NCS Personal Coach Location: London, Surrey, Berkshire, West Midlands, North West or Yorkshire Length of role: Four week programme (18 days)*, graduation and six half day additional meetings with young person (2 before the placement and 4 after) Training: Up to 3.5 days Payment: Up to 2042.50 per 21.5 day role Dates: June to September 2016 Residential Requirements: Partly Residential * Please note: we are trialling a condensed version of the programme in the West Midlands and, as such, the length of the role will decrease overall from 22 to 18 days. Payment will also alter proportionately to 1710 as a result. The condensed programme will be applicable nationally for waves 11 and 12. See Work Dates for more information. The Personal Coach Role The Personal Coach scheme works with local authority Youth Offending Teams and Looked After Children Teams to provide access to NCS for young people who would not otherwise take part in the programme. The Personal Coach is responsible for leading, motivating and assisting an individual young person who has a history of offending or is a looked after child referred to us by a local authority. The Personal Coach meets with the young person twice before NCS begins to establish a relationship, supports the young person throughout NCS and meets with them after to review the programme and support them with their goals for the future. The Personal Coach is also responsible for reviewing the young person s progress and submitting reports to the Programme Manager. The Personal Coach will need to balance the support they provide to a young person on a one to one basis, whilst ensuring this is done in a way that empowers them to socially mix and fully engage in the programme independently of that support. This role is suitable for a passionate and confident person with experience of working with looked after young people and/or young people with a history of offending. The candidate will also be experienced in dealing with young people who can exhibit challenging behaviour and be able to motivate them and gain their respect. The role requires an ability to work as part of a wider team whilst fulfilling very specific responsibilities as a Personal Coach. The Personal Coach will: Lead, motivate and pastorally care for a young person who can exhibit challenging behaviour and/or has additional needs. Provide one to one support to empower a young person to take part fully, assisting their personal development through the skills acquired through the programme Identify barriers to the young person fully engaging with the programme and seek strategies to overcome these (with support from specialist programmes staff) Working with the Programme Leader, Assistant Programme Leader, Senior Mentor and wider team, take overall responsibility for the safety and wellbeing of their assigned young person Live residentially during the NCS Personal and Team Challenge: please note that to ensure the safety and engagement of all young people, you should be prepared for long working hours on the residential element of the programme Help integrate the young person into a team of up to 12 other young people and the wider group of up to 84 young people Meet the young person with their key worker and attend a community based meeting before the programme; two meetings in total. Attend four further community meetings with the young person after the programme Attend NCS graduation event, if requested by the Programme Manager Ensure that the support is provided in a way that empowers the young person, helping them to socially mix, and strengthening their resilience throughout programme
Learn and continuously reflect upon training and best practice in supporting young people who have a history of offending or who are looked after and apply this to their practice throughout the programme Participate alongside our young people on a variety of outdoor activities, for example camping outdoors, rock climbing or kayaking during the NCS Personal Challenge. All meals and accommodation are provided during the NCS Personal Challenge and the NCS Team Challenge. No meals are provided during the NCS Real Challenge. The accommodation during the NCS Personal Challenge is generally in an outdoor activity centre and during the NCS Team Challenge is generally at a university campus; however, in some areas and during some parts of the programme, accommodation is at a campsite. Inclusion Seasonal Roles & Personal Coach Scheme We are committed to ensuring every young person who wants to can fully participate in the NCS programme and have invested significantly into supporting young people who have additional needs. The inclusion seasonal roles that support young people with additional needs on the programme include Support Workers, Personal Coaches, Learning & Behaviour Mentors and Mental Health Advisers. As part of this investment into supporting young people with additional needs, the Personal Coach scheme will engage those from hard to reach backgrounds, who have a history of offending, and looked after children. In 2015, 27 young people on the programme had a Personal Coach, with significant success in supporting young people who, in most cases, would not have been able to undertake or complete the programme. About the Organisation and the NCS Programme The Challenge is a fast growing social enterprise that connects and inspires people across Britain to strengthen their communities. We work on a local level to bring together people from all ages, ethnicities and walks of life, connecting communities and building trust. We are a major provider of the government's National Citizen Service (NCS), a life changing experience for 15 17 year olds. In summer 2016, 42,000 young people across our regions will take part in our eighteen day intensive NCS programme. The scheme is available to young people from all backgrounds who get the chance to do outdoor activities, meet new people and give something back to their communities. By taking part they learn new skills and have a great experience they can put on their CVs or college applications. They achieve this by completing three challenges: NCS Personal Challenge: Between four and seven socially mixed teams of young people bond through a week of challenging outdoor activities. NCS Team Challenge: Teams return to their local area and learn skills in either Drama, Media, Photography, Enterprise, Music, Art or Sport. They use these skills to interact with the community and create a showcase performance for friends and family. NCS Real Challenge: Teams work to design and deliver a campaign and social action projects that will bring the local community together. In order to gain funding and advice on their projects, the young people pitch to a Dragons Den style panel of influential people in their community. All young people who complete our NCS programme graduate and are signposted into year round social action opportunities through The Challenge Society. Our Seasonal Staff Expectations Experience of working with young people. A belief in their potential and the ability to build rapport with them.
