Senior Social Worker - Children With Disabilities Team
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Senior Social Workers – Children's Services
Children With Disabilities Social Work Team
£54,084 - £57,117 (includes £5k market supplement)
Hybrid working – Newham Dockside E16 2QU
Closing date: 05/12/2021 at 23:59 – please apply ASAP as we may interview shortlisted candidates before the closing date
Job Description
We Are Newham.
We’re a vibrant, dynamic, culturally rich London Borough with a young population and bags of potential. We’re a challenging yet rewarding place to practise social work, with the networks in place to enable you to be the best social worker you can be and make a real difference to our children and their families. Our social care services were rated to be GOOD overall by Ofsted, with leadership rated as OUTSTANDING, but we have not stopped striving to be better.
We’ve been working tirelessly to establish a Centre of Excellence for Children’s Services through investment, co-production and by continuously developing our 'Circles of Support' practice model; centring on systemic and restorative practice and a specialist support offer for our practitioners.
Ofsted described Newham as having a positive culture of learning and development and we always try to develop talent in-house. We’ve promoted 40 internal social work colleagues during the past two years, and have put 46 practitioners through further education since 2020. We value your development and at Newham career progression is reality for many.
We understand that social work can be a challenging yet ultimately very rewarding profession that makes demands of you personally and professionally. In Newham we value your wellbeing and ensure that you have the support needed for a better work/life balance through a remote working offer when you are not visiting your children and families, a pleasant, modern office space for when you are in the office, a flexible working policy where all requests are considered, and a clinical offer to support you to do your best work.
Apply now, and be part of our success.
ABOUT THE JOB
Social Work in Newham is underpinned by a culture of Systemic and Restorative practice with high quality relationships at the heart of our approach. We have strong links with colleagues in adult services, and other specialist Service linked to Children with SEND.
We are looking for qualified Senior Social Workers who will thrive in a position working in partnership with families to increase independence, promote family resilience and keep children safe from harm.
Social Workers in this team will look after a complex caseload of children with disabilities, in this challenging but hugely rewarding role. Your expertise will span the range of statutory provisions, including Children in Need, children subject to Child Protection Plans, Children in Care and those where Care Proceedings have been initiated. You will work closely with these children and their families to undertake holistic social work assessments to identify risk and need; and work with multi-agency networks to develop and review plans that address and mitigate concerns in a timely manner.
Social Workers in Children with Disabilities are readily required to liaise with health and education professionals to develop support packages for children with complex needs. The ability to understand and navigate multi-agency systems and processes is essential.
For more information about the duties of a Social worker at Newham please download the Job Description.
ABOUT YOU
You have at least 3 years’ post qualified experience and an understanding of working effectively within a diverse, urban community. You share our ambition and energy in embracing new ways of working. You have high working standards and are conscious of your own professional development and that of those around you, especially less experienced and student social workers starting out on their social work careers. You are always open to learning and to helping others learn so that children and families can benefit from our best practice.
You have considerable knowledge and experience working in the SEND space in a qualified social work role, and are fully aware of the issues and challenges that affect children with SEND and their families.
We’re looking for people who have a genuine interest in a restorative, relationship based practice model drawing on systemic thinking to inform your approach to building effective relationships with children, families and communities.
You will be a qualified social worker who is registered with Social Work England.
WHY WORK WITH US?
We’ve been working hard to make Newham a great place to practise.
- We’re a GOOD local authority and have established a centre of excellence for Children’s Services.
- Ofsted reported that we have OUTSTANDING senior leadership.
- Stability: 100% of our Service Managers and 71% of Team Managers are permanent.
- Our firmly established practice model, Circles of Support, was recently nominated for the prestigious MJ Award for Innovation in Children’s Services and allows systemic, restorative practice to flourish.
- We offer genuine flexible working, with only 1-2 days in the office per week (off duty)
- Career progression; we’ve promoted 40 internal colleagues in the past two years.
- A busy Social Care Academy – 47 social workers have studied for further education with us since 2020 and we hold regular lunchtime seminars to assist with CPD.
- A competitive package of up to £SALARY (includes market supplement).
- Oyster card/parking permit for business/work use.
- Wellbeing service, leisure and discount benefits (Council scheme).
- Travel season ticket loan, cycle scheme, Local Authority pension.
TO APPLY
To apply please submit your CV and a supporting statement (1-2 sides of A4) through our online recruitment portal.
The supporting statement should demonstrate how you meet the relevant requirements listed in the person specification in the job description. Shortlisting decisions will be based on candidates' relevant experience and on candidates' suitability for the role in line with the person specification, as described in their supporting statement and CV.
Closing date: 05/12/2023 at 23:59 – please apply ASAP as we may interview shortlistable candidates before the closing date.
Interviews: before the Christmas break
If you have any questions about the recruitment process or want to discuss joining Newham Children’s Services with one of our managers, please contact our Recruitment Team.
Additional Information
We are committed to creating an inclusive, anti-racist environment for all. When you apply for a job at Newham, your application is considered on its merits regardless of your age, disability, ethnicity, faith, gender identity or sexual orientation. If you share our vision and values, and you bring the experience and skills we need, that’s all that matters to us.
The London Borough of Newham has important responsibilities for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. If you are appoin