Kibble Admin

Posted: May 16, 2023

Trainee Amanda’s enthusiasm is exactly who Kibble’s Career Start programme recruits for. Those who have a drive to make a difference to the lives of children and young people.

Previously working in retail, Amanda wanted a career that was rewarding. She applied to Career Start to begin a career in Child and Youth Care and play a positive role in the lives of young people.

Amanda was surprised at how much she even enjoyed the Career Start interview process, which involved a group assessment then a panel interview with a young person participating too. She shared that Kibble interested in her as they provide full training and mentoring.

“One of the best things about Career Start is the opportunity to go through the learning experience with a wider group of fellow trainees. We can share our experiences and motivate one another.

“There is complete support throughout Career Start. Kibble’s staff team, the colleagues we work with every day and previous trainees all are on-hand to offer advice and guidance, there is such camaraderie at Kibble.”

Watch Our Video

Amanda shares her experience from the interview process to spending time with children and young people.

Learn More About Career Start

Posted:

Previously an engineer, Dom decided to change careers as he wanted a rewarding job. He is currently earning while training with Kibble.

Before joining Kibble to begin a career in Child and Youth Care, Dom was not enjoying his previous role as an engineer. Dom decided to change careers when he spotted Kibble were recruiting for people with life experience who could be a role model for children and young people who may have experienced trauma or adversity in their lives. As he learned more about Kibble, the career opportunities available and the rewarding nature of the role, Dom knew he wanted to work for Kibble.

“No matter how high paid your current job is, if you are unhappy going to work every day, change it. It took courage for me to leave my full-time job to apply for Kibble but what I do now is so rewarding.

“I come in with a smile on my face and often, I am still smiling at the end of my shift.

“Every day is different – whether it is an early shift, helping young people get up and attend school or a back shift where we plan fun experiences such as go-karting, trampolining or playing football. I make sure young people know I am always here to make them a cup of tea and have a catch-up and decide what our plans are for the week.”

Watch Our Video

Let Dom himself inspire you to apply now to Career Start

Learn More About Career Start

Posted:

Find out why, Kate applied to Kibble’s Career Start Training Programme with the ambition to become a Child and Youth Care Worker.

Kate always had the ambition to build a rewarding career. She was a Dental Nurse for 15 years before deciding to change careers and work with children and young people.

Although daunting to leave a job she had excelled at for so long, Kate was motivated to change careers by the training, development and career opportunities that Kibble offered.

Applying to Career Start gave Kate the chance to earn while qualifying as a Child and Youth Care Worker.

Kate knew she had transferrable skills from her previous role including communication skills. She had experience of happily chatting with people and being able to empathise with them, helping them feel safe and relaxed. As well as organisation, teamwork and the ability to multi-task.

Her genuine, caring nature has been recognised by young people who enjoy being around her. Kate has created a safe space for young people to be themselves, this has led to them confiding in her as she offers valuable encouragement, advice and guidance. Kate always has the time to listen to the thoughts and feelings of young people in her care.

Learn More About Career Start

Posted: May 4, 2023

Kibble has a dedicated workforce of over 700 employees who ensure more than 170 children and young people receive love, care and support 365 days a year, 24/7. It is because of our qualified, specialist staff team that young people who have faced trauma can receive the right support, at the right time and we’re looking for thoughtful, compassionate, and ambitious people to join us.

As one of the UK’s largest charities, we recruit for several departments and a variety of job vacancies and invited potential applicants to come along to our jobs fair to hear more about the career possibilities available at Kibble. Those who were interested in changing careers or beginning a rewarding new job role came to the event and met with staff team members from care, education, learning and development, communications and HR as well as senior management.

Over 50 people took the opportunity to find out about the range of job roles available at Kibble, our current vacancies, career progression and training options and recruitment process. With an in-house learning and development team, you have access to extensive training and further study programmes as we actively help employees reach their full potential and continually evolve and improve to provide the highest standard of childcare services to children and young people.

Current vacancies include Kibble’s own Career Start training programme for those who want to change careers and start a fulfilling career in child and youth care, even if you have no previous experience or qualifications. We are also currently recruiting for a Mechanic, Senior Practitioner, Learning and Development Officer, Cook, Painter and more. No matter what department or job role you have at Kibble, you are making a positive difference to the lives of young people.

Join us in giving young people a chance at life.

Visit Kibble’s Job Vacancies

Helpful Pages

Career Start | Earn while qualifying as a Child and Youth Care Worker

Why Work with Us? | Download a Kibble Career Pack

Why Work with Us? | Discover Kibble’s Employee Benefits

Posted:

Kibble has Forest View Primary School and senior phase provisions, Goudie Academy and Mirin Academy as well as The Skills Academy, an education and training centre for young workforce development. All were evaluated by Education Scotland with the final inspection report praising us as ‘very good’ across all quality indicators.

