Occupational profile

As a practitioner working in children’s residential care, you could be working in a number of settings e.g. a children’s home, a residential special school or a secure children’s home. You will take the lead in developing and delivering the child’s placement plan and will work with the child to support their health, education, social and day to day needs, playing a significant role in helping them to thrive and fulfil their potential .

As a practitioner you will be working with children, young people and families, including carers, to achieve positive and sustainable change in their lives. You will demonstrate a passion to care for and about children, young people and families. You will be skilled in recognising and assessing the complex needs that children, young people and families often present.

You will agree with the child, young person or family any specific interventions or referrals. Your approach will be one of respectful curiosity that challenges and supports children, young people and families to achieve their potential and stay safe. You will work alongside other professionals and organisations to share the responsibility for improving outcomes. Each piece of work with a child or family will be different and you will exercise judgement on a range of evidence-based approaches to inform your practice.

You will regularly evaluate the effectiveness of your methods and actions. Regular supervision with an experienced practitioner will encourage reflection on your practice. At the end of the apprenticeship the high quality of your practice will be making a real difference to those that you work with.

Entry requirements

Employers will determine entry criteria. Undertaking the Disclosure and Barring Service process and providing the result is mandatory.

Programme qualifications & requirements

• Achieve level 2 English and Maths (if not held)
• Achieve level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare
• Complete a portfolio of evidence
• Complete 20% off the job training
• Be consistently working at or above the level required of a Children, Young People & Families Practitioner

Skills requirement of this apprenticeship

• You communicate in a way that enables the voice of the child, young person or family members
  to be heard
• You encourage individuals to engage positively with their community and relevant agencies and
  actively participate in the way their care and support is delivered
• You work together with children, young people and families to keep them safe and manage risk and promoting the development of skills the family need to successfully manage risk themselves
• You work with and support other professionals to respond to safeguarding concerns
• You Identify the influences on the individual and the family and support them to make informed
  choices
• You lead on the development and recording of holistic plans, delivery of interventions and evaluates their effectiveness
• You identify and address barriers to accessing resources
• You identify and manage evidence-based approaches and evaluates their effectiveness

Knowledge and understanding requirement of this apprenticeship

• Communication that enables the voice of the child, young person or family members to be heard
• Multiple factors that contribute to uncertainty in the lives of children, young people and families
• quality, rights, diversity and cultural differences, and the values of the organisation in which you are working
• The range of potential safeguarding risk factors (e.g. domestic violence, membership of gangs, missing children, online activity, radicalisation and Prevent agenda), the different forms of harm to children and vulnerable adults (e.g. neglect, child sexual exploitation, physical abuse, emotional abuse) and the local and national thresholds for safeguarding the safeguarding requirements contained within mandatory local safeguarding training or nationally accredited equivalent
• Child, adolescent and adult development
• The spectrum of needs and how they may be met
• The principles of effective assessment and the importance of analysis and professional judgement
• Models for monitoring changes in a child, young person or family member’s wellbeing
• A range of evidence based interventions and their strengths and weaknesses

In addition, your apprenticeship will incorporate specialist skills and understanding required of a practitioner
in children’s residential care;

• Working with families, carers and children to devise, deliver and evaluate the effectiveness of interventions for the care
  and support of individual children and young people in residential care
• Work within a team to promote the ethos of the home

Behaviours requirement of this apprenticeship

Courage

Honesty and a positive belief in helping children, young people and families. Being confident when faced with confrontation, holding a safe space to manage and contain really difficult behaviours and working with children, young people and families to challenge and enable them to fulfil their potential Communication: Your work is based on building effective relationships, being perceptive and empathetic and building good rapport.

Compassion

Consideration and concern for children, young people and their families, combined with an understanding of the perspective of those you work with.

Competence

The relationships you build to effect change for children, young people and families will be informed by social care ethics and values and will be developed through reflective practice.

Commitment

Creating sustainable change in others by working alongside children, young people and families and being authentic, consistent, patient, persistent and resilient.

Care

Respecting and valuing individuals to keep them safe, being affirming and working with them to help them make a positive difference to their lives.

Details of programme

The apprenticeship programme will be delivered as blended learning. Blended learning is a combination of both online and face to face delivery. You will need to have good internet access and a suitable device such as a smart phone, laptop, or tablet to work on. Microsoft Teams is used for coaching sessions and ZOOM is currently used for taught sessions. Please discuss accessibility with your employer as these applications are required, in order for you to complete your training.

During this apprenticeship programme you will participate in training, development and on-going review activities. These typically include:

• Induction which is specific to your workplace
• Study days and training courses
• Mentoring/buddy support
• Completion of a portfolio through which you will gather evidence of your progress
• Structured one to one reviews of your progress with your employer and Dynamic Training
  20% Off the Job training
• You will be allocated a Skills & Development Coach who will support and guide you for the duration of your apprenticeship.

You will be allocated a Skills & Development Coach who will support and guide you for the duration
of your apprenticeship.

Assessment Gateway

At gateway your employer will make the decision that you are ready for end point assessment having achieved all the mandatory requirements and qualifications set within the standard.

End Point Assessment

Following successful completion of the gateway, you will proceed to end point assessment (EPA).
The EPA is undertaken by an independent assessment organisation chosen by your employer.

The end point assessment components are:

• Observation
• Interview

Grades for the individual components will be combined. Overall grading for this apprenticeship is fail, pass or distinction and will be determined by the Independent End Point Assessor.

To download a pdf copy of this apprenticeship, please click the image below.