Wiltshire Parent Carer Council CIC (WPCC) Job Vacancies Information Pack
Telephone Triage Worker Outreach Worker
Volunteer Coordinator May/June 2022
Contents About the WPCC
Page 1
Other Information
Page 2
Telephone Triage Role
Pages 3 - 4
Outreach Worker Role
Pages 5 - 7
Volunteer Coordinator Role
Pages 8 - 10
How to Apply
Page 11
About the Wiltshire Parent Carer Council CIC (WPCC) The Wiltshire Parent Carer Council CIC (WPCC) is an independent organisation which is managed and run by parent carers*, for parent carers, seeking to enable the voice and experiences of parent carers to positively influence the services that their children and families use. Representing over 3,200 parent carers of children and young people in Wiltshire with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND), the WPCC provides a specialist consultation and participation service which enables parent carers to have a voice about the services and support their children and families use. This service offers real opportunities to influence and shape provision across the local area, and work in partnership with the people who commission and deliver services in Wiltshire. The WPCC also provides its specialist information and signposting service called SENDIS, to support parent carers of children and young people with SEND, and those working with them. WPCC’s SENDIS service is a ‘one-stop shop’ that provides a wealth of specialist information as well as signposting to specialist services which support families raising a child or young person with SEND. This service is enhanced by our Outreach Service and Telephone Triage Team. * The WPCC uses the term parent carer to describe anyone over the age of 18 with parental responsibility for a child or young person with SEND; this does not have to be a parent and could include foster parents, adoptive parents, special guardians, grandparents etc.
Improving local services for children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities
There’s nothing that can’t be done if we raise our voice as one 1
Why are you Advertising these Vacancies? The WPCC is advertising vacancies for a Telephone Triage Worker, an Outreach Worker and a Volunteer Coordinator. This pack has been designed to give as much information about these vacancies as possible. As an organisation disproportionately affected by the COVID pandemic, the WPCC is able to offer these positions as a result of a COVID grant award. This is a one-off grant which means that we only have enough funding to be able to offer the positions for two years. If the WPCC is able to secure further funding, then we would be keen to extend these roles beyond two years.
Where the WPCC is Based The WPCC represents and supports parent carers across the whole of Wiltshire, excluding Swindon.
The WPCC office is based in central Trowbridge, near to the Odeon cinema leisure complex.
Other Information Closing date for all applications is 5pm on Sunday 12th June 2022. Interviews for successful shortlisted candidates will take place as follows at the WPCC office: •
Telephone Triage Worker: Wednesday 22nd June 2022
•
Outreach Worker: Thursday 23rd June 2022
•
Volunteer Coordinator: 30th June 2022
You are welcome to apply for more than one position if interested but you will need to complete a separate application form for each position you are interested in. It is hoped the successful candidates will start as soon as possible after the interview, subject to necessary checks. You will need an enhanced DBS; the WPCC will arrange this if you do not have a valid certificate.
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Telephone Triage The Role This role will require you to answer telephone calls as they come in, take basic details of the enquiry and arrange a call back from one of the WPCC SENDIS Team. Additional duties will include responding to basic enquiries about the Wiltshire Short Breaks Scheme, supporting the management of the WPCC website by checking content accuracy, and assisting with responses to social media enquiries. You will be supported by experienced colleagues and as an employee of the WPCC, you can expect to receive initial training, induction support, regular supervision and team support. You will be office based and all reasonable steps have been taken to ensure a COVID safe work place. There may also be some occasional flexibility required on days worked, such as any WPCC event commitments. The WPCC office is based in central Trowbridge. Appointment to this post is subject to background checks.
Salary and Hours This is a fixed term, part-time position for two years. If the WPCC is able to secure further funding, then we would be keen to extend this role beyond two years. You will be contracted to work three days a week, for 52 weeks per annum. You will be entitled to 17 paid days leave per year, in addition to public holidays that fall on your normal working days. A salary of £10,200 per year will be paid based on a three-day week and you will be entitled to a workplace pension. Working hours will be 10:00am to 5:00pm, Mondays, Tuesday and Thursdays, with a half hour unpaid break in the middle of the day. There may also be some occasional flexibility required on days worked, such as any WPCC event commitments. The WPCC office is based in central Trowbridge.
