Social Worker - Courts Team (Children's)
In Sutton, there is much for us to be proud of both as a council and as a borough. This includes high levels of resident satisfaction, the quality of our services, our success in addressing our financial challenges to date, the way that we involve and engage with residents on key issues facing the borough, and the enthusiastic and motivated staff that we employ.
Looking ahead, there are plans for the delivery of new homes and new schools and the London Cancer Hub is being developed, while the Council is also seen as a driving force within the South London Partnership of five outer south west London boroughs focused on strategic growth, regeneration and investment.
All of this demonstrates a good track record and an authority that is ambitious and set to deliver more improvements for the borough. We've set out our vision for the future of Sutton in our corporate plan - Ambitious for Sutton. This strategic plan will shape the outcomes we achieve, the services we provide, and the impact we have on residents, to make Sutton a great place to live, work and raise a family.
Situated in Zone 5, Sutton is less than 30 minutes by train from central London, and south and south west London are easily accessible by public transport. There are 10 train stations which serve key neighbourhoods within the borough providing direct connections to London Victoria, London Bridge, London Blackfriars and St Pancras International. Sutton also has direct rail connections with Epsom, Dorking, Guildford and Horsham, as well as Wimbledon for an interchange with the London Underground and West Croydon for the London Overground. There's also an extensive road network which provides close and easy access to the M25 and M23.
About the Role and our Ideal Candidate
Join the Court Team as a Social Worker on a starting salary of £40,755 and enjoy a Golden Hello along with a Retention Bonus, outlined as follows:
- £1,000 paid with your first month's salary
- £1,000 for your first completed year of service
- £2,000 for your second completed year of service
- £3,000 for your third completed year of service and each year thereafter
- Reimbursement of Social Work England Registration
- Flexible working model that allows social workers to manage their diary to meet the needs of the service.
We've got an exciting opportunity for confident and skilled Court Social Workers within Children' Social Care at the London Borough of Sutton. Our objective is to deliver the best outcomes for children and young people.
Your responsibilities will include:
- Conduct thorough assessments and evaluations of the children and families involved in family court and care proceedings.
- Provide counselling and advocacy for the children and families, ensuring the best interests of the children is key to all decision making.
- Work collaboratively with judges, solicitors, and other court officials to prepare comprehensive reports and present findings and recommendations.
Are you ready to progress your career? We are committed to supporting your development as you embark on your journey with Suttons Children Social Care service.
Our Ideal Candidate
This opportunity invites experienced social workers with a strong commitment to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and families within court proceedings. You should possess excellent assessment and planning skills, with the ability to create and implement tailored plans that address each child's unique needs. Strong advocacy skills are essential, as you will be responsible for ensuring that children's voices are heard and their rights upheld. Collaboration with families, and other professionals is key, so effective communication and the ability to articulate yourself is essential for the role, in order to build strong relationships with the children, families, and other professionals.
In addition, we would expect the following from all suitable candidates:
- To be registered with Social Work England and hold a degree in Social Care or similar.
- At least three years post qualifying experience as a registered social worker practising in a child and family setting, ideally with experience in managing cases and court proceedings.
- Successful completion of an Assisted and Supported Year in employment (ASYE).
- Knowledge of the UK Court system and its application with children's social care.
- Ability to communicate complex social issues clearly to both our service users and professionals.
- Ideally, experience in working with legal professionals - judges, solicitors, and other court officials to prepare comprehensive reports and present findings and recommendations.
If you are driven to helping children and young people and want to make a positive impact for the next generation, we would love to hear from you.
About Us
The London Borough of Sutton "is uncompromising in its focus on improving quality of frontline social work" - Ofsted
London Borough of Sutton works closely with Kingston University and regional partners as part of the Developing Together Social Work Teaching Partnership (SWTP). The partnership offers staff a wide range of pre and post qualifying education opportunities to promote continuous learning and development. This includes staff being encouraged to support the practice education of Social Work students and those in the assessed and supported year in employment (ASYE). Staff are also given the opportunity to attend conferences, workshops and have access to research and practice resources to support their ongoing professional development.
