support worker

teaching assistant

home care worker

elementary school teacher

teacher

Calcot-Services-For-Children

I worked at Calcot services for children first as a trainee and was promoted twice during my time there. 
I was really supported and helped to develop my professional knowledge and abilities which allowed me to progress. 
I received lots of excellent training on such a big variety of subjects and the company paid for me to do the diploma level 3. I had an excellent diploma assessor who really supported me and my manager kept me motivated and have support for me to become qualified. 

The young people were great and although some days could be really challenging the managers in my home really helped me to develop my therapeutic  understanding and see WHY young people would behave in a challenging way sometimes. I also had some amazing experiences with the kids I cared for like going on holiday to the coast and day trips. 

Most of the management have extensive years of service at Calcot services for children so really know the service inside out and are passionate about delivering the highest standards of care for the kids and I felt this rubbed off on staff who always want the best for the children and will advocate for the children appropriately. 

I really enjoyed my time at Calcot services and only left due to changes in my family circumstance which meant it was more difficult to work shift work.   I would recommend the job and the company

The mgnt were supportive in professional development + learning new skills to support the children. From my experience, reporting procedures were good and clear. Any incidents were always reported to the correct people. When there were incidents, senior mgrs would come out + support us. We would do 15 hr days which I really liked as it was 160 hrs per month working. It meant we would only do about 2 or 3 days work a week. All meals, drinks, snacks were provided on shift.

Salary was low for the stress + nature of the work. Often expected to do 15 hr shift, followed by sleep-in then another 15 hr shift. No adjustments if we had to support night staff + tired the next day - still expected to be up for 7am start. New children were often placed into the home without consideration of how this might effect the dynamics of the home, causing long term disruption + stress to everyone.

There is a high staff turnover throughout the company, leaving the staff team inexperienced + often relying on agency staff. I was regularly asked to work in other homes which also doesn't help with continuity of care and doesn't help you build relshps with the children in your base home. When there is serious challenging behaviour, the company policy is staff are not to phone police in an emergency without getting permission first from an on-call manager. Often led to staff being assaulted + property + cars damaged.

The company also applies the Bradford factor to your sick days which I think is really unfair + if you leave the company within a year they deduct training costs from your final month's salary.



 

The only thing good about working for this company is working with the young people, management from head office are terrible... they look down on people who work in the home and treat them terribly! They expect you to preform miracles.
They pass people off for promotions just because their face doesn’t fit, despite the fact that they’ve worked in the same home for years and deserve it. 
There is no support from management during a crisis.. When you are left to deal with something on your own and the situation has been dealt with management criticise it, telling you it was the wrong thing to do and then you do what they told you too do they still tell you it is wrong. There is no right way to do anything with this company you will always be criticised. 
The amount of paperwork you have to complete is ridiculous , there is no time to spend with the young people because you are glued to a company completing paperwork, this causes the young people to get annoyed/bored and act out for attention; when you do get five minutes to spend with them management are on your cause to complete paperwork or other tasks. 
You’re treated like a glorified cleaner/slave, even if you spend hours cleaning the home management and management from head office will tell you clean it again. 
Staff turn over is ridiculous, which causes upset amongst the young people. 
When you’re roasted on for a day off you will most of the time have to do training or come in for meetings so you don’t really get a day off. 
Just avoid working for this company , badly run from head office.

I have been part of CSFC family for over 4 years now, starting as a Trainee Therapeutic Residential Care Worker and has been given amazing career progression opportunities. I am now Registered Manager for one of the homes in Reading and can't imagine working elsewhere!
At Calcot Services for Children, every day is truly different and very dynamic, giving opportunities to work with amazing and inspirational young people, making positive changes in their lives and supporting them to achieve the very best positive outcomes, that they truly deserve and often achieve.
It is an outstanding experience to become an important part of their lives and every day is absolutely rewarding. Working at CSFC also gives an opportunity to work with dynamic colleagues and motivational leaders who show sincere appreciation and create a sense of family around our workplace.
Our company truly values people on a personal level, which makes the hardest days just as great. CSFC also supports employees to access outside training and qualification schemes, providing constant progression opportunities for ambitious and aspiring employees.
My journey has been a fabulous experience on a professional and personal level. I have been awarded promotional opportunities and have no doubt of the positive, progressive and exciting journey ahead!

