Leading From Within: Hands-On Leadership in Residential Child Care

This practical five-module course supports a Deputy Manager in a residential children’s home to become a more visible, trusted and hands-on leader. It connects the specific responsibilities of the Deputy Manager and Residential Child Care Worker roles with everyday practice, from supervision, care planning and safeguarding to cooking, cleaning, laundry and shared shift responsibilities. Using realistic residential care scenarios, the course explores collaboration, compromise, leading by example and trauma-informed practice, while keeping children’s lived experience at the centre. It draws on the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015, the Quality Standards, including the Leadership and Management Standard, and Ofsted’s focus on what life is like for children in the home.