Senior Universal, Send and Emerging Needs Practitioner

Hertfordshire’s Family Centre Service is made up of the Public Health Nursing Service (Health Visitors and School Nurses) and the Family Support Service. Our purpose is to support children and families to have the best start in life, develop well and thrive. We provide families with children aged up to 5 years with a wide range of services, information and support on key areas relating to family life.

As the Senior Universal, SEND & Emerging Needs Practitioner you will support the Universal, SEND & Emerging Needs Lead to effectively deliver a high-quality Universal, SEND and Emerging Needs service for local families with children under 5 years of age. You will take a hands-on role supporting families directly, while also providing supervision, guidance and support to practitioners to ensure the delivery of high-quality services, interventions and family support activities.

The Role

• Support the delivery of high-quality Universal, SEND and Emerging Needs services for families with children under 5 years of age.
• Provide day-to-day supervision, support and planning for Universal, SEND & Emerging Needs Practitioners, students and volunteers.
• Develop a strong understanding of local communities and work with families to co-design services that meet identified needs.
• Deliver one-to-one and group support, both face to face and through digital platforms, to ensure services are accessible to families when needed.
• Increase parent engagement in children's development and learning, promoting co-production and ensuring the voices of parents and children help shape services.
• Develop and deliver information, guidance, webinars, workshops and parenting support sessions to improve outcomes for children and families, including those with SEND.
• Build effective partnerships with professionals across Health, Early Years, Social Care and other agencies to support families and improve outcomes.

What we are looking for

Requirements NVQ Level 4 or equivalent in health, social care or early years, or a qualification in SEND (essential).

Recognised parenting programme qualification and experience of delivering parenting programmes (essential).

Experience working with children and families with SEND, together with experience of multi-agency partnership working. Experience of supervising and developing staff, students or volunteers.

You will need a valid UK driving licence and access to a car during working hours, and willingness to travel on a regular basis. You must have insurance that allows you to drive for business purposes. The role requires working flexible hours in accordance with service needs, including some early mornings, evenings and weekends.

This is a Fixed Term Contract until March 2029

Hours per week: 37.5

Working Pattern: Monday to Friday 9am-5pm

Important information:

We do not provide visa sponsorship; you must be eligible to work in the UK. You must reside in the UK for the duration of your employment and provide Right to Work evidence.

As some of our roles involve working with vulnerable members of society, this position may require a Basic or Enhanced Criminal Disclosure, which will be conducted once a conditional offer is made

Previous Applications: We welcome applications from all qualified candidates. However, if you have applied for a similar role within the last 6 months and were not successful, please consider whether your experience has developed further before reapplying

Accessibility & Adjustments: We are committed to making reasonable adjustments throughout our recruitment process and will strive to be as accommodating as possible. Please inform us in advance of any arrangements you may need to fully participate in the process.

We are an inclusive organisation and actively promote equality of opportunity for all with the right mix of talent, skills, and potential. We do not discriminate on the basis of Age, Disability, Gender Reassignment, Marriage/Civil Partnership, Pregnancy/Maternity, Race, Religion/Belief, Sex and/or Sexual Orientation. We encourage applications from all backgrounds, communities, and industries, and are committed to having a team that is made up of diverse skills, experiences, and abilities.

One YMCA and its subsidiaries, the Early Childhood Partnership (ECP) and Signpost are on an exciting journey to double our impact by 2025. We are over half way through an exciting new strategy launched in the first hour of the new decade, via email where all staff and volunteers were invited to put themselves forward to apply and attend an intensive, three-day Kickstarter Event.

By the end of these three days, there was a brilliantly multi-faceted set of themes and ideas, which formed the starting point for the rest of the Mission 25 process to build on. The aim of Mission 25 is to give every staff member and volunteer the opportunity to play their part in shaping the strategy to do “more and better, together” so that we double our impact by 2025. We deliver a vast array of services across Herts, Beds and Bucks that reach over 135,000 individuals annually.

These include:

• Provision of over 700 units of accommodation for homeless people
• Move on accommodation for individuals moving onto independent living
• Housing and practical/emotional support for young asylum seekers
• Community HUBs hosting a range of activities and meeting space hire
• Childcare provision in Hertfordshire
• Family support through a network of children’s and family centres covering Hertfordshire and Bedford
• Therapeutic and non-therapeutic support for male and female victims of domestic abuse and their children
• Independent sexual violence services across Bedfordshire, Luton and Hertfordshire
• Domestic abuse perpetrator reform programmes across Bedfordshire
• Youth services offering emotional wellbeing support and youth club opportunities for 11-19 year olds alongside our National Airplay programme funded by the RAF Benevolent Fund
• A community gym where everyone can enjoy the benefits of physical exercise Our values remain at the forefront of how we operate as a charity, and it is important to us that all staff and volunteers can fully buy in to our ethos.