Energy and enthusiasm to enable young people to use their skills to learn from their community. A willingness to take responsibility for delivering a challenging and safe experience for participants Flexible with a creative and constructive approach to solving problems. Ability to work collaboratively with colleagues to achieve successful and constructive results We expect all staff to act as role models to our young people. In addition to the above this includes being organised, proactive, reliable and punctual. Safeguarding Statement and Requirements The Challenge is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of young people taking part in the programme. We expect all staff and post holders to share this commitment. As part of this commitment to providing a safe environment for our young people, we require all candidates to return a satisfactory enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) certificate dated on or after 01 January 2015. The Challenge will assist the application for, and pay for the processing of, a new DBS for staff members where required. We also require two satisfactory references, at least one of which should detail suitability to work with young people and another to be from your current or most recent employer. Training All Personal Coaches must attend 3 days of unpaid, non residential training to deliver our NCS programme. In addition, every Personal Coach will be required to attend an additional half a day training focused on working with looked after children and young people with a history of offending, approved by the Howard League of Penal Reform. We reserve the right to dismiss any staff member who does not complete training, does not participate fully, or does not perform in line with our values as an organisation. Work Dates For each wave worked, the Personal Coach works on (a) two meetings before the programme, (b) a summer programme, (c) four meetings with the young person after the programme, (d) their summer wave s graduation and (e) Phone calls between meetings and sections of NCS. (a) Two pre wave meetings: Each of these meetings lasts approximately an hour and payment for these meetings is dependent on a report being submitted. The first meeting takes place between the Personal Coach, the young person, their key worker and a member of The Challenge s staff. The second takes place in a community setting between the Personal Coach and the young person. (b) Summer programme: The summer work dates, depending on the availability of young people, are listed below please check the schedule relevant to your preferred work location.
