There has never been a more exciting time to join Wirral Council. We’ve got ambitious targets to meet and to achieve everything we have promised to our residents, we need people who are ready to deliver the very best for our communities and show how they can #BeTheDifference. Our vision is to secure the best possible future for our residents, defined by the community prosperity we create and supported by our excellent people and services. If you strive to #BeTheDifference and want to be at the heart of our change and improvement journey, then this could be the perfect job for you.

School Readiness Worker

An exciting opportunity has arisen in Wirral's Early Childhood Service to recruit a part time School Readiness Worker 18-hour permanent contract. School Readiness Workers are an integral part of the core Family Hub offer across Wirral & these posts will be based at Bromborough Family Hub covering both the South & West localities.

About the Role:

School Readiness Workers deliver universal support to families with children under the age of 5 years, such as Stay and Play sessions, as well as more targeted interventions such as Wellcomm, Baby Massage and language and communication, all with the aim to support parents and carers positively impact their child's development. The role involves working with parents/carers to support their children's individual needs and provide inclusive support for all, both in the community and in a family’s home environment.

A key part of the role is to work collaboratively with partners across Wirral such as health, schools, youth and community organisations to ensure that all agencies are collectively supporting the family to meet their child's holistic needs. Wirral's Family Hubs are accredited as Baby Friendly providers by UNICEF and School Readiness Workers are key to supporting families with responsive infant feeding support.

About the Candidate:

The successful candidate will have demonstrable experience of working with children aged 0-5, in more than one type of setting. You will have a good understanding of OFSTED standards and experience of implementing them. You will also have an understanding of child protection policy and procedure, with the ability to work with a wide range of people including parents, partners and agencies within a multi-disciplinary team setting.

This is an exciting role and one that is crucial to improving children's daily lived experiences and promoting positive outcomes. If you are creative, driven and have the needs of families and children at the heart of your work, then we’d love to hear from you.

Please contact School Readiness Co-ordinator, Leanne Hughes via leannehughes@wirral.gov.uk should you have any questions about the role.

Wirral Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults at risk. We expect all employees and volunteers to share this commitment. As part of our safer recruitment process, all successful applicants will be subject to thorough pre-employment checks, including enhanced DBS clearance, verified reference checks, verification of qualifications and identity, and checks of the right to work in the UK.

This post is subject to an Enhanced DBS check, including a check of the relevant Barred List(s). The Safer Recruitment & Employment Policy and the Disclosures for Recruitment Procedure can be found at : https://www.wirral.gov.uk/jobs-and-training/job-vacancies/safer-recruitment-and-employment

We welcome applications from all suitably qualified candidates. For this vacancy, candidates must have an existing right to work in the UK before commencing employment. Skilled Worker visa sponsorship is not available for this post. Eligibility to work in the UK will be verified in the final stages of the selection process.

If you’re already a Wirral Council employee, and as part of our Talent Strategy, we’re committed to strengthening opportunities for our people to learn, grow, progress and thrive. For many of you, this may be preparing and applying for your next role with us, and we're passionate about ensuring you feel supported throughout your internal recruitment experience. Please get in touch if you want to know more about some of the ways in which we could support you by emailing recruitment@wirral.gov.uk

If you are a Wirral resident, are unemployed or out of work, and require help with your application, please contact Involve Northwest’s employment and skills team on info@involvenorthwest.org.uk or contact 0151 644 4500 or 0151 652 4349.

Working at Wirral

You’ll also want to know what it’s like to work here so, as a start:

Our values are more than just pieces of paper on our walls! We’ve all played a role in developing these, so they reflect the immense pride we have in what we do, what matters to us, what inspires us and inform how we think, approach things and behave.

We believe in ensuring staff are well looked after, staff wellbeing is a priority for us. We’re serious about recognising and rewarding people for the great things they do. You’ll benefit from our track record of developing, growing and investing in our people.

We have a range of staff benefits including staff discounts, enrolment into the local government pension scheme (an excellent defined benefit scheme), immediate life cover and ill-health protection. We have a strong flexible working approach, hybrid working, family-friendly employment initiatives and an annual leave package starting with 28 days leave plus public holidays.

We have an inclusive, engaged culture, everyone has a voice, everyone is valued for their contribution and understands the role they play in delivering our strategic priorities.

Each voice is heard, each contribution valued. We embrace diversity in our workforce and recognise it is critical to our success. We support an inclusive culture that champions differences and nurtures a sense of belonging. We encourage people from diverse backgrounds, who share our values and our commitment to inclusion to apply for roles with us.

We want you to be your best at work, we create the conditions to help you thrive and we mirror this in our recruitment process. If you’d like us to do anything differently during the recruitment process to make it barrier-free and as accessible as possible please contact recruitment@wirral.gov.uk

Please note that in accordance with the Council’s policy, employees who are in a formal redeployment situation will be considered in the first instance for all vacancies.

It is Council policy not to re-appoint any employee who has left under the terms of the Council's Early Voluntary Retirement (EVR) scheme or who have left with a voluntary severance (VS) package, unless in exceptional circumstances.

Applications will be accepted until midnight on the closing date.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy earlier than the specified date should we receive sufficient applications.

Applications can only be accepted through the Jobs page following registration.  Forms received via the post will not be processed.

All applicants invited to interview must evidence their right to work in the UK.  Details of required documents can be found by clicking the link at the bottom of the Jobs page.

The job description and other supporting documents will not be accessible once the vacancy closing date has passed so if a copy is required you should download it now.

We do not accept applications or CV’s from recruitment agencies, unless otherwise stated. Therefore, any candidates submitted via a recruitment agency will not be considered for this role.