Our supportive education programme follows Curriculum for Excellence and delivers an engaging learning experience, inspiring pupils to learn, fulfil potential and achieve.

The positive report by Education Scotland highlighted the fact our pupils felt happy and settled. Young people were highly motivated to engage with school activities and able to make choices during their learning. Overall, the broad and balanced curriculum centres around the needs, interests and aspirations of young people.

Our staff team take a practical and more innovative approach to learning, personal lesson plans are developed alongside bespoke programmes. By listening to young people and acting on their needs, opinions and future goals, meaningful relationships are built. This genuine commitment from staff has meant children and young people are surrounded by supportive adults who they trust. The unconditional encouragement has led young people to increase self-confidence, self-esteem and attainment with most of our students moving into education, training or employment. For young people to overcome barriers to learning and progress is a significant milestone, one they can be extremely proud of.

The report confirms Kibble’s staff team go above and beyond for young people from organising fun, practical and creative learning experiences to ensuring pupils have the resources to excel in numeracy and maths. Pupils have the opportunity to move forward with projects they themselves believe in, such as Goudie Academy pupils focusing on the environment and climate change and achieving the Eco Schools Green Flag award.

This past year has had many memorable moments including an end of year summer festival, an Oscars-inspired awards ceremony, sailing voyages, a pantomime performance and more. The future is exciting as we plan to build on the positive feedback and continue to empower young people through education, care and support.

Discover the Latest School News

Click on the school crest to read the latest updates.

Posted:

Kibble’s education and training centre, The Skills Academy held a careers event for young people to meet with key employers and discuss potential future careers.

The Skills Academy encourages students to look positively towards the future and supports young people to gain qualifications and experience in a subject they can progress into a career. Recently, some have begun building a career in construction, others have shown talent in expressive arts while one has specifically advanced their skillset in mechanics. Young people focus on subjects they find interesting, which can increase self-belief and lead to academic and practical achievements.

The careers event was an opportunity for young people to discover different organisations and learn about the subjects, skills and qualities employers look for. As young people thought about their future, the prospect of working within a thriving business and earning provided motivation.

Employers in attendance were varied to reflect the extensive job market options. Young people were able to chat with One Ren, Morrisons Construction, Scottish Fire and Rescue, Dogs Trust and more.

All companies explained there are a wide range of job roles and careers available that many outside their specific sector may not be aware of. For example, Morrisons Construction require those qualified in a specific trade, graduates, and administrative team members. Dogs Trust shared they have over 365 job roles available across several locations and multiple departments with job vacancies ranging from Receptionist to Dog School Coach.

The team at The Skills Academy provide a highly supportive learning environment with a varied curriculum, practical lessons and work placements as well as fun, engaging experiences including financial planning workshops and careers events. By meeting with employers, young people were able to learn about local organisations and their recruitment processes, inspiring young people to think carefully about the career opportunities available to them.

The Skills Academy is dedicated to educating students with employability and life skills, supporting young people to thrive in their own home and lead happy and healthy lifestyles.

Posted:

We have been named Scotland’s Best Charity Employer at S1Jobs.com’s national awards ceremony.

As one of the UK’s most established charities, Kibble supports children and young people aged 5-26 who have experienced trauma or adversity in their lives through residential children’s houses, fostering, wellbeing services, community support, primary and secondary education and more.

We were finalists across several categories including Best Charity Employer, Best Early Careers Employer, Best Learning and Development Initiative and Best HR Team. It was with great pride we received Best Charity Employer and were honoured to be amongst great fellow organisations including Quarriers and Man On! Inverclyde.

Chief Executive Officer of Kibble, Jim Gillespie said: “This is welcome recognition for the charity’s efforts to continuously develop internal career paths.

“We really want to make working at Kibble a career, not just a job. There’s a subtle difference between the two but the services we deliver require that distinction.

“You need compassion, commitment, patience and understanding to help children and young people reach their potential, and over the years we’ve been on a continuous journey to help our staff develop, retain and enhance those skills. It is our specialist staff team who bring Kibble’s services to life with our dedicated workforce of over 700 employees caring for more than 170 young people throughout the year.

“With that in mind, it was brilliant for the charity to receive this recognition from S1 Jobs, especially in the face of such worthy competition. I want to thank all our staff for the incredible effort they put in day in, day out. This award is very well deserved.”

