Education Development Worker

Education Development Worker Foundations Project (Homelessness Project) (Permanent Post)

Ref: EDWF23

City of Dublin Education and Training Board (City of Dublin ETB) was established on 1st July 2013 under the Education and Training Boards Act, 2013. City of Dublin ETB has 3,000 employees and an annual budget of €580m. It is the state education and training authority for Dublin city and serves the area covered by Dublin City Council. This provision is delivered to over 48,000 learners (20,000 full-time and 28,000 part-time) and is supported by a range of services including a psychological service, a curriculum development unit, a buildings maintenance unit and Head Office staff in Ballsbridge. It also has statutory responsibility for supporting the provision, coordination, administration and assessment of youth work services in Dublin city and is the lead partner for Music Generation Dublin City. City of Dublin ETB is also responsible for the national awarding authority for student grants in Ireland, Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI).

City of Dublin ETB Foundations Project is an educational support service for people who are homeless. In place since 2001, it provides Adult Education Programmes and Child and Family Programmes to provide supports to adults and families experiencing homelessness around their educational needs. The project liaises with a wide network of community, voluntary and statutory services in the area of homelessness, community and further education and support services. Location of Position

The position will be based administratively in Parnell Adult Learning Centre, Dublin 1. Programmes are delivered in Parnell Adult Learning Centre and some homeless services around Dublin city.

Salary: €34,057 - €62,797 per annum (including long service increments). Successful candidates will be paid at point 01 of the Resource salary scale unless they have previous public sector service at the same grade. Annual Leave: 35 working days per annum. Hours of Work: 35 hours per week (some evening and weekend work involved).

Summary of Position

This position is in the Adult Education Programmes within Foundations Project and focuses mostly on the educational needs of adults experiencing homelessness / who were previously homeless. It involves a significant amount of liaison work with statutory and voluntary providers such as emergency hostels and day services in the area of addiction, homelessness and mental health. We aim to encourage people to begin attending classes in an education centre and we also run a small amount of programmes on-site in hostels. We provide programmes that consider the wide range of educational levels and interests that people have in areas like IT, creative arts, sports, social studies etc. Working as part of a team, the person is required to co-ordinate the adult education programmes, to encourage referrals to the programmes through outreach liaison within the homeless services and to encourage onward progression from the programmes to community-based programmes and college / further education programmes over time. Where the person can facilitate groups / directly teach in certain subject areas this is very beneficial and is an important part of the role. The person should also work in partnership with the Child and Family Programmes team to assist in delivering groups and meeting the educational needs of parents experiencing homelessness and the educational needs of young people of secondary school age and above.

Essential Requirements

• At least Level 7 on the NFQ in one of the following areas: social care, education, youth work OR teaching in related area. • 1 – 2 years’ experience of working in education or social care. Desirable Requirements

• Experience working with disadvantaged groups. • Experience of supervising other staff. • Excellent communication skills. • Excellent IT and administrative background / skills. • Highly motivated. • Ability to work on own initiative. • Skills in terms of meeting the learning needs of children and young people attending Foundations Project programmes. • Knowledge and skills in relation to ESOL provision. • A strong administrative background. Role

The Education Development Worker’s role is to create links between the adult education and community education sector and the homeless services. There is also a need to develop and co-ordinate a range of flexible, innovative programmes that are specifically for homeless service users in order to meet their needs appropriately. Working as part of a team, the Education Development Worker will design and develop these programmes in education centres and on an outreach basis. They will also supervise the work of tutors delivering the programmes. The person is required to encourage referrals to the programmes through outreach liaison within the homeless services and to encourage onward progression from the programmes to community based programmes and college / further education programmes over time. The person should also work in partnership with the Child and Family Programme team to assist in meeting the educational needs of parents experiencing homelessness.

Key Duties and Responsibilities: The general duties and responsibilities listed below are not intended to be a comprehensive list of all duties involved and consequently, the post holder may be required to perform other duties as appropriate to the post which may be assigned from time to time and to contribute to the development of the post while in office: • Co-ordinating and developing a range of both accredited and introductory / taster educational programmes for homeless service-users. • Developing strategies and programmes to meet the needs of the most marginalised people using homeless services. • Providing information and advice on educational programmes and services to staff and service-users in the homeless services. • Liaising with the homeless services, undertaking outreach work to hostels and emergency accommodation to inform people about the programmes. • Building links with the homeless services and the broader adult and community education sectors. • Referring students for literacy, ESOL and learning needs assessments as required. • Organising and / or facilitating groups and classes in adult education and young person’s educational support programmes. • Preparing and organising work for the QQI accreditation system, assisting in the internal verification process. • Supervising the work of tutors involved in the programmes and social care students on work placement. • Providing more general support and advice / information to adults experiencing homelessness who attend our programmes. Assisting them to access other support services as appropriate. • Maintaining records through various database / recording systems and providing reports on an on-going basis. • Other duties as the project and programmes require. • Reporting to the Project Co-ordinator. Click Apply Now to visit our careers page for more information and to apply!