Support Practitioner - Acorns

Support Practitioner - Acorns

Location: Derwen College, Whittington Rd, Gobowen, Oswestry SY11 3JA

Derwen College is an Ofsted “Outstanding” college. We support students & clients with learning difficulties and disabilities to live the life they want and to be as independent as they can be. We work hard to develop the skills needed for employment and independent living - our aim is to recruit the best possible staff to deliver this first class experience to our students.

We are a Disability Confident employer and we offer a guaranteed interview scheme for suitable applicants.

We currently have an exciting opportunity for a Support Practitioner to join our team .You will play a key role in enabling the College Clients within our supported living and residential services provision ensuring their care and support needs are met and they are enabled to lead independent and fulfilled lives.

The key role responsibilities of the Support Practitioner:

• Deliver person centred care putting the client at the heart of everything and helping them when needed to make their lives easier and improve their quality of life
• Active involvement, contribution and participation in team delivery and development of independence provision for clients to empower students to develop their quality of life and support the transition to a supported living environment
• Support clients to attend external appointments accessing a variety of different transport methods
• Administration of client medication and support of client self-administration of medication in line with college policy and procedures
• Maintain accurate written and computerised documentation as defined by the Health & Social Care Act 2008 ensuring care plans and all associated client documentation and information is current and up to date in line with College audits and CQC requirements
• Take on the role of keyworker  for identified clients, attend and contribute to client review meetings and Multi-Disciplinary Team Meetings (MDT) where appropriate
• Provide pastoral support to clients, liaison with families, careers, support network and key support services across college to ensure relevant, effective communication
• Timely and effective use of varying communication methods to contribute to client well-being, information dissemination and to develop partnership working within the organisation

• Person Specification:
• A caring, compassionate and empathic nature
• Excellent organisational skills, accuracy and attention to detail
• Outstanding verbal and written communication skills with individuals/staff at all levels
• Competent in MS Office
• Subject specific qualifications would be an advantage. Mandatory undertaking of this following successful appointment to the post
• Knowledge of CQC framework and external quality standards

We can offer the right candidate a well-resourced and modern working environment, situated in a beautiful rural setting.  We have a fantastic array of employee benefits including on-site shopping and leisure facilities, generous annual leave, recognition schemes, flexible working arrangements and extensive continual professional development opportunities.

The successful candidates will be expected to have a flexible approach to their hours of work and will be required to work a combination of days, nights, weekends (rota) and some sleep in shifts.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of young people and adults at risk and expect all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.