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About You •
you do not need experience of SEND
•
you will have an excellent, warm and friendly telephone manner
•
you will have some basic ICT skills to assist with recording details of enquiries and assisting with responses to social media enquiries
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you are punctual, friendly and demonstrate a positive professional attitude
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you take pride in your own work and that of your colleagues
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you are extremely meticulous in attention to detail and accuracy
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you must be literate
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you work well as part of team and you are able to show initiative and manage your own workload
•
you will need to be a team player, able to fit into a small, friendly and supportive team, and equally able to work on your own
•
you seek to learn from and support your colleagues
•
you review your own performance and ask for feedback to learn and improve
•
you work safely to maintain the health of both yourself and others
•
you understand and respect the need for confidentiality and data protection
•
you are flexible, quick to learn and able to adapt to change
•
you acknowledge when you make mistakes and take responsibility for addressing and correcting them
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Outreach Worker The Role The WPCC’s Outreach Workers support parent carers who would normally find it difficult to access the WPCC’s information, signposting and support by telephone or the internet. You will be undertaking time-limited direct work with parent carers of children and young people with SEND. A large amount of work undertaken is likely to be within the family home, providing information and signposting to parent carers in relation to the services and support within Wiltshire’s Local Offer, and liaising with services to support with barriers parent carers may be experiencing. As a member of our Outreach Team, you will work alongside our SENDIS Team. You will be expected to use our bespoke electronic logging system to enable enquiries to be logged and monitored, as well as collating feedback and liaising with your office based SENDIS colleagues; you will report directly to the Senior SENDIS Information Officer. You may also be required to help gather information and data relating to logged enquiries for reporting purposes as necessary. You will be expected to proactively research new information, support and opportunities available locally, and share with your colleagues and the families you work with as appropriate. It is likely that you will need to liaise regularly with a variety of professionals which typically include social workers, education, health, and voluntary agencies. You will work in a person-centred way, in order to support families to achieve positive outcomes and you will respect confidentiality (except where there are safeguarding concerns) and abide by the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). You will join an established and experienced team of two WPCC Outreach Workers who will support and mentor you in your role. You will be able to shadow the Outreach Workers to help build your confidence, before taking responsibility for your own cases. Full training and support will be given be given to support the successful candidate in their new role, as well as ongoing supervision and support. Appointment to this post is subject to enhanced DBS and background checks. Your role will involve you working with parent carers in the community. When not working directly with parent carers, you will have the flexibility of working from home or the WPCC Trowbridge office. Casual User Car Allowance is payable as expenses.
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Salary and Hours This is a fixed term, part time, term time only position for two years, working during half term breaks but not main school holidays. If the WPCC is able to secure further funding, then we would be keen to extend this role beyond two years. As an employee on a term time contract of employment, you will be contracted to work for a total of 42 weeks per annum. It therefore enables the employee not to work during the 10 weeks of main school holidays per year. All annual leave is to be taken during main school holidays. We are looking for someone to work two days a week (not weekends). You will work a total of 14 hours a week, to include an unpaid break of one hour per day. We can be flexible about how these hours are worked and this can be discussed at interview. The salary payments are pro rata for 42 weeks of the year and include payments for the pro rata annual leave (based on the 5.6 calculation as stipulated in the Working Time Regulations 1998) and public/bank holiday entitlements. The annual salary of £5,705 will be paid in 12 equal instalments throughout the year. There may also be some occasional flexibility required on days worked to meet with any WPCC event commitments. The WPCC office is based in central Trowbridge.
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About You You will need to possess excellent people skills. Experience of working in a 'customer service' type would be an advantage. We are looking for someone who: •
Is punctual and friendly and demonstrate a positive professional attitude
•
takes pride in your own work and that of your colleagues
•
is meticulous in attention to detail and accuracy
•
is literate and demonstrates satisfactory ICT and typing skills in line with the demands of the role
•
understands who your customers are and why they matter
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is willing to go the extra mile for customers and act upon their feedback.
