Advanced Social Work Practitioner

Children’s Advanced Social Work Practitioner – Safeguarding Quality Assurance
Salary: up to £43,421 plus £4000 market forces 
37 Hours per Week
Location: County Hall, Worcester
Permanent, Full-time 

Welcome to Worcestershire Children First!
Do you love working with children and young people?
Do you enjoy supporting and developing Social Work Practice? 
Are you looking for a new challenge or change?
Do you want to further develop your social work career and knowledge working with permanent experienced colleagues and line managers?
Do you want to work for a service that has recently been rated as 'Good' by Ofsted?

Then Worcestershire needs to be your next move! 

We are looking to recruit one full time Advanced Social Work Practitioner within the Safeguarding Quality Assurance Service. The role includes: 

• Actively supporting the professional development of Newly Qualified Social Workers (NQSWs) through their ASYE Year, including:
  • This includes coaching/mentoring NQSWs and providing regular Reflective Supervision.
  • Co-working Complex Cases with NQSWs.
  • Undertaking Practice Observations with NQSWs.
• Undertaking Statutory Children’s Social Care Complaint Investigations, including: 
  • Complete investigation and responses at Stage 1.
  • At times under the support of the Manager completed Stage 2 Adjudicating Officer responses at Stage 2 where appropriate.
  • Represent the Service at Stage 3 Panels where appropriate. 
  • Liaison with the Central Complaints Team regarding any LGO enquiries.
  • Support the sharing of Complaint Learning and closing the learning loop. 
• Engage in Targeted Quality Assurance Activity such as: 
  • Multi-Agency Auditing connected with the work of the Safeguarding Partnership. 
  • Internal Targeted Audits and Feedback. 
  • Support the sharing of learning from Quality Assurance work. 
  • Deliver Training/Presentations/Workshops to disseminate learning. 
• Support the wider Workforce, such as: 
  • Attending MARAC and representing Children’s Social Care
  • At times hold a small case load. 
  • Work with other Social Workers in respect of developing practice and skills – examples include planning for Assessments, programmes of Direct Work. 
• Leading on implementing the Signs of Safety approach across the service

The team remit constantly evolves to embrace change and meet the changing demands of the service. 

If you are able to demonstrate that you have considerable experience (over 3 years) in a statutory children's social care setting and a broad range of skills and experience to help you to deliver and support high quality practice and want to work in a varied and valued role, please apply.

For an informal conversation about the role, please contact Suzanne Sims, Practice Manager, at ssims1@worcschildrenfirst.org.uk.

Benefits:

You’ll find an overview of the benefits Worcestershire County Council have to offer on our webpage Why work for us? | Worcestershire County Council , so do take a look! Some of the other benefits we can offer include:

• Great Holiday Entitlement: As well as bank holidays, you'll get 26 days paid holiday (pro rata for part-time staff). This goes up to 31 days when you have been with us for 5 years. If you get more than 26 days where you work now, don't worry because if you join us without a break, we'll match your holiday up to 31 days. If you’re successful and want to take advantage of this do let us know!
• Brilliant Pension Scheme: The Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) is a nationwide, career average pension scheme and is a valuable part of the pay and reward package for employees working in local government.
• Professional Learning & Development: We actively encourage learning and development for all our staff should they want to progress further or explore other areas within the organisation.
• Flexible Working: We are proud to offer hybrid working to provide a better work/life balance where possible.

How to Apply:

Application forms are invited to apply for this role. 

Please find the Job Description and Person Specification attached.

Please write your submission with consideration for the essential and desirable criteria on the Person Specification. This should include examples why you should be considered; the experience, skills, and knowledge that you would bring to the post.

Please submit Application form to Recruitment@worcestershire.gov.uk

Application Closing Date: Sunday 22^nd September 2024 
Proposed Interview Date: To be Confirmed