I joined CSfC in April after working for a number of high profile corporate companies.  When you work for many of the large Private Care organisations you are merely a face and little recognition is given. At CSfC this is not the case with Senior management being present and invested with all homes, staff and young people. CSfC has extremely high standards as they truly want the best for all young people. Not all companies within the sector are perfect and CSfC are still developing and growing. They are keen to listen to feedback from staff and will adapt and change to the needs of ts workers. Unfortunately there are times the company must challenge  staff on poor practice and ensure that procedures are followed to ensure the safeguarding of young people. The company really do look after their staff and offer a range of perks and support mechanisms often not found within Care companies. The company celebrate successes of the young people and staff and employees are always recognised with both perkbox, employee of the month and within Team Meetings.

Working with young people is a significant challenge due to their early life trauma experienced but it is a huge privilege to be part of our young peoples journeys that must not be lost when times become difficult.

Being thrown in the deep end without sufficient shadowing, induction, training or supervision. Being expected to know what you are doing even as a new employee stating they have no prior experience. 

Directly working lone with young people before introductory training has taken place, then bombarded with weekly mandatory training, required attendance even on days off.
Lack of consistency within team members in homes causing confusion and distress to children in knowing their boundaries, and affecting the working dynamics of care provisions for children that require consistency, routine and structure as part of their care plan.

Being paid minimum wage but having a workload just as heavy as social workers at times.

Concerns with safety issues of house cars being ignored, forms being falsly filled out because staff cannot be bothered to do the required checks as they feel burnt out.

Extreme lack of staffing availability.

Failure to maintain supervision of trainee employees.

Lack of care and understanding from management teams. 

But you do get to eat with the children (food in the home included so you don't have to take lunch/dinner to work).

I have recently joined CSfC and can honestly say that this is one of the best companies that I have worked for! It's a friendly and fun environment but the quality and standards of care are very high.

Senior management across the company are very involved (including the owners and MD) - such a change from the 'closed door' vibe I have experienced in previous healthcare companies. You feel valued as a part of the company.

It is a very fast paced environment, but there is a good work/life balance. I really like the fact that the children/young people are truly at the heart of the organisation - not just on paper for show. The environment in the homes are very family centred - it doesn't feel institutionalised - this is crucial for the young people as this allows them to thrive and feel valued.

As a Recruiter, I feel like I play an important part to bring the right people to such a lovely organisation. There is a lot of support from everyone.

I appreciate that feedback is taken on board.

If I had to be picky, it would be how difficult it can be to match the quality of the company through the people I recruit - but again, this reflects on the standards of care provided.

GO CSfC!!!!

I have worked for Calcot Services for Children for a number of years and have always found my role rewarding  - no one day is as same as the next. The company are committed to ensuring the young people in their care receive education, high quality care and therapeutic support. The company has high aspirations for their young people and support them to pursue their interests. This  could be street dance , ice skating, football or horse riding. Staff are given training and support to provide high quality, therapeutic care, there is a busy training schedule that gives staff the specific skills to care for the young people that reside in the home in which they work.  The hardest part of the job is managing the complex behaviours that young people present but these are there because of their past experiences of abuse and trauma. So meeting these challenges and supporting young people through these is also the best part of the job! The most enjoyable part of the job is seeing young people make  progress and achieve their goals as well as progressing myself professionally through training and the Diploma programme run by the company

Despite this service is meant to be a therapeutical setting, I really did not feel the company works proactively to help Young People with their specific mental health problems. The daily routine in the workplace is stressful for staff, and users. We were always short of staff, having to deal with challenging situations as Young People on crisis with no management support... this caused other Young People left unsupervised and unsupported. The main objective for the company is to prevent crisis-type situations, but not actively looking for therapeutical ways of helping them to improve. I have been working 70/h week and sent to other homes (some are about 1:30h commute) because in our contract states we have to satisfy the needs of the service... I have been injured after a Physical Intervention with an user and after coming back from the Hospital I was asked to go back to work, with no days off nor sick pay. And when I have asked for help to managements I was reminded I signed my contract. Horrible conditions, I would not advise anyone to work here.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Support worker 10 salaries reported	£25,750 per year
Teaching assistant 1 salary reported	£25,977 per year
Home care worker 10 salaries reported	£25,750 per year
Elementary school teacher 4 salaries reported	£38,850 per year
Teacher 2 salaries reported	£36,425 per year

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