Family Links Worker

Role:Family Links Worker - Drummond School

Employer:Thriving Families

Hours:Full-time (35 hours per week) or part-time (minimum of 30 hours per week, could also be considered).

Salary:£27,000 (£14.84 per hour) pro rata (full time = 35 hours per week)

Holidays:37 days/259 hours per annum including public holidays (pro-rata)

Place of work:Hybrid - predominantly working from the Thriving Families' office in The Pines, Drummond Road, Inverness IV2 4NZ and Drummond School with some home working.

Pension:3% employer contribution

Contract:Fixed term - 2 years

Reports to:Senior Family Support Worker and Chief Officer

Closing date for applications:Sunday 26 October 2025 (midnight)

Provisional interview date:Thursday 13 November 2025, in person interviews planned with MS Teams option if required e.g. due to adverse weather conditions.

Overview

This is an exciting opportunity to be part of a pioneering project supported by the Highland Community Planning Partnership's Whole Family Wellbeing Programme.

Drummond School is a free-standing special school with over one hundred children with a wide range of highly complex health, medical and communication needs. Families and professionals have identified a need to ensure that the interface between families, their communities, school and medical care is well co ordinated and communicated to ensure outcomes for the children are as positive as possible and the needs of the whole family are met wherever possible at the earliest stage.

The Family Links Worker will work alongside a 'Family Health Worker' (role title TBC) and existing designated support including Educational Psychology within Drummond School supporting families as:

• A dedicated resource to support families of Drummond School to enable and facilitate access to universal health and community supports for the whole family at the earliest point of need.
• Developing a whole family approach by working together, linking the Child's Plan process to the needs of the whole family, co ordinating and linking universal services and communities with specialist health care where necessary.
• Improve support and confidence in the school environment to meet the health needs of the children, by becoming part of the Drummond School community.

About Thriving Families

Our charity (previously known as Chip+) has been supporting families in the Highlands for over three decades. Our goal is to be the 'go to' organisation known for improving the lives of families in the Highlands by giving them confidence, empowering them to know their rights, know what questions to ask and have their voices heard.

We are currently commissioned to provide an independent information, advice, and support service for families with children (up to age 25) with additional support needs, and the professionals working with them. An additional support need is anything which means a child needs more, or different, support to another child the same age to make the most of their lives.

Role description Purpose of role

The Family Links Worker will be a bridge between home and school, supporting families to overcome challenges to both well being and learning and enabling children and young people to flourish in school and beyond.

It is recognised that there is a range of potentially beneficial outcomes for children and young people from building closer partnerships between schools and families and supporting all family members to address both practical and emotional issues.

Support provided to families will be flexible and responsive to the needs of families and individual family members. It will be available to families for as long as they need it.

Main responsibilities

• Work alongside a Family Health Worker and Drummond School staff to support families.
• Work in partnership with children, young people, school, parents, carers, local statutory providers and community organisations to deliver tailored support to families who are experiencing challenges.
• Liaise with contacts within schools to develop effective referral pathways for families needing this support.
• Meet and support both young and adult family members - individually or collectively and in their own home or in a safe space outside the home as appropriate to individual circumstances and need - to identify practical and emotional issues which have an impact on wellbeing and actions to address these.
• Where appropriate and within the remit and skillset of this role, work directly alongside family members, as relevant, to action issues identified. Otherwise, direct and signpost family members to appropriate sources of support within the community and beyond.
• Meet regularly as a team to reflect on experiences, share learning and good practice and further develop the role and remit.
• Regularly feed back activities and progress to key contacts in the school community.
• Contribute to the development of an improvement plan for the Drummond School family support service and monitor progress against key indicators within the plan.
• Work alongside partners from the school, statutory services and community groups to improve the universal wellbeing support for all children, young people and adult family members available through forums (including schools) already in existence in the area.
• Contribute to regular progress reports.
• Where appropriate and identified as a need by families, facilitate group and peer support opportunities for families.
• Regularly gather, communicate, act and feed back on the views and voices of young and adult family members - both on the service provided and on wider issues affecting them.

Person specification Experience / knowledge

• Experience of working alongside families in a supportive role.
• Experience of delivering support in relation to one or more of the following: early years (pre birth to 5); primary years (5 - 12); secondary years (12 - 18); additional support needs (all ages 0 -18).
• Experience of working in a development role to influence ongoing, evidence based change.
• The ability to deliver support appropriately within the scope of the project and to work in line with agreed policies and procedures.
• Experience of working successfully as part of a small team.
• Knowledge of the range of supports available for families in Highland and in the local community.
• Experience of working within cross sector, multi agency partnerships.
• Knowledge of the challenges currently faced by families in the Highlands.
• Knowledge of primary and secondary school systems and processes in Scotland and across Highland relating to additional support needs.
• Awareness of the challenges faced by children and young people in engaging with school in Highland.
• Knowledge of how to access supports for families (e.g. income maximisation)
• Understanding of and respect for the need to work within professional boundaries.

Personal qualities, skills and characteristics

• Warm, empathetic, engaging and personable to help build relationships with families, other team members and partners
• Highly effective communication skills
• Strengths based, collaborative and authentic approach.
• Calm, caring, compassionate and respectful in chaotic, challenging and pressurised situations.
• Ability to exude hope, inspire and empower others.
• Enthusiasm - for the opportunity to work alongside families and make a difference to their lives, for the professional opportunity that working in the service brings and the opportunity to do things differently.
• Creative and knowledgeable, able to improvise to find innovative options and solutions for families working to realistic goals.
• Reflective of their own practice, willing to ask for, receive and act on feedback received from others, and willing to provide feedback to others.
• Team worker who genuinely thrives in working collaboratively with children, families, the whole family support team and wider professional networks.
• Embraces flexibility in working arrangements and able to manage their time effectively.

Application notes

For a confidential discussion, please contact Chief Officer Sarah Fowler

Applications should be sent with the subject line 'Application for employment' and include the following:

A CV, not more than two sides of A4 and including two referees, including your current or most recent employer. Referees will only be contacted if we make you a conditional offer of employment.

A Letter of Application to include

• What attracted you to the role (maximum 200 words)
• A general statement in support outlining how your knowledge, skills and experience meet the essential criteria listed in the person specification (maximum 1000 words)

All applications will be acknowledged, and candidates will be kept informed on the progress of their application.

Please note: When we shortlist the applications to see who we will interview, we will score the applications against the criteria in the person specification, looking for evidence that the applications meet the essential criteria. Please evidence how you meet the person specification in your application.