Greater London, Surrey, Berkshire, North West England, Lancashire & Yorkshire Waves NCS PC NCS TC NCS RCD NCS RCA 1 18 22 June 25 29 June 1 4 July 7 10 July 2 22 26 June 29 June 3 July 5 8 July 11 14 July 3 26 30 June 3 7 July 9 12 July 15 18 July 4 30 June 4 July 7 11 July 13 16 July 19 22 July 5 7 11 July 14 18 July 20 23 July 26 29 July 6 11 15 July 18 22 July 24 27 July 30 July 2 August 7 15 19 July 22 26 July 28 31 July 3 6 August 8 23 27 July 30 July 3 Aug 5 8 August 11 14 August 9 27 31 July 3 7 August 9 12 August 15 18 August 10 31 July 4 Aug 7 11 August 13 16 August 18 & 19, 22 & 23 August 11 7 11 August 14 16 August 17 18 August 22 24, 26 August 12 11 15 August 18 20 August 21 21 August 23, 26 28 August West Midlands (Birmingham, Solihull, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall) Wave PC TC RCD RCA 1 18 22 June 25 27 June 28 29 June 3 6 July 2 22 26 June 29 June 1 July 2 3 July 7 10 July 3 26 30 June 3 5 July 6 7 July 11 14 July 4 30 June 4 July 7 9 July 10 11 July 15 18 July 5 7 11 July 14 16 July 17 18 July 23 26 July 6 11 15 July 18 20 July 21 22 July 26 29 July 7 15 19 July 22 24 July 25 26 July 31 July 3 Aug 8 23 27 July 30 July 1 Aug 2 3 August 7 10 August 9 27 31 July 3 5 August 6 7 August 11 14 August 10 31 July 4 Aug 7 9 August 10 11 August 15 18 August 11 7 11 August 14 16 August 17 18 August 22 24, 26 Aug 12 11 15 August 18 20 August 21 22 August 23, 26 28 Aug
(c) Four meetings: After the programme, there will be a series of four follow up sessions to support the young person, each of which will last approximately an hour. These will take place each week after the end of the NCS Real Challenge Action programme. Payment for these meetings is dependent on reports being submitted. (d) Graduation: Personal Coaches will also attend the NCS Graduation of the young person. (e) Phone calls between meetings and sections of NCS: Personal Coaches will be given a work phone to allow them to contact the young person to remind them of details of the next section of NCS or to arrange meeting times and locations for the additional meetings. Full training on this process including safeguarding implications will be given as part of training. Role Requirements Candidates must demonstrate the following skills and characteristics: Essential: Experience of working with and supporting looked after children and/or young people with a history of offending Extensive experience of working directly with young people who can exhibit challenging behaviour or have additional and multiple support needs Experience of working with people within a residential environment Ability to motivate and earn the respect of young people Flexible and able to adapt to change quickly Ability to work independently Ability to submit completed paperwork to a deadline Experience of working in a fast paced and demanding environment Belief in young people and in helping them take more active roles in their communities Belief in the importance of bringing all young people together regardless of differences Ability to understand and follow safeguarding and Health and Safety guidelines along with other policies and procedures Experience of making decisions under pressure Beneficial: Experience working in partnership with schools, youth or community organisations Knowledge of ongoing volunteer opportunities for young people Relevant course certification (eg managing challenging behaviour or conflict management) Knowledge of best practice in supporting young people who have a history of offending and/or who are looked after We also look for all employees to show the following characteristics: Trust building: Works hard to build trust with people. Brings together different groups of people. Responsibility taking: Takes responsibility for actions and attitudes. Claims and solves problems in the community. Understanding and Empathy: Works to understand others their strengths, fears and needs. Ready to stand up for someone who is different. Willingness to be prepared to lead by example and encourage others to do the same. Further Details
This is an excellent opportunity to be involved with an exciting programme which has tangible results for the young people involved. The role is demanding and fast paced but highly rewarding. The compensation for this contract role is 2090 for the four week programme and graduation (19 days), plus six further half day meetings (3 days). This payment includes pay in lieu of annual leave and is subject to tax and National Insurance deductions. There is no additional payment for attending training. Staff will be paid through The Challenge payroll on a monthly basis. Staff can only claim for travel expenses incurred during the delivery of the programme, and not to and from either the residential or non residential parts of the programme.this includes travel to and from the pre and post programme meetings. You will be offered up to 10 towards refreshment expenses during the pre and post programme meetings. A work mobile phone will be provided with up to 15 phone credit to be used to keep in touch with the young person. Additional Support Needs As an equal opportunities employer we welcome applications from a diverse range of people, including those with disabilities. We are committed to making reasonable adjustments to ensure that successful candidates are able to undertake the role that they are offered. You will be asked to tell us about any additional support needs at the post assessment stage but we encourage candidates to get in touch with any concerns or questions they may have either before or during the application process by emailing Sherry or Matthew at inclusionroles@the challenge.org. To Apply For further details and to apply, please visit www.ncsthechallenge.org/jobs Our NCS programme is part of National Citizen Service.