Early Years Portage Worker

Contract Type:
Fixed term contract (until 31st March 2029)

Contract Reason:
Subject to funding

Secondment Opportunity: Permanent employees are encouraged to apply and will be supported as part of our workforce development commitment

Salary:
Grade G. Scale 23 - £34,434 to Scale 28 - £39,152

Hours Per Week: 36

Base

Location:

South Family Hub, Old Road, Hyde, SK14 SQ4

Assessment Date:
To be arranged

Are you passionate about making a real difference in the lives of children and families? Do you bring compassion, curiosity, collaboration, conversation, and courage to your practice? If so, Tameside is looking for you.

Tameside Council is looking for a passionate and dedicated Portage Worker to join our Early Years Team and support the delivery of our Best Start in Life vision through our Family Hub offer. This specialist role works with pre-school children with SEND and developmental delays, providing early intervention and tailored support to help children develop, thrive and achieve their full potential.

This is an exciting opportunity to join a supportive team and make a real difference to the lives of children and families. Your work will help strengthen family resilience, improve developmental outcomes and ensure children with additional needs receive the right support at the right time.

As a Portage Worker, you will work directly with families in their homes and communities, delivering personalised learning programmes, supporting parents to develop their children’s skills through play, and helping children become ready for school. You will work closely with health, education and early help partners to provide coordinated support and promote inclusive opportunities for children and families.

Message from Jill Colbert, Director of Children’s Services

“I joined the council at the beginning of 2025 and was instantly charmed by the warmth, openness, and energy of colleagues.”

“I came to Tameside for one reason; because I know we can do fantastic things for our families here.”

“We’re a children’s service on a significant improvement journey. We know what needs to be different for our children and families and we’re ambitious to deliver that change.”

“We have a growing range of specialist services for children, where you can test and grow your skills and practice. We have a Social Work Academy that is led by people who bring passion to learning and who know that the DCS’ of the future are right in front of them. We are working on our progression pathways so that staying in Tameside is rewarded and recognised.

We have investment in innovation and improvement from the council so that we can grow services and support for families that we can sustain, from family hubs through to complex safeguarding.”

“I am so certain that we can build a proud, inclusive and safe climate for great practice to flourish in Tameside. I’d love you to join me on the journey here at Team Tameside.”

At Tameside, we believe in:

• Compassion understanding the lived experiences of children and families.
• Curiosity asking questions that lead to deeper insight and better outcomes for children.
• Collaboration working together across services to deliver joined-up support.
• Conversation listening and engaging meaningfully with children, families and professionals.
• Courage leading with courage, making bold and compassionate decisions that put children first.

At Tameside, we are committed to ensuring all our Citizens lead long, fulfilling and healthy lives. We are committed to supporting economic growth, providing high quality health and care services, protecting our most vulnerable and creating strong and supportive, self-sufficient communities.

We recognise that our people drive our success and enable the organisation to deliver on its vision, purpose and priorities, and that our people are our most important resource and asset. Our values underpin our practice and behaviours, and are at the heart of everything that we do; and we understand that how we do things is just as important as what we do.

We pride ourselves on living by our STRIVE values of Support, Trust, Respect, Integrity, Value…