THERAPEUTIC CARE WORKER

Responsible/Accountable to: Team Leader of the small group

Purpose of Job: As a member of a team of therapeutic care workers to provide high standards of child care in order that children at the School are helped through each day in a manner which ensures the greatest possible meaning, continuity and healthy emotional containment. Within this structure, the differing individual needs of children can be respected and met, providing positive encouragement and affirmation to the growing sense of self of the child.

The emphasis on relationships between the children and those concerned, caring adults offering them is the key to each child’s “chance to start again”. Hence the duties of a Therapeutic Care Worker serve to enhance the opportunities for children to experience such relationships.

This is a highly professional activity, very demanding but deeply rewarding. At the core of this professional task is a fundamental vocational commitment by each adult to the conscious use of oneself over time to provide care and to develop caring relationships with children sorely deprived of such experiences. Given the crucial interpersonal nature of this activity with such children, and the fact that long term hurt requires long term work, the School requires a commitment from all workers to maintain their involvement for a three year period in the first instance. The children do not need and the School does not wish to appoint people seeking to spend a briefer period, gaining valuable experiences for themselves but without sufficient regard to the impact on the children of the premature departure of grownups on whom they have become dependent.

The School is also clear that any workers remaining at least for that minimum commitment will themselves have experiences which will offer enormous opportunities for their own personal and professional learning and growth, not only in the field of therapeutic child care and the management of such provision, but also in a wide range of related fields. For example, staff often move on to further professional training in education, social work, clinical psychology or child psychotherapy. Moreover, as a consequence of the substantial capacity for insight they have developed during their time at the Mulberry Bush school, in their subsequent careers they frequently secure positions of significance in the helping professions

Primary Responsibility/Duties:

1) To provide good quality consistent and reliable care and experiences for the children within the living group and School.

- providing children with the opportunities to develop trust in people and to experience change and growth in themselves, through direct contact with a caring adult.

- using oneself in a conscious way to help children develop appropriate and safe relationships with those caring for them.

- acting as a positive, mature role model for children in one's charge and more widely within the School.

2) Along with colleagues to set and maintain appropriate boundaries for children and provide a sense of emotional containment, safety, order and belonging amongst members of the living group.

3) To use creative and imaginative abilities to develop and enliven the group living experiences and areas.

4) To plan and provide appropriately child-centred cultural, physical play and recreational activities, adapted to match children's levels of emotional integration.

5) To participate fully in the range of domestic tasks necessary to maintain a safe, warm and healthy living environment. Tasks will include tidying areas, brushing floors, removing litter and graffiti, caring for children's clothing and personal possessions, cleaning soiled laundry and other related activities.

6) To help ensure that the medical and dental needs of children are identified and met appropriately.

7) To take responsibility for preparing the children emotionally and physically to join an education group.

8) To work as a member of a team and support other colleagues when needed in the performance of their duties including supporting the education of the children, even where necessary by working in the classroom either alongside or in place of a teacher.

9) To attend supervision sessions on a regular basis and to meet with the School's Therapeutic Consultant fortnightly.

10) To participate in the range of small and large group staff meetings.

11) To undertake as required in-service training and development programmes which are intended to develop the knowledge and skills in workers necessary to carry out the primary task.

12) To contribute to and prepare clear and concise reports as required and to take delegated responsibility for communications with external agencies/parents/carers.

13) To make entries in the various Log/Record Books kept to meet statutory regulations or to gather information about a child.

14) To contribute to the overall development of the School, in particular through activities related to the School Development Plan, and to comply with and actively carry out the School’s policy on Equal Opportunities.

Conditions of Service

These conditions reflect the specific therapeutic and residential nature of the School’s Primary Task.

Staff are timetabled to work a 50 hour week, for which they receive a basic salary plus one third of that basic salary in respect of the degree of challenge staff face and the additional hours worked. Weekend work is a necessary and integral part of the therapeutic care worker's duties. In addition, there is a requirement for staff members to sleep in on duty regularly. Inevitably, given the nature of the work, staff should expect to work more than the 50 hours timetabled on occasions, for the maintenance of the therapeutic environment which the School seeks reliably to provide.

---

Support Worker – Shifford Support Team

Responsible to: Head of Shifford

Conditions of Employment: As set out in the staff handbook for Support Worker – Shifford Support Team

Conditions of Employment: As set out in the staff handbook for Senior Practitioner – Shifford Support Team

Purpose of Job: To work as a part of the Shifford Support Team providing support to education and group living teams thus developing the level of containment and supporting the school culture of living and learning in a contained and nurturing therapeutic environment. As a member of a team of therapeutic support workers to provide high standards of child care and support in order that children at the School are helped through each day in a manner which ensures the greatest possible meaning, continuity and healthy emotional containment. Within this structure, the differing individual needs of children can be respected and met, providing positive encouragement and affirmation to the growing sense of self of the child.

This is a highly professional activity, very demanding but deeply rewarding. At the core of this professional task is the conscious use of oneself over time to provide care and to develop caring relationships with children sorely deprived of such experiences? Given the crucial interpersonal nature of this activity with such children, and the fact that long term hurt requires long term work, the School requires a commitment from all workers to maintain their involvement for a three year period in the first instance. The children do not need and the School does not wish to appoint people seeking to spend a briefer period, gaining valuable experiences for themselves but without sufficient regard to the impact on the children of the premature departure of grownups on whom they have become dependent.

This will involve:

1) Providing good quality consistent and reliable care and experiences for the children within the Living Group and School.

Providing children with the opportunities to develop trust in people and to experience change and growth in them, through direct contact with a caring adult.

Using oneself in a conscious way to help children develop appropriate and safe relationships with those caring for them.

Acting as a positive, mature role model for children in one's charge and more widely within the School.

2) Along with colleagues to setting and maintaining appropriate boundaries for children and provide a sense of emotional containment, safety, order and belonging amongst members of groups within the school.

3) To work with other teams to promote inclusion of children within their own groups

4) To use creative and imaginative abilities to develop and enliven the task in classrooms and houses.

5) To plan and provide appropriately child-centred cultural, physical play and recreational activities, and task-based activities adapted to match children's academic level and level of emotional integration.

6) To participate fully in the range of domestic tasks necessary to maintain a safe, warm and healthy living environment.

7) To take responsibility, where appropriate for preparing the children emotionally and physically both into and out of transitions

8) To work as a member of a team and support other colleagues when needed in the performance of their duties including supporting the education of the children, or the work alongside the children in the households

9) To participate in the range of small and large group staff meetings.

10) To contribute to and prepare clear and concise reports as required and to take delegated responsibility for communications with external agencies/parents/carers.

11) To make entries in the various Log/Record Books kept to meet statutory regulations or to gather information about a child.

12) To contribute to the overall development of the School, in particular through activities related to the School Development Plan, and to comply with and actively carry out the School’s policy on Equal Opportunities.

In particular the Primary Tasks of this role are:
• To support the Head of Shifford, and Senior Practitioners in agreed and negotiated areas
• To maintain an oversight of the general culture and physical state of the environment, to support changes, improvements and to provide feedback to the Head of Shifford over these issues.
• To be accountable to and attend regular supervision sessions with the Head of Shifford to oversee the development of this role.
• To model good childcare practice and to provide support and co-ordination for team members and to oversee their work during designated shifts.
• To ‘sleep in’ if and when required

---

Our postal address is:
The Mulberry Bush School
Standlake
nr. Witney
Oxfordshire
OX29 7RW

Our telephone number is:
01865 300202

Our fax number is:
01865 300084

Our e-mail address is:
reception@mulberrybush.oxon.sch.uk

Visit our web site - click here