Child and Family Practioner

Job Description

Goodstart is Australia’s largest early learning provider. As a not-for-profit social enterprise, we exist purely to improve the lives of Australia’s children and their families. Our people are our foundation, together we are working to ensure children have the learning, development and wellbeing outcomes they need for school and life.

Role: Child & Family Practitioner

Location: Melbourne Victoria

Employment Type: Full Time – 2 Year Fixed Term

• Be part of a unique and expanding national Allied Health team working in the early learning sector!
• Realistic and achievable workload
• Work with children in their natural setting in our centres
• Use your social work, psychology and/or infant mental health qualifications

As a Child & Family Practitioner at Goodstart Early Learning, you will get to see the impact of your work daily through the eyes of children, families and Educators.

Searching for a meaningful career in Allied Health?

At Goodstart, we’re all about laying the foundation for better lives through amazing early learning experiences, and we know that we can’t do that without great people! Our team of Allied Health professionals work together with our centre staff to make a real difference for children in those crucial early years.

We’re not-for-profit; so you can be confident children – not shareholders – are our first priority. Our vision is for Australia’s children to have the best possible start in life.

Safety, health and wellbeing are more than just words to us, they are a personal commitment and a promise we make to our children, our families and each other every day.

As a Child and Family Practitioner you will have work in an integrated and holistic way to enhance the outcomes of children in partnership with the Centre Director, Educators and families. You will engage and support the most vulnerable children and families and focus on targeted capacity building strategies to enhance every child’s social and emotional learning.

You will also focus on closing the gap for our most vulnerable children who have experienced childhood trauma, by enhancing their mental health outcomes, through evidenced based trauma-informed practice.

Your Impact:

• Implement evidence-informed capacity building approaches to enhance outcomes for children and families within the early learning and care setting.
• Work alongside Centre Directors, Educators and other key stakeholders to observe, identify and support the progression of children’s learning, development and well-being.
• As a key member of the care team around the child, communicate and engage regularly with families to support the inclusion and participation of their child.
• Build linkages with local services and streamline referral pathways into and out of the centre.
• Attend and participate in Centre Team meetings and contribute to the development of a strong, cohesive team.
• Maintain close liaison and attend regular supervision with the National Manager – Child and Family Service or Child and Family, Team Leader
• Deliver professional development and contribute to reports, briefings, resources as required.
• Ensure that all administrative requirements are met and maintained in accordance with Goodstart Early Learning policies and procedures.

You’ll bring to the table:

• Tertiary qualifications in social work, psychology, infant mental health or equivalent
• Strong understanding and ability to apply attachment theory, Circle of Security (COS) and trauma informed practice
• Strong understanding of child development (birth – 5 years) and evidence based trauma informed practice
• Good understanding of relevant early childhood frameworks and standards
• Demonstrated high level of interpersonal, communication, negotiation and coaching skills to achieve improved outcomes for children and families
• Ability to document, analyse and report on relevant key performance indicators

What Goodstart can offer you

• Work for a company that has an aspiration to be globally recognised for early years practice and learning outcomes
• Gain significant investment in your growth and development with support, tools, training and experiences that will truly enhance the progress and outcomes for children in their earliest years.
• Be a part of a team and work environment where everyone feels a sense of belonging, inclusion and purpose
• Access to discounted childcare (up to 15%)
• Flexible work arrangements giving you choice about when and how work will be done in order to better manage your work and non-work needs
• Discounted health care and access to employee wellbeing program with BUPA
• Exclusive discounts on travel, gym memberships, Apple and Dell products, and more…

How to apply:

• Click ‘Apply Now’ and submit your application (please do not e-mail your application to this e-mail address, please apply directly through our website to be considered for this position).

Supporting our people and protecting our children

We are an equal opportunity employer that is proud of our inclusive and diverse work environment. We support and encourage individual growth and strong teams that are made up of many different cultures and backgrounds.

We are deeply committed to Reconciliation and creating an environment where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People feel connected and a strong sense of belonging. By weaving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives through all that we do, we aim to build knowledge and a deeper understanding of our First Nations People and culture for all in our team.