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Lead Practitioner Safeguarding and Support

Employer
Warwickshire County Council
Location
See advert details
Salary
£40,876 - £42,821 pro rata
Closing date
10 Jan 2022
Reference
WARW000005130

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Sector
Local Councils
Job Type
Social work; Children - Qualified
Contract Type
Permanent
Working Pattern
Standard
Hours
Full-Time, Part-Time

Job Details

About Us

Here at Warwickshire County Council we put children and families at the heart of everything we do. We aim to ensure that Warwickshire’s children, young people, parents and carers receive the right help at the right time.

We are passionate about supporting communities and families to build on their strengths and relationships and find their own solutions.

We are doing great work here and we need great people to join us to continue to improve the lives of local children and their families.

We are excited to be launching this brand-new role and we are looking to recruit experienced and passionate social workers to undertake the role of Lead Practitioner in our Front Door, Initial Response and Safeguarding & Support Teams.

About the Role

Our Lead Practitioner’s will have slightly different roles depending on which area of the service you are in. Across all area, our Lead Practitioners will be:

  • A role model for good social work practice.
  • Provide mentoring, coaching support and practice expertise to less experienced team members.
  • Passion for achieving better outcomes for vulnerable children and their families and this will be demonstrated through restorative practice.
  • This role will support development into a management role in the future. This may include conducting supervision meetings and supporting other members of the team and providing management support.
  • A comprehensive knowledge of the challenges associated with working with children and their families is essential.
  • Applicants for the role will need a professional Social Work qualification and Social Work England Registration.

About our Team

Safeguarding and Support

Our Safeguarding and Support Team receive children on a plan or who have become children looked after from our Initial Response Teams.  This post will offer you the opportunity:

  • To work with a small complex caseload, managing high risk plans and undertaking a range of court work, including specialist assessments and interventions as required.
  • The role will require you to support social workers, by assisting in court work which will include attending court, therefore a thorough knowledge of care proceedings and court experience is required
  • To provide mentoring, coaching, support and practice expertise to other less experienced team members.
  • To deputise and cover for the Team Manager

About WCC Children and Families Service

Throughout 2020 we continued to look to the future and build on our programme of change and investment in the service.... Covid hasn’t stopped us!

It has helped us shape and develop a focus on wellbeing, utilising technology, opening opportunities for career development and renewed our focus on reflective and supportive leadership.  These are the backbone to our offer to our workforce.  

WCC invested in Microsoft technology in 2020 including the use of Surface Pros and MS365 suite which has enabled our workforce to seamlessly transition to community and homeworking.  We have a whole council commitment to flexible working and employee wellbeing.  We nurture, support and challenge each other to achieve the best outcomes for all our children. 

WCC is an authority that engages with innovation.  We are a financially secure local authority and want to achieve an outstanding service for children.  To this end we have received £21m investment programme over four years to implement new and creative ways of working with children.  We are introducing the Leeds Family Values model which includes increasing Family Group Conferences, providing more support for Special Guardians and a Caring Dads Programme.

We are also implementing Multi-Disciplinary ways of working (which is focussed on embedding adult mental health, substance misuse and domestic abuse services in our teams. 

We also have a new Children’s Workforce Academy to further support our staff and managers develop.  All of our practice is underpinned by restorative and trauma informed practice. 

We want our practitioners to spend their time building relationships with families to achieve change. 

We provide safe and manageable caseloads and have provided substantial additional capacity to support teams with Covid pressures.  Average caseloads February 2021 were 15 per worker.  We have excellent business support who minute multi agency meetings for social workers. We are also investing in technology such as automation to support practitioners to automatically upload documents to children’s electronic records.

We’re building something very special in Warwickshire.  A community of practice – with diverse thought, skills and experiences.  Working for every child to create a Child Friendly Warwickshire. 

Find out more about Warwickshire Children & Families Service

Ofsted inspection report Warwickshire

For further information please see the Job Description and Person Specification

Additional Information:

We are keen to receive applications from committed and experienced Social Workers. If you do not meet the essential criteria in relation to Enabling Others and Teaching and Assessing for Professional Practice (TAPP) you will be supported to complete within the first year of appointment.

This organisation is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. This post is subject to an enhanced DBS disclosure.
 
For further information about this role please contact Lakbir Tahir: lakbirtahir@warwickshire.gov.uk

Closing date: Monday 10th January 2022
 
To apply for this vacancy please click on the 'Apply' button.
 
Our method of application is online, please note, CV’s should not been submitted unless asked to do so.


If you are unable to apply using the 'Apply' button please contact the Recruitment Centre on hrandpayroll@warwickshire.gov.uk including your contact details and any relevant screenshots.

You will be notified of our shortlisting decision via email, so please check your email on a regular basis after submitting your application.

As part of being a Disability Confident employer we guarantee to interview anyone with a disability whose application meets the minimum criteria for the post. By ‘minimum criteria’ we mean that you must provide us with evidence in your application form which demonstrates that you generally meet the level of competence required for each competence, as well as meeting any of the qualifications, skills or experience defined as essential in the person specification.

Should you require application forms in an alternative format / language or any adjustments to be made throughout the application process or upon appointment, please contact hrandpayroll@warwickshire.gov.uk  and we will make every effort to meet your specific requirements.

Warwickshire County Council (WCC) is committed to equality of opportunity for all employees and is keen to address areas of under representation in its workforce, this is because we really understand the importance of different voices, experiences, perspectives, and backgrounds within our workforce. Therefore, we strongly encourage applications from members of underrepresented groups. WCC has a number of staff network groups which provide peer support and safe spaces for employees who hold these and other identities. See more.

Company

As a local authority we take on a wide range of roles, whether we are providing specialist care and support to the most vulnerable in our communities, or championing Warwickshire as a choice for business through our work to promote economic growth and innovation.

Warwickshire is famous the world over as Shakespeare’s county— but that’s only half the story.  We’re also vibrant and modern. One of the fastest growing commercial regions in the UK, we’re home to many leading companies and developing exciting opportunities for everyone who lives and works here. 

WCC

We pride ourselves on being an innovative employer that like to encourage new ways of working. Likewise, our ability to make decisions quickly is as important to us as it is to our customers.

We work actively with partner organisations to deliver our core services:

  • Schools and Learning
  • Social Care and Health
  • Community Safety
  • Environment and Planning
  • Leisure and Tourism
  • Roads and Travel

Accreditations

Company info
Website
Telephone
01926 41 8125
Location
HR Service Centre
Shire Hall
Warwick
Warwickshire
CV34 4RL
United Kingdom

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