do this, at what level and how successful or effective you were.
• Remember to draw on skills, knowledge and experience gained through any voluntary or unpaid work you have done as well from your previous paid employment.
• Please name and number any continuation sheets.
• Do not use more than 2 more continuation sheets (2 x A4).

Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act

The law states that you must be entitled to reside and/or work in the United Kingdom.  If your application is successful, you will be asked to show that you are entitled to work for us.

Rehabilitation of Offenders Act / Criminal Convictions

If the vacancy is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders legislation, this will be explained in the application form.  If it is, you must indicate ‘yes’ on the application form if you have ever been convicted or cautioned in relation to a criminal offence, even if that is now ‘spent’.  If you are short listed you will be asked to provide more information.

If the post is not exempt from the provisions of the legislation, but you have any ‘unspent’ caution, conviction or bindover, you must declare this on the application form.  If you are short listed you will be asked to provide more information.

Having a criminal record does not automatically prevent you from being considered for a job and we will take into account all the necessary details and their relevance to the job.  If you are shortlisted, this will be discussed with you at interview.

Disability

Please indicate if you consider yourself to have a disability, and if you would require any special arrangements in order to attend for interview.

Declaration

Finally, check that you have answered all the questions, sign and date the application form, making sure that you send the form to us on time.   We will not consider any applications that we receive after the closing date.