About Us

Achieving for Children is a not-for-profit social enterprise company created in 2014 by the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames and the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames to provide their children’s services. In August 2017, the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead became a co-owner of AfC, and we now deliver children’s services across all three boroughs. As a social enterprise we are able to provide bespoke children’s social care and education support services to other local authorities, schools and partners in the education, health, social care and criminal justice sectors. Our ambition is to help our customers to succeed by providing them with the services they need to meet their statutory responsibilities, transform their services, and achieve the best possible outcomes for children and their families. We strive to achieve excellence in everything we do by putting children and young people first in the design, delivery and evaluation of every service we provide, to ensure that they are supported to live safe, happy, healthy and successful lives. Our broad service offer is informed by leading practice and a strong evidence-base of what works best. It is guided by our daily work with children and young people and the organisations that work with us to help and support them. Our focus is always on maximising the use of resources by creating economies of scale and reducing management and overhead costs, so that we can ensure high quality frontline services that really deliver results. We continually seek to strengthen our offer by learning from innovation and by investing in the skills and professional abilities of our workforce. WHY WORK FOR US We value our workforce and recognise the important part our colleagues make in defining our culture and delivering our excellent services to children, young people and families locally. Please visit our Offer Page on our website to see a full range of benefits that we offer all staff who work with us. Our offer stretches from a generous and competitive remuneration package to a tailored learning and development scheme that helps you develop and build your career. We are passionate about our employees health and well-being and so we have built up a number of events and opportunities for staff the maintain healthy work-life approach. We have an active social calendar which aims to bring together colleagues from across the company in a variety of activities and social settings – including book clubs, bake clubs, charity events, Zumba classes, Christmas and summer parties, rounders in a local park and dragon boat racing on the Thames. OUR MISSION AND PROMISES Our mission To provide children and their families with the support and services they need to live happy, healthy and successful lives. Who we are Achieving for Children champions children and families, putting the well being and education of children first. As a social enterprise, we can take a business approach to delivering our social aims. We have the independence and flexibility to tailor innovative solutions to the needs of children and their families, whilst maintaining our strong bond and deep commitment to society and public service. Our promises 1. We will put children and young people first We are passionate about ensuring the best possible outcomes for children and young people – and this drives everything that we do. 2. We will embrace diversity and champion inclusion We are committed to valuing difference and diversity in our workforce and in the children and families we work with, so that their identities are promoted and their individual needs can be met. 3. We will be resourceful, adaptable and dependable We find and create solutions that work well for children and their families. We will build our reputation based on our professionalism, our dedication, our flexibility, and by always delivering what we promise. 4. We will nurture strong, responsive and caring relationships We build strong and productive partnerships with organisations and professionals who share our ambitions for children. We connect with children, young people, parents, carers and communities so that we can listen and learn from one another. 5. We will value and invest in our staff to deliver innovative and quality services We know that our employees are our most important asset – they make our ambitions a reality. We recruit and retain the best people, value their experience and expertise, and support their professional development and personal growth. 6. We will work with our customers to deliver the most effective solutions for them We are growing our business to become a leading provider of children’s services by understanding and working alongside our customers, always going the extra mile to deliver what they need to be successful. Achieving for Children recognise these are unprecedented times, but we continue to build capacity to support our most vulnerable groups. To do this we are continuing to attract talented professionals to join us as we continue to provide OUTSTANDING (Kingston ILACS Ofsted 2019) services. If you have the skills that will enable us to continue to enhance our practice and improve outcomes for children further, we want to hear from you. We are looking for bright, enthusiastic people who have the passion and the drive to make a positive difference to children’s lives. By recognizing and championing strengths we know we can make a real difference. It’s a genuine team effort in AfC. That’s why we want talented people, like you, to join us and help create a brighter future for children and families. We are a not-for-profit social enterprise owned by three local authorities (Kingston, Richmond and Windsor & Maidenhead), we offer the freedoms of a social enterprise with the employment benefits of local government. To find out about all of the breadth of benefits of working for Achieving for Children click here. Start dates Achieving for Children have fixed start dates, candidates are advised to prepare for this should a job offer be accepted to ensure eligible continuous service is not affected. How To apply If you would like more information about this role please see our job profile. Please apply online including a supporting statement addressing how you meet the criteria for this post detailing what skills, knowledge, experience and abilities you can bring to the role, as outlined in the job profile. Closing Date: 21st July 2021 Interview Date: TBC Achieving for Children is an equal opportunities employer, this extends to welcoming candidates from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds. We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. We expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received. Therefore, it is strongly advised that you complete and return your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.