Job Description

Are you looking for a new challenge? Do you enjoy working with children & young people and positively impacting their lives? We have an exciting opportunity for a Senior Practitioner to join our friendly, passionate and dedicated team at our Include Me 2 Service based in Lancashire on a part time, permanent basis.

About the Service:

Our Include Me 2 Service is a short breaks service facilitating group sessions across 6 locations in Lancashire for children & young people aged 4 - 18 with a wide range of Special Educational Needs/disabilities, offering them opportunities to get involved in play and leisure activities such as arts & crafts, cooking and trips out in the community whilst offering valuable respite to their families. We are a fun-loving team looking for an enthusiastic, happy and kind individual to join us as our Senior Practitioner!

Location:

The post holder will be based in Blackpool, but must be flexible to travel across the Lancashire Locality to deliver sessions across Chorley, South Ribble, Pendle, Burnley, Preston and West Lancs.

Working Pattern:

37 hours a week to include 2 evenings (until 7:30/8pm) and 1 weekend day. Other working days are flexible and can be discussed at interview.

Essential Requirements

to evidence in your written application:

Must hold a valid UK driving licence, as driving our 9 seater minibus is an essential part of the role. Must hold

OR

be willing to work towards Level 3 Children & Young People Workforce qualification (or equivalent) Experience of working directly with children & young people (SEND) Ability to communicate effectively with children & young people, parents and carers. Ability to demonstrate a good understanding of safeguarding and the commitment to adhere to Barnardo's safeguarding & child protection policies/procedures. Driving licence & access to own vehicle desirable but not essential. Most importantly, you will need to enjoy the challenges and rewards of working with children & young people!

Some of the main responsibilities include but are not limited to:

To manage a case load of Children & Young people. Oversight of group deliveries and completing supervisions with our Play Workers & As & When staff. Attending meetings with other professionals and maintaining good working relationships with external stakeholders. To contribute to the planning, delivery and recording of sessions and activities. To ensure the sessions run smoothly and our safeguarding and Health & Safety policies and procedures are adhered to at all times. To provide a safe, fun and inclusive environment for all our service users.

For more information about the role, please contact Emma Coupe - emma.coupe@barnardos.org.uk

When completing your application please refer to your skills knowledge and experience in relation to the Person Specification, and Additional Information document (if applicable). This should be done with an understanding of the context of the service described.



Please note due to the high volume of applications for some posts, this advert might close before the displayed closing date. We recommend that you apply for this role as soon as possible.


Pay & Reward FrameworkWe 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.


Whilst the full pay band and salary range is advertised, our approach to starting salaries is to appoint between the minimum to mid-point of the pay band - this ensures that pay steps are available to reward our colleagues annually based on their contribution to excellence and alignment to our values and behaviours. More details on Barnardo's pay framework can be found upon application.



Benefits

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. Annual Leave entitlement for full-time colleagues is 26 days per annum, increasing to 27 days per annum, after 3 years Barnardo's service, 29 days per annum, after 5 years Barnardo's service and 30 days per annum, after 7 years Barnardo's service. Those working less than full time are entitled to the same level of holiday pro rata 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

T&C's apply based on contract

About Barnardo's


We are committed to being an inclusive employer and cultivating a culture where everyone can belong and thrive through inclusion and connectivity. We want our workforce to be reflective of the communities we work with, and for equality, diversity and inclusion to be embedded in everything we do. We are a Disability Confident Leader, are progressing our ambition to be an anti-racist organisation with Anti-Racism Commitments and actions in place and have networks for colleagues who are disabled, LGBT+, Black and Minoritised Ethnic and Women. We particularly encourage applications from Black and Minoritised Ethnic and/or disabled candidates who are currently underrepresented in our workforce. For disabled applicants, we offer reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process.

Our basis and values

Reference number: 21452
Location: Blackpool
Locality: Lancashire
Contract type: Permanent
Hours: 37
Salary: 28,360.80 - 35,811.57
Closing Date: 8 August 2025
Interview Date: TBC

Benefits

------------


Discounts at 100's of retailers
Employee suggestion scheme
Company pension
Employee Assistance Programme