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works together with colleagues and customers and takes the time to build effective and rational working relationships
•
works well as part of team and is are able to show initiative and manage your own workload
•
Is a team player, able to fit into a small, friendly and supportive team
•
seeks to learn from and support your colleagues
•
reviews your own performance and asks for feedback to learn and improve
•
works safely to maintain the health of both yourself and others
•
is compassionate, caring and empathetic to both customers and colleagues
•
works in a person-centred way
•
understands and respects the need for confidentiality and data protection
•
is flexible, quick to learn and able to adapt to change
•
acknowledges when you make mistakes and takes responsibility for addressing and correcting them
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Volunteer Coordinator The Role This is a new and exciting role within the WPCC and we are looking for someone who will be flexible, adaptable and grow with the role as it takes shape and develops. We are looking for someone to work ten hours a week (not weekends), term-time only. There can be significant flexibility in how these hours are worked each week and this can be discussed at interview. It is anticipated that this role will be largely home-based, and there will be scope to work from the WPCC office in Trowbridge on occasion. You will have direct responsibility for supporting and liaising with the majority of our volunteers. The range of opportunities that our volunteers engage in is growing all the time; some of the work our volunteers are currently engaged in includes facilitating parenting courses, supporting courses for parent carers of autistic children, and observing decision-making panels.
You will work alongside the WPCC’s Chair of Participation to ensure all our volunteers receive the support, information and coordinated responses they need. There will be some administration involved in this role, such as making sure record keeping of training and certificates is kept up to date. You will take a lead in the recruitment, training and mentoring of volunteers to ensure they are appropriately matched and trained for their role. You will be required to support with some of the facilitation of coproduction and engagement events with parent carers, and draft reports summarising the findings of this activity. It is hoped that as you develop in your role, you will lead on one of the WPCC’s strategic areas which will require you to attend strategic meetings with partners and feedback to colleagues within the WPCC. You will work in a person-centered way, in order to ensure our volunteers feel supported and confident in their roles. You will respect confidentiality (except where there are safeguarding concerns) and abide by the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). You will join and be supported by an established and experienced team within the WPCC who will support and mentor you in your role. Appointment to this post is subject to enhanced DBS and background checks. Casual User Car Allowance is payable as expenses.
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Salary and Hours We are able to offer this exciting new post as a result of receiving one-off funding for organisations disproportionately affected by the COVID pandemic. This is a fixed-term, part-time, term-time only position for two years. If the WPCC is able to secure further funding, then we would be keen to extend this role beyond two years. As an employee on a term-time contract of employment, you will be contracted to work ten hours a week, for a total of 39 weeks per annum, therefore enabling the employee not to work during the school holidays. The salary payments are pro rata for 39 weeks of the year and include payments for the pro rata annual leave (based on the 5.6 calculation as stipulated in the Working Time Regulations 1998) and public/bank holiday entitlements. The annual salary of £4,371 will be paid in 12 equal instalments throughout the year. There may also be some occasional flexibility required on days worked, such as any WPCC event commitments. The WPCC office is based in central Trowbridge.
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About You You will need to possess excellent people skills. Experience of training, and supervising or mentoring a diverse range of staff or volunteers would be an advantage. We are looking for people who: •
are punctual and friendly and demonstrate a positive professional attitude
•
demonstrable an understanding of safeguarding issues
•
take pride in your own work and that of your colleagues
•
are meticulous in attention to detail and accuracy
•
have excellent organisational skills
•
are literate and demonstrate satisfactory ICT and typing skills in line with the demands of the role
•
understand who your customers are and why they matter
•
are committed to organisational growth and development
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are committed to equality of opportunity and diversity
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work together with colleagues and customers and take the time to build effective and rational working relationships
•
work well as part of team and you are able to show initiative and manage your own workload
•
are team players, able to fit into a small, friendly and supportive team
•
seek to learn from and support your colleagues
•
review your own performance and ask for feedback to learn and improve
•
work safely to maintain the health of both yourself and others
•
are compassionate, caring and empathetic to both customers and colleagues
•
work in a person-centred way
•
understand and respect the need for confidentiality and data protection
•
are flexible, quick to learn and able to adapt to change
•
acknowledge when you make mistakes and take responsibility for addressing and correcting them
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Ready to Apply? Thank you for taking the time to read this pack. If after having read the information in this pack, you have any further queries about the role or roles you are interested in and would like to talk to someone before deciding whether you would like to apply, please contact the WPCC’s Strategic Director, Stuart Hall on 01225 764647 or email: director@wiltspcc.co.uk who will be happy to help.
If you would like to be considered for any of the positions advertised, please proceed by completing our online application form: www.jotform.com/Stuartwork/ WPCC-Applications-May22.
Please note, CVs or covering letters will not be considered.
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