Kibble understands staff are the most important resource and in return for their dedication, provide the workforce with employee benefits that focus on health, wellbeing, learning and development. Each member of staff has access to a free gym membership, physiotherapy, a health cashback scheme and exclusive retail and event discounts as well as childcare savings. The HR and Learning and Development team support training, further study and research opportunities. Overall, Kibble strives to support the organisation in delivering the highest standard of care to young people, helping shape the world children grow up in.

Visit Our Vacancies

Posted: April 17, 2023

Come along to St Mirren’s SMISA Stadium on Tuesday 25^th April between 11am-2pm or 5pm-8pm.

Find out how you can begin a rewarding career at Kibble and the range of roles available, all with learning and development opportunities.

Meet some of the friendly staff team and hear what it is like to work at Kibble, our values and mission as well as the generous staff benefits including childcare savings, gym memberships, exclusive retail and event discounts and more. Drop-in to our jobs fair throughout the day or during the evening session. We will answer the question, why work for Kibble? It is a careers fair you’ll be glad you attended.

Join us in helping give young people a chance at life.

Visit Vacancies

Download a Career Pack

**Careers in Child & Youth Care |** Senior Practitioner, Service Manager, Operations Manager are some of the career opportunities available.

**Careers in Education |** Roles include teachers, instructors and more. We have primary and secondary schools as well as our Skills Academy.

**Careers in Corporate Services |** Providing essential support to the entire organisation from administrative roles to HR, ICT, Communications, Catering, Domestics and more.

**Careers in Mental Health Services |** Opportunity to join our in-house team of over 20 psychologists and therapists to support young people, families and communities.

Career Start

As well as recruiting qualified staff members for our various departments, we also recruit people wanting to start a rewarding career in Child and Youth Care, even those who have no previous experience or qualifications. Through our Career Start programme, individuals with a drive to make a difference can earn while training to qualify as a Child and Youth Care Worker, upon completion of the 12-month course, an interview for Kibble is guaranteed. Our jobs fair will have further details on Career Start.

As seen on STV

Learn More About Career Start

Talk to Us

If you have questions about starting a rewarding career with Kibble, email: communications@kibble.org.

Posted: April 10, 2023

Young people of Kibble took part in a 5-day workshop with financial education charity, MyBnk. It helped further boost their understanding of how to manage their personal finances and complete SCQF qualifications in Personal Money Management and Independent Living Skills.

MyBnk launched The Money House to deliver fun, interactive and engaging lessons to 16-25-year-olds who may need support with financial literacy. Managing money is an essential life skill, which can help young people sustain independent living in future.

“We are thrilled young people enjoyed themselves while learning at The Money House. There is so much to say about the week. Young people had such humour, patience and compassion and had an interest in talking about everything. It was brilliant to see their willingness to give all the activities a shot, even if they were unsure at first.

“It is clear to see young peoples’ motivation to build incredible, positive futures for themselves.”

Elizabeth Wilson, Lead Trainer at MyBnk’s The Money House Scotland

The sessions were extremely valuable as it expanded young peoples’ knowledge and understanding of banking, budgeting, spotting scams, planning for the future and more.

“The Money House workshop was a full week of activities, sharing of useful information and helped me brush up on my own personal money habits.

“Young people were a total credit to themselves, fully participating in the experience.”

Alicia Eadie, Teacher at Kibble

Photo provided by MyBnk from a separate session, not taken at Kibble.

Posted:

A young person of Kibble has shown entrepreneurial spirit and creativity by crafting Kibble’s own edition of Monopoly. The original design becomes version #301 of the iconic boardgame.

Kibble’s Chief Operating Officer, Sinclair has described the Safe Centre edition as ‘brilliant’ and challenged anyone who believes they can win against him to speak up.

Child and Youth Care Worker, Lola agreed the young creator should be proud.

Art Teacher, Dawn is amazed at the thought the young person put into each part of the board to completely personalise it to Kibble.

Time was taken to complete the hand-crafted Monopoly model from start to finish, with close attention being paid to the primary concept. The spots on Kibble’s board include Barra, Islay and Jura along with a visit to a YDance workshop, the swimming pool and gym hall as well as Paisley Gilmour Street Train Station, Glasgow Central and Edinburgh Waverly.

The game pieces were made in Woodwork and research had to be taken into how to make the dice as drilling the holes too deep could affect the weight and rolling of the dice. Moving forward, the next steps are to create the game cards – watch this space!

The innovative blueprint was a great feat that took patience, planning and creativity and is a masterpiece to be proud of. We can’t wait to see it complete with the full handmade game pieces.