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Job description

Londonderry YMCA is seeking to appoint a Home to School to Community Connector as part of the RAISE-funded BRIDGE ED initiative. The Home to School to Community Connector will act as a bridge between local families, schools Primary & Post-Primary, and the wider community to improve children's school attendance, educational outcomes, well-being, and engagement. The BRIDGE ED initiative is a collaborative Home to School to Community partnership programme across Waterside DEA, targeting children and young people at risk of educational disengagement and their families.

Responsibilities

• While responsibilities may vary by school or local area, the role will typically include the following duties across the key areas of supporting families, promoting school attendance & engagement with education, supporting pupils.
• Strengthening home and school relationships
• Delivering programmes and workshops for children and parents.
• Wider community engagement
• Multi-agency working
• Safeguarding & Child Protection
• Record keeping and administration
• Professional responsibilities

Skills and Qualifications

Essential Skills

• An appropriate Degree in a Social Sciences discipline e.g. community development, youth work, sociology, social policy, education, social care, psychology, criminology, social work, childhood studies, or a related field.
• Minimum 1 years’ experience of providing support in a paid capacity to children, young people and their families; OR Minimum 3 years’ experience providing support in a paid capacity to children, young people and their families;
• Experience supporting children/young people and families facing barriers to educational participation, attendance or wellbeing; Experience delivering one-to-one mentoring, youth work, or family support interventions/services;
• Experience of outreach work and engaging hard-to-reach individuals and families; Experience of partnership working with schools, community organisations, and statutory agencies; Experience maintaining confidential case records and preparing reports;
• Experience of conducting home visits and community outreach work; Knowledge and understanding of the development and care needs of children and young people and of the impact of social exclusion;
• Knowledge and understanding of the difficulties and problems that parents and carers can encounter and of the way in which they can impact on the health and well-being of children and young people;
• Knowledge and understanding of safeguarding children and vulnerable adults, including the ability to identify and assess risks and to respond appropriately in line with existing policies, procedures and practice standards;
• Interpersonal, oral and written communication skills including the ability to engage with people who might initially be resistant, manage and resolve conflict and establish and maintain strong and purposeful partnerships with other agencies
• Experience of managing budgets; Time management skills and an ability to work under pressure while managing and maintaining high practice and performance standards;
• Organisational and administrative skills, including the ability to monitor and control budgets and use Google Suite; Experience of partnership working and teamwork in a community setting;

Desirable Skills

• Professional qualification in youth work, community development, family support, social care or education; Experience of delivering attendance intervention programmes;
• Experience of multi-agency working and family support
• Current First Aid and safeguarding qualifications;
• Experience of working within early intervention;
• Experience of working in community settings;
• Knowledge of trauma-informed practice (TIP);