Team Leader - Children's Home (Maternity Cover)

Catch22

Job details

  • ONSITE
  • CONTRACT
  • Sutton
  • United Kingdom
  • Verified 2026-10-06
  • Source: Catch22 public SMARTRECRUITERS source

Original job description

Company Description

Lighthouse Pedagogy Trust is a charity creating children’s homes where children can thrive. We believe every child deserves the chance to achieve great things and lead fulfilling lives. Our first home opened in the London Borough of Sutton in February 2022, supporting up to six children aged 11–18. 

We are recruiting a Team Leader to join the diverse team of practitioners working in our home. This role is being offered on a fixed-term basis to provide maternity cover. However, we are growing our team and our second children’s home is opening in 2027, so we anticipate there being a strong likelihood of an opportunity to stay with us in a permanent role.

Our model is built on four foundations:

  • People: Our people are the heart of our organisation. We want the very best people to develop authentic relationships with the most vulnerable children. We invest in great staff and offer high levels of training and development.
  • Place: We create thoughtfully designed spaces that feel like home, in places of need. You can see for yourself with a virtual tour of our home here.
  • Purpose: Children need to be able to discover their potential. We work closely with learning providers and other support services to allow every child to achieve their ambitions. Holistic education is at the top of our list of priorities.
  • Social Pedagogy: We use social pedagogy as an excellent basis for supporting children who live in residential care. It is an academic discipline drawing on core theories from education, sociology, psychology and philosophy, and is commonly used by residential care workers in many European countries.
Job Description

As a Team Leader, you’ll combine hands-on work with children with the opportunity to develop your leadership skills. You’ll work directly with children and families, lead and develop practitioners, and help create a safe, nurturing home where children can thrive.

Key responsibilities include: 

  • Lead shifts and role model excellent practice, helping to create a safe, nurturing and well-run home.
  • Line manage, coach and develop practitioners, including supporting induction, supervision and reflective practice.
  • Build strong, trusting relationships with children, providing hands-on care and supporting their wellbeing, development and goals.
  • Safeguard children and promote their welfare, responding confidently to risks, concerns and changing needs.
  • Lead and oversee children’s care and activities, ensuring plans are followed and children have meaningful experiences and opportunities.
  • Work closely with families and professionals, advocating for children and helping strengthen the relationships around them.
  • Support the leadership and continuous improvement of the home, including quality of practice, records, staffing and regulatory requirements.
  • Share leadership responsibility, including contributing to management meetings and taking part in the out-of-hours on-call rota.

Click here to view the full job description and person specification. 

Qualifications

We’re looking for an experienced, proactive and caring leader who can role model great practice, develop others and build strong relationships with children with complex needs.

You’ll be kind, patient, adaptable and resilient, with the ability to look beyond behaviour and understand what children need. You’ll be willing to get stuck into life in the home, have fun with children and help create a warm, nurturing environment where they feel safe and can thrive.

Key essential criteria:

  • Experience of working with children or vulnerable groups in a children's home or similar residential setting.
  • The ability to lead, motivate, supervise, support and develop staff to ensure high standards of care/
  • The ability to build strong and trusting relationships with children.
  • A strong understanding of the risks and issues facing children in care and their families and strategies to support these
  • Skills in de-escalating conflict and working with challenging situations and behaviour.
  • Teamwork and communication skills to be able to work effectively as part of the team and in partnership with families and other professionals and agencies.
  • Level 3 Diploma for Residential Care (or equivalent)

Click here to view the full job description and person specification. 

Additional Information

Application Process

Please upload your CV and submit a cover letter in the 'Message to Hiring Manager' box that outlines:

  • Why you are interested in the role 
  • How you meet the essential criteria in the person specification

Safer Recruitment 

At Lighthouse Pedagogy Trust, we safeguard all children and young people in our care. As part of our recruitment process, we conduct rigorous checks and vetting of all applicants, in line with legal and regulatory requirements and best practices. Everyone who works in our homes will be responsible for safeguarding young people and putting their safety and wellbeing first.

This role is subject to an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (police records) check, including overseas police checks where necessary. Please note that this post is exempt from the limitations of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act, and as such, all previous cautions and convictions will need to be disclosed as part of any application.

For further information about the process, please go to: https://www.gov.uk/dbs-check-applicant-criminal-record 

See the benefits of working for Catch22 here.

Maternity cover role until 30 September 2027.

See the benefits of working for Catch22 here.

Unless otherwise stated, interviews will be arranged as suitable candidates are identified, so early application is strongly advised.

We aim to review applications as quickly as possible. However, due to the volume of interest we receive, we may not be able to contact all applicants individually. If you have not heard from us within two weeks of the closing date, please assume that your application has not been successful this time.

At Catch22 we value equality, diversity and inclusion. We are wholeheartedly committed to the principle of equality of opportunity, both as an employer and as a provider of services. Diversity and Inclusion is part of what we do every day, working to deliver our vision to build a strong society where everyone has good people around them, a purpose, and a good place to live.

Catch22 is committed to rigorous safeguarding and safer recruitment practices; ensuring that every individual within the organisation has been safely and appropriately checked.

Please note, we will conduct an online search as part of our due dilligence checks for successful candidate(s). This will involve a search of all publicly available information online and in social media. 

Catch22’s Commitment to Ban the Box

Catch22 is proud to have “Banned the Box”. This means that we do not ask for candidates to disclose criminal convictions at the application stage. Instead, we invite disclosures at interview stage, and encourage them at the offer stage. Please see our statement of commitment on hiring people with convictions for more information.

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