About The Service
Cardiff Parenting & Play are part of Cardiff Council. The team sits with other support services for infants, children, young people and their parents/carers, in Cardiff Early Help.
Cardiff Early Help is an innovative and progressive service within the Adults, Housing & Communities directorate in Cardiff Council. The service seeks to work with parents to be, infants, children, young people, and their caregivers. Early Help consists of several multi-professional teams that work collaboratively, as well as with partners, to offer families information, advice, and assistance.
Cardiff Parenting & Play offer universal, targeted and specialised support to parents and children, through a variety of stay & play groups, open access play sessions, Flying Start childcare groups, parenting programmes, learning opportunities, structured and bespoke 1:1 work with parents. The different elements of our service piece together to offer support to meet varying levels of need from pregnancy through to the time a child reaches adulthood. Cardiff Parenting & Play is strategically managed by an Educational Psychologist.
You can learn more about elements of Early Help by visiting the website www.cardifffamilies.co.uk
Information about our Parenting Services can be found online: Cardiff Parenting 0-18 - Cardiff Family Advice and Support : Cardiff Family Advice and Support (cardifffamilies.co.uk)
We also post on our Twitter and Facebook pages – search for Cardiff Parenting/Rhianta Caerdydd, and for Cardiff Children’s Play Services to find out more.
After working with us, parents have said: "We’re connecting and having fun together and our bond is stronger than ever’.
About the job
This is a newly created, manager post, to manage existing teams that deliver early intervention and prevention childcare, creche and play services to families across Cardiff with children aged 0-18, or up to 25 in the case of vulnerable young people.
The successful candidate will line manage the Service/Team managers of:
- Cardiff Children’s Play Service – This is an existing team of Senior Playworkers and Playworkers, who have recently moved into Early Help from another Directorate in the Council. Our community playwork team operate both open and closed access play schemes across Cardiff all year round; providing sessions for children aged 5-14 from a Care Inspectorate Wales (CiW) registered provision and peripatetically across Cardiff.
- Creche & Flying Start Childcare – we have 2 CiW registered childcare setting in Cardiff, providing quality childcare for 2-3 years old as part of Cardiff Flying Start. We also have a team of Creche Assistants who provide on-site creche facilities for children of parents attending parenting programmes.
We are seeking to appoint someone to the role who will be responsible for:
- Supporting the Play & Parenting Development Manager in delivering on the vision and targets for Children’s Play (age 5-14 years) & Childcare (pre-school) in Early Help & of the Council and the Service.
- Managing Children’s Play (age 5-14 years) and Childcare (pre-school) teams to achieve the strategic objectives of the Council and deliver high quality Children’s Play, childcare and creche services for families in Cardiff. These teams each have a Coordinator in post, who the successful candidate will line manage.
- Working closely with colleagues with the aim of continually improving and developing service provision, to improve outcomes for infants, children and young people in Cardiff.
We will offer you:
- An induction to your role and the Early Help Services
- A friendly and supportive working environment.
- Regular support and supervision to support you in your work.
- A wide and extensive training programme with opportunities to train in specific areas.
- The resources you need to carry out your job safely and confidently.
Cardiff Council has a variety of supportive policies for its employees. We take the welfare of all of our staff seriously and we strive to deliver positive working arrangements that support our amazing workforce to feel respected and valued. Here’s some examples of how we try to achieve this:
- A generous annual leave entitlement starting at 28 days per year to a maximum of 33 days per year after 5 years, with the option to purchase additional annual leave to a maximum of 10 days.
- Hybrid working – supporting you to flexibly deliver your role whether on visits, from an office or your home.
- Access to the Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan Pension Fund which is part of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS), offering a reputable, secure and flexible pension plan for peace of mind.
What We Are Looking For From You
We are looking for a suitably confident and competent leader to take on a new leadership role. The post is newly created to reflect the growth of the service and the need for increased capacity to ensure that we are delivering quality provision for families.
The successful candidate will demonstrate:
- Extensive experience in a management role within a service team or project for families which involves the management of service teams and associated budgets
- Extensive experience of developing and implementing best practise procedures.
- Proven experience of registering childcare provision
- Experience of responding appropriately to safeguarding concerns and following safeguarding procedures
Please see the attached Job Description and Person Specification for full details of requirements, including Cardiff Council’s Behavioural Competencies.
Refer to the Job description and person specification and tell us how you meet the criteria set out in these when completing your application, and please note we do not accept a CV as an application for the post.
Additional information
If you would like to discuss the post prior to application, please contact Sarah Fitzgibbon (07989 668186).
This post is temporary until 31/03/2025.
Internal candidates who wish to apply for this position on a secondment basis must obtain approval prior to application using Form SEC1 (4.C.081). Requests may only be approved by the relevant Director/ Assistant Director/ Chief Officer or senior nominated officer graded no lower than OM2 or in the case of schools based staff the Headteacher / Governing Body.
This post is subject to an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check.
Safeguarding and Child Protection are key priorities for the Council. We aim to support children and vulnerable adults to ensure they are as safe as they can possibly be. Our services and schools are committed to ensuring the safety and protection of all children and vulnerable adults, and will take action to safeguard their well-being, and acknowledge that children and vulnerable adults have a right to protection. This is supported in the general ethos of the Council and all schools.
We welcome applications in both English and Welsh. Applications received in Welsh will not be treated less favourably than English applications.
Please note the Council does not accept CV’s. When completing the supporting information section of your application, please ensure you refer to the below located on our website:
Important information you need read in order to complete your application:-
Additional Information:-
Attachments