AddressHours: 37 per week
Contract Type: Permanent
Service Area: Safeguarding Outcomes/Care Outcomes
Department: Family Support Team
Welcome Payment of 5% of overall salary (pro-rata for part-time roles)
Welcome payment statement:
Retention Payments of £2,000 Payable*
Relocation Package of up to £8,000 available*
- Please enquire for more details.
If your passion is around collaborative work with families, centred on building relationships in order to help families develop resilience and make changes for their children, then we are the Local Authority for you. Working with families to keep children at home wherever possible, our dynamic teams work with families from point of contact through to long term support and intervention. Our practice model is underpinned by relationship-based, systemic approaches to facilitate change, alongside trauma informed practice.
Bath and North East Somerset Children’s Social Care are an innovative small Local Authority focused on therapeutic assessment and support. Rated Good by OFSTED, with continued vision and drive to improve further.
An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Senior Practitioner (with a Social Work qualification) to join one of our Family Support Teams, within the Safeguarding Outcomes Service. We are committed to being a dynamic and creative Local Authority, working hard to think differently about how we approach our work with families. We are deeply committed to providing tailored high-quality services and well thought out interventions to families to keep children safe. Our practice is values-driven with a strong ethos of child-focused interventions.
About the role:
You will work in partnership with an enthusiastic hub consisting of a Team Manager, Deputy Team Manager, Senior Practitioners, Social Workers, Family Support Practitioners and administrative staff.
This challenging but rewarding role will see you responding to, co-ordinating and delivering a range of social care services to children, young people and families in the Bath and North East Somerset area for children subject to Child in Need Plans, Child Protection Plans, Children in Care, and children subject to legal proceedings.
The role will include undertaking single assessments and section 47 child protection investigations. You will work closely with our colleagues across the service and have established partnerships with agencies across health, education, support services and adult services to ensure we can respond as effectively as possible to the needs of children, young people, and their families. This includes working alongside our Family Support Plus team who deliver extensive Family Group Conferences to utilise resources and support within families to keep children safe, as well as tailored interventions including the New Way domestic abuse service.
The post holder will manage their own caseload, which will include children and families with complex needs. You will be able to evidence a strong ability to analyse information and formulate outcome focused plans for children and families, as well as a commitment to driving forward care plans and legal work to protect children and promote children’s outcomes through permanency.
Applicants must be confident in writing professional assessments/reports as well as presenting their evidence verbally, including in court proceedings. Applicants need to have very strong organisational skills to manage and prioritise their work effectively and in a timely way and will be committed to working as part of a team to support colleagues in delivering optimum services to children and families.
As a Senior Practitioner, you will have an opportunity to develop your supervisory skills through supervision of a Family Support Practitioner, as well as being able to access Practice Educator Professional Standards (PEPS) training to support a student Social Worker or taking on a mentoring role for newly qualified Social Workers on the ASYE programme from other teams.
We are seeking applications from workers who have relevant experience in safeguarding and are looking to enhance and further develop their skills and contribute to service development for vulnerable children in an exciting and dynamic service.
You can expect:
- A comprehensive induction
- Managed caseload: supporting children in need, children subject to child protection plans, and children protected through legal proceedings
- Regular supervision – at a minimum of monthly one to one
- Weekly group reflective supervision to promote thoughtful and creative practice, supported by your peers and managers
- Monthly Peer Circles to ensure strong relationships and support between Senior Practitioners across the teams
- Extensive training opportunities, which include SARI workshops around culturally sensitive practice, opportunities to join a 6-month long training in Systemic Practice delivered by the Centre for Systemic Social Work, attachment-based workshops, and trauma-informed workshops
- Excellent administrative support with 3 admin staff supporting each team
- Tri-annual Social Work Conferences with guest speakers who are experts in the field. Examples of previous conferences have included Donald Forrester, Brid Featherstone, Rebecca Carr-Hopkins, ‘Annie’ from Surviving Safeguarding, and Dr Karen Treisman
- Paid Social Work England membership
- Access to Research in Practice
- Laptop and iPhone to promote flexible working, to enhance your work-life balance
- Relocation Payments are available
- A stable leadership team
- A stable and committed team, with very low rates of agency workers, and low vacancy rates
To apply you will have:
- A relevant Social Work qualification
- Significant Social Work experience
- Knowledge of the legislative framework that governs children’s services
- Knowledge of theory and practice applicable to Social Work
- IT skills to enable operation of standard electronic systems
- Passion, commitment, and motivation to support the most vulnerable families in our area
Your main place of work will be the award-winning, modern Civic Centre in Keynsham, halfway between Bath and Bristol, easily accessible via car or public transport, with a train station 5 minutes’ walk away.
Why B&NES Council?
We offer a wide range of benefits, to ensure that you are paid fairly for your work, have the flexibility to enjoy a great work/life balance, and have the support you need. These include:
- A competitive salary package
- A range of flexible working and hybrid working options, including flexi-time, four regional offices and home-working, dependent on service requirements
- A generous holiday allowance and special leave provisions
- The Local Government Pension Scheme
- A comprehensive Employee Assistance Programme – whatever life throws at you; we are committed to supporting you and your well-being at work and home
- Professional and personal development including in-house training and accredited qualifications including Aspiring Manager and Leadership Development
- Discount scheme including the VECTIS card that offers numerous local discounts including cycle to work and free entry to numerous local attractions with B&NES
Interested to find out more?
If you are interested in this post and require more details after reading the job description or just to chat through the role and what’s involved, please contact Bonnie Heselton, Deputy Team Manager on 01225 396290 or email bonnie_heselton@bathnes.gov.uk
To apply
Please use the online application facility.
For further information on applying please see “Application Form Help” page on the Jobs website.
Bath & North East Somerset Council has one overriding purpose – to improve people’s lives. We have four core values which shape every aspect of our working life and how we look to the future. These values are to be Bold, Empowered, Supportive and Transparent.
Please explain in your application how you could incorporate these values into the role you are applying for.
As an equal opportunities employer, Bath & North East Somerset Council is committed to the equal treatment of all current and prospective employees and is opposed to discrimination on the basis of age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, gender reassignment, or marriage and civil partnership.
We aspire to have a diverse and inclusive workplace and strongly encourage suitably qualified applicants from a wide range of backgrounds to apply and join us.
Safeguarding Statement:
The Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable groups and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment. As part of this commitment anyone working in a post with children or vulnerable groups will be expected to undertake an Enhanced DBS check with/without barred list checks.
As this post involves working within one of these groups, we will require a Disclosure & Barring Service check and/or subscription to the DBS online service. The suitability of all prospective employees or volunteers will be assessed during the recruitment process in line with this commitment.
You must provide proof that you have successfully registered with Social Work England. Further information about the Registration Scheme can be found at https://www.socialworkengland.org.uk/
Please note the Council operates a policy of prior consideration for roles for any individual on the Council’s at-risk register. This means should a redeployee express an interest in this role, providing they meet the essential criteria for the role, they will be interviewed before any shortlisting or interviewing of external candidates.
