Residential Childrens Worker (Spring Cottage)

Salary details: £ - £

Derbyshire provides consistent, good quality care through twelve children’s homes across the County. Our homes provide an environment where young people feel happy to live. Under-pinned by Playfulness, Acceptance, Curiosity and Empathy (PACE), trauma informed practice, social pedagogy and a person-centred approach to inform practice, we work continuously to improve the quality of our Children’s homes, ensuring our children and young people have every opportunity to thrive and develop. 

This is an exciting opportunity to work at a Derbyshire children’s home. We are a low occupancy, specialist provision that provides care to children  and young people 11- 18 years old, supporting a transition to a permanent home. 

The successful candidate will work with a supportive management team, receive regular supervision and be involved in helping to develop the service. Minimum age requirement is 21 years old, due to the ages of the children and young people. Our Residential Children's Workers provide a service to children and young people within Specialist Services in accordance with legislative and policy requirements. 

Residential children’s workers at Spring Cottage working as part of a small staff team, provide support and a person-centred service to children and young people they are responsible. They work in close collaboration with partner services to support children, young people and their families. They embed the therapeutic ethos of Derbyshire Residential Services within the Homes, to ensure that all areas of a child’s care address their physical, emotional, and social development. 

Qualifications & Experience

As an Residential Children’s Worker, you will need to have an openness to and an aptitude for relationship focused and psychologically informed working practices. You must have the appropriate skills and experience to perform and work within an environment that can, at times, require using your own initiative along with an understanding of the children act, the quality care standards and Children’s Homes (England) regulations 2015. 

You must hold, be working towards, or be willing to undertake and complete within 2 years of starting work at the home, the Level 3 Children and Young people’s Workforce Diploma and Social Care Pathway (England) 2015. OR you should hold an equivalent qualification such as The NVQ 3 caring for children & young people and be prepared to complete any additional work to meet the required level. More information on the role can be found within the Job and Person profile. 

Working for Derbyshire

Derbyshire is also a great place to live and work. It's only a short drive to Derby, Nottingham, Sheffield, and Manchester but is also home to miles of beautiful countryside and has the Peak District National Park on its doorstep. The county enjoys house prices below the UK average and has great road and rail links. In addition to location, there are several perks to being a Derbyshire County Council employee:

• Local Government Pension Scheme
• generous annual leave and flexi-time scheme
• travel expenses
• discount on leisure centre memberships
• free car parking at most sites
• an in-house counselling services
• occupational health service
• access to sessions with a trained physiotherapist
• cycle to work scheme

If you require further information or an informal discussion about the role please call Pam Salisbury 07811 519989

Provisional Interview Date: Monday 3^rd November 2025

Due to this post having access to children and/or vulnerable adults, the successful candidate will be required to undertake a Disclosure and Barring Service check. The possession of a criminal record will not necessarily prevent an applicant from obtaining this post, as all cases are judged individually according to the nature of the role and information provided. Click here to see our policy on criminal background checks.

The job may require unsocial hours working including weekends and Bank Holidays. Payment arrangements will be detailed in any contract offer made.

Saturday and Sunday hours will be paid at plain time where it is part of your normal working pattern unless it is between 7pm and 7am, where enhanced rates of pay apply. Enhanced pay rates are paid for Bank Holiday working.

Apply now and take the first step towards a fulfilling career with us! By joining Derbyshire County Council you will have access to a range of amazing rewards and employee benefits, including our generous annual leave scheme, excellent local government pension and fantastic employee discounts. To discover more detail about the rewards and benefits available to you, click here

CS1

We welcome applications from individuals who share our values — being Collaborative, Innovative, Empowered and Accountable. These values describe who we are and what we stand for as a council. They help shape our culture, encourage consistent behaviour and guide how we work together to make a positive difference for both our employees and the residents we serve.