Senior Practitioner - Ref: Ch10523

Senior Practitioner (Disabled Children and Young People’s Team) - Ref: CH10523
£46,464-£51,515 per annum
The team are comprised of a Team Manager, Assistant Team Manager, Senior Practitioner and eight social workers, who along with two family support workers work with children and young people from 0-18 with social care needs and long term disabilities which have a substantial effect on their day to day lives.
We are looking for someone ideally with some experience of supporting and enhancing the practice of other practitioners in a social care context and supervising students, with a solid background in disability and safeguarding. The role will involve supporting the uplift of practice within the team, supporting less experienced colleagues in their day to day work, developing own area of specialism and potentially supervising students and family support workers. Having a Best Interest Assessor qualification would be an advantage.
The team are involved in all aspects of the social work role from referral, undertaking Child and Family Assessments and s47 investigations, and working with young people on Child in Need plans, Child Protection plans, Court work, young people who are looked after and young people in transition to adult services. The Senior Practitioner will also hold a small caseload including co-working on complex situations such as young people in the Transforming Care Programme arena.
You will be a qualified social worker and registered with Social Work England. You must be able to demonstrate significant experience of social work practice.
If you are passionate about enabling social workers to support disabled young people and their families, and want to work as part of a friendly team in an authority committed to ongoing learning and restorative practice where you will receive good supervision and training, then we would be happy to receive your application.
If you would like further information about this great opportunity then please get in touch for an informal discussion with Lisa Ashwood, Team Manager lisa.ashwood@walsall.gov.uk or 01922 654177
Working for Walsall Children’s Social Care:
Walsall is a great place to practice Social Work. We strive to provide the best services and outcomes for our children, young people, and families, and this has been recognised by Ofsted who have graded us as GOOD.
Ofsted told us that: ‘T here is a strong corporate commitment and investment in children’s services from the chief executive, lead member and other members to implement Walsall Council’s priorities for children. As a result, there is tangible progress and benefits for children, their families, and the workforce.'
For our Social Workers to be able to support children and young people and keep them safe, they need to feel safe and supported. We are committed to promoting the wellbeing of our practitioners and as part of our Workforce Wellbeing Strategy, Social Workers and Team Managers will have access to clinical supervision as part of an enhanced wellbeing programme for all staff.
We have significantly improved our workforce stability, and we would like you to join our increasingly settled, permanent staff group. Within our 2022 staff health survey, 92% of staff said that they feel positive about working for Walsall. Feedback was that this was especially because we have a small community feeling here in Walsall, and staff feel part of a team and supported by their managers and Senior Managers. Also, 89% of staff overwhelmingly felt that they had access to the right training, induction and learning and development opportunities for their role.
We offer flexible working, with a hybrid approach of home working and office based working to maintain our team support and culture.
View Job Description and Employee Specification
Closing Date: 21 st January 2024
Walsall Council takes seriously the responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of all the children and young people entrusted to our care and it is our expectation that all staff will share this commitment. Completion of an enhanced Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check is a requirement for working with children and young people.
Note: Applicants appointed to posts that require an enhanced DBS clearance must declare any periods of time that they have lived, studied or worked abroad and be prepared to provide an Overseas Criminal Records Certificate (OCRC) or a Statement of Good Conduct (SOGC) relating to anytime they were overseas.
This post is covered by the Government’s Code of Practice on the English Language Fluency Duty for public sector workers. The postholder will be required to communicate verbally with customers and provide advice and/or information in accurate spoken English.
We want our staff and management teams to reflect the diversity of the communities we serve in Walsall, and in Children’s Social Care we are committed to promoting equality and anti-discriminatory practice.
We welcome applications from people of all cultures, races, ethnicities and religions, of different genders, ages, sexual orientations, disabled applicants, and recognise unique perspectives and contributions.
For more reasons to join us, please visit: https://go.walsall.gov.uk/employee-benefits.
Important note: When completing your online application form, you will be asked to enter supporting information. You must enter a detailed supporting information statement describing how your skills, abilities and experience meet the specific criteria included in the employee specification. If you do not include a supporting information statement, you will not be shortlisted. Please do not add a CV as we do not accept them. Please see our Information for Applicants leaflet for further information.