Residential Support Worker - Eden House

About the role

Eden House is a new Medway Council children's residential home set in a beautiful location in Upnor, providing a stable, caring environment where children feel safe, secure, valued, and supported. This role sits within a strength-based team and offers the opportunity to be part of building something from the ground up.

The work is varied and no two days are the same. You will support children as individuals, each with their own needs, engaging with them across a wide range of activities and areas of daily life. The home itself has been renovated to a high standard, with ample indoor space for activities alongside a large garden with vegetable plots and a small orchard, and on-site parking for staff.

This role includes:

• Taking part in a wide variety of activities and encouraging children's hobbies and interests
• Supporting positive behaviour and showing a keen interest in children's education
• Promoting healthy lifestyles and wellbeing
• Providing appropriate advice, guidance, and a good listening ear
• Encouraging the development of life skills in preparation for adulthood

Shift pattern information has not been provided in this advert. Candidates are encouraged to raise any questions about working arrangements at the informal enquiry or interview stage.

To apply, click Apply Now. For an informal discussion about the role, please contact Jessie Hammell on 01634 338531. Shortlisting will take place on 27th July 2026. Please note that if you have not been contacted within three weeks of the closing date, your application has not been taken forward. Medway Council prioritises applications from current council redeployees and will notify you if the post is to be filled in this way.

About You

Medway Council is looking for people with the right values, behaviours, and attitudes to join the Eden House team. Direct experience of working in a children's home is not essential, though experience of working with children and young people in any setting would be beneficial.

You will need to be resilient and empathetic, and comfortable acting as a positive role model for the children in your care. The ideal candidate will:

• Have a genuine desire to work with children and young people and want to make a positive impact on their lives
• Be able to demonstrate relevant knowledge, experience, and skills at Level A of Medway Council's Career Progression Framework (CPF), which forms the essential criteria for appointment
• Have experience of working with children and young people in any capacity (direct experience in a residential children's home is not required)
• Be resilient and empathetic, with the ability to remain a steady and consistent presence for children
• Be willing to learn and develop as a practitioner, supported through induction, probation, and a Performance Appraisal and Career Conversation process
• Already hold the right to work in the UK, as Medway Council is unable to provide a Certificate of Sponsorship

Medway Council is committed to equality and inclusion, and welcomes applications from all backgrounds. The council is a Mindful Employer and puts good practices in place to ensure that employees and job applicants who declare mental health issues receive the right level of support.

The successful candidate will be subject to an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check with children's barred list.

Medway's Offer to You

Medway's Children's Services were rated 'Good' by Ofsted, with the inspector's feedback capturing it plainly: Children Matter in Medway. The council has built on that foundation by developing its own in-house residential provision, recruiting a strength-based management team, and now growing a workforce that shares those values.

Eden House is a new home, which means joining now is an opportunity to shape the culture and ways of working from an early stage. Medway's Career Progression Framework (CPF) gives employees a structured route to take ownership of their development and progress through salary levels A, B, and C as their competence grows, with that progression formally recognised and rewarded.

• Career Progression Framework providing a clear route from Level A through to Level C
• Induction and probation support, with ongoing Performance Appraisal and Career Conversations
• Working in an exceptionally well-resourced home environment, recently renovated to a high standard
• Access to the full range of Medway Council employee benefits, detailed in the Medway Information Pack
• And more