Our Team
Sutton's Court Team provides a specialist service to Children within care proceedings, working closely with Courts to secure their safety and wellbeing through the means of permanency. The Borough prides itself on engaging with children and young people, and this is no different in the Court team with the expectation of staff undertaking direct work with children to elicit their voice and to give age-appropriate clarity and reassurance.
Supporting our social workers with their career development is a priority for us. Our offer to you includes:
- Manageable workloads, regular supervision, and through annual appraisals.
- Opportunities to develop skills by undertaking a variety of assessments including viability, parenting and together and apart assessments.
- Sutton works with Kingston University and regional partners as part of the Developing Together Social Work Teaching Partnership (SWTP) to provide staff with a wide range of pre- and post-qualifying education opportunities to promote continuous learning and development.
- Staff are given the opportunity to attend conferences, and workshops and have access to research and practice resources to support their ongoing professional development.
As an organisation that values and nurtures talent, we're committed to helping you fulfil your potential and will offer you a supportive, friendly and collaborative environment to grow and develop your career and skills. We're constantly striving to improve our ways of working so putting your ideas across - however big or small - will be fully encouraged and supported by your colleagues and our dynamic and experienced management team.
In addition, we offer a modern and flexible working environment for our staff, supported by our IT infrastructure, including Google Chromebooks and Google Apps. Our Flexible Working - Smarter Working Scheme embraces new ways of working. It provides improved work life balance for our staff as it allows staff to work from a variety of locations and staff are not required to work within the office 5 days a week.
Employees have access to a wide range of benefits, some of which include:
- Generous annual leave entitlement plus bank holidays (pro-rata if part-time working hours apply)
- Flexi-time (Please note, this applies to roles at grades 1-9 only)
- Three volunteering days per year in Sutton
- Comprehensive learning and development programme
- Local and national discounts for shopping, eating out and leisure activities
- Interest free season ticket loans
- Local Government Pension Scheme
- Car parking scheme
- Bicycle loan facilities and cycle to work scheme
- Zip car scheme
- Free eye tests and contribution towards glasses
- Confidential wellbeing and counselling support
- Subsidised gym membership
Please apply online outlining what skills, abilities and experience you can bring which makes you an ideal candidate for this role. Please ensure you refer to the requirements outlined in the job profile when completing your application.
To support our diversity agenda and reduce the risk of bias in our recruitment activities, our short listing process completely anonymises personal information that can identify job applicants e.g. name, title etc. Our hiring managers review and short list applications based on the information provided as part of your application as to how well you meet the requirements and criteria for the role, as outlined in the job profile.
The closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received. Therefore, it is strongly advised that you complete and submit your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.
Additional Information
We pride ourselves on being a diverse, inclusive and welcoming Borough and we aim to create a workforce which reflects the community we serve - the key highlights from our recent Equalities Workforce Report can be seen here. We are respectful of difference and realise the positive value of diversity in our workforce. We welcome and encourage job applications from people of all backgrounds and particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic candidates and disabled candidates, as these groups are currently under-represented in our workforce. As part of our Disability Confident Committed status, we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum/essential criteria for the role.
We offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements, staff engagement forums, and inclusive staff networks who help drive our diversity agenda.
The UK has introduced a new points-based immigration system affecting EU and Non-EU workers and sponsorship requirements. We advise checking the GOV.UK website for right to work guidance.
Important Information - Criminal Records
This post is exempted under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and as such appointment to this post will be conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory result to a check of police records via Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) helps employers make safer recruitment decisions and prevent unsuitable people from working with vulnerable groups, including children. It replaces the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) and Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA).
Job Profile
Role Profile - Social Worker - People.pdf - 292KB Opens in a new window