Residential Support Worker, Burton upon Trent (DE15)

This is a permanent Residential Support Worker role in a small children’s home in Burton upon Trent, paying £12.90 an hour (£26,832 pro rata) with sleep-ins on top that typically add around £7,200 a year, which realistically puts your earnings to £34,032 depending on how your rota falls. Shifts run from 8am to 11pm on a one day on, two days off pattern, and you’d be supporting young people aged roughly 12 to 17 alongside a close-knit team who know every child in the home properly.

What makes this one stand out

If you’ve scrolled through a few residential childcare adverts on Indeed this week, you’ll know they can start to blur into one another after a while, so I’ll try and tell you what I think is genuinely different about this home. The group behind it deliberately keeps every one of its homes small, registered for a maximum of three young people, and leaders have been known to choose to care for even fewer when that’s what a child needs, which completely changes how a shift feels when you’re the one walking through the door at 8am.

There’s also something going on behind the scenes that I think experienced support workers will appreciate, because the group works with an associate counselling psychologist who comes into the homes weekly or fortnightly to offer consultation, training and reflective supervision to staff. In practice that means there’s always someone helping you make sense of a young person’s behaviour, so you’re building your skills with proper psychological thinking behind you, and the homes also work closely with CAMHS and other partner agencies to keep the care joined up.

Ofsted have picked up on all of this too, which is always reassuring when you’re weighing up where to take your career next. Recent inspections across the group have rated leadership and management as outstanding, with inspectors describing care planning that’s thorough and regularly reviewed, young people’s risks reducing over time, and staff whose warm, compassionate response when children return after going missing has led to those episodes happening less often. One report even mentioned a young person moving on being given a celebratory meal and a memory book of their time in the home, which maybe says more about the culture than any mission statement ever could.

The group has also picked up a Best Practice Award from the Virtual School in 2024, holds exemplary residential childcare recognition through the Independent Children’s Homes Association and is a Disability Confident employer, so you’re joining an organisation that’s being recognised by people who know the sector inside out.

The pay, and why it reflects the work

To be honest, residential childcare is skilled, emotionally demanding work, and the package here has been put together with that in mind. Alongside the £12.90 hourly rate, sleep-ins are paid at £60 a night, and once you’ve done 160 hours in a month you’ll earn an extra £2.50 an hour on top for any further hours you pick up.

Pay progression is reviewed twice a year, in March and October, against clear goals set out in your personal development plan, and the moment you pass probation you’ll move up at the next review point, so if you pass in August you’ll see the increase in October. There’s a probation bonus, an annual appraisal bonus and an Ofsted bonus, which feels fair given how much of a good inspection comes down to the people on shift every day.

You’ll also get paid face-to-face training, support to work towards your Level 4, a company pension, an extra eight hours of annual leave for your birthday, a paid Christmas party, a refer-a-friend payment once they’ve completed probation, and access to an employee assistance programme for those weeks when you could do with a bit of extra support yourself.

What you’ll be doing

• Building warm, trusting relationships with young people aged around 12 to 17, many of whom have experienced trauma and live with emotional and behavioural difficulties

• Creating a safe, nurturing and accepting home where young people feel secure enough to grow, with firm, fair and consistent boundaries that help them feel settled

• Supporting young people with education, activities, health appointments, family time and statutory meetings, and encouraging their own interests, friendships and independence skills

• Keeping clear, accurate daily records, risk assessments, care plans and incident reports so the whole team around the child has a full picture

• Following safeguarding procedures, missing from care protocols and the home’s behaviour support approach, using physical intervention only as a last resort and in line with your training

• Working alongside your manager, colleagues, social workers, CAMHS and other professionals, and contributing ideas in team meetings and supervision

• Helping with the everyday life of the home, from cooking and shopping to keeping communal spaces clean, homely and welcoming

• Role modelling for younger colleagues and new starters as you grow into the role, with the chance to step up towards Shift Leader and Senior RSW as you progress

What you’ll need

• A Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare or an equivalent recognised qualification, with proof available before interview

• Experience supporting young people in a residential childcare setting, ideally with emotional and behavioural difficulties

• A full UK driving licence and confidence driving in all conditions, including motorways and at night, as you’ll be taking young people out and about

• A clean enhanced DBS, ideally registered on the Update Service

• Full right to work in the UK

• A good understanding of the Children’s Homes Regulations and Quality Standards, Ofsted inspections, safeguarding, whistleblowing and the value of supervision

• Flexibility to work a shift roster that includes weekends, bank holidays and sleep-ins

• Patience, emotional resilience and a good sense of humour, because the young people will test all three at some point and that’s all part of the job

Fancy a chat?

If you’ve read this far and found yourself picturing what your shifts might look like in Burton, we’d really love to hear from you, whether you’re ready to apply today or you’d just like to have an honest, no-pressure conversation about the home, the team and whether it feels like the right next step for you.