JOB TITLE:   Senior Practitioner

LOCATION:   Castle House, Barracks Road, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, ST5 1BL

Salary:            £36,876 - £40,760 per annum

37 Hours per week – Permanent

Staffordshire County Council continues to undertake significant investment in its Children's Social Care services known as Families First.

Staffordshire’s Families First is one of the largest Children's Services in England and as a consequence there are excellent career opportunities for highly motivated and experienced staff to join a ‘Good’ Children’s Service.

Here in Staffordshire we are committed to work with partners and families to enable vulnerable children and young people to be safe and secure, to promote physical and emotional well-being and to help them achieve their full potential within their communities.  In order to do this, staff are provided with high quality regular supervision, a second to none training offer which equips staff to have the tools to do their job both confidently and competently alongside excellent line management support.

You will find Staffordshire’s Families First has a wealth of experience and knowledge within the workforce, which has remained relatively stable in comparison to other Local Authorities. This means that Staffordshire’s Families First can provide a consistent and good standard of line management support for all levels.

We are looking for staff therefore who want to commit to Staffordshire’s Families First on its journey through to outstanding services for children and their families.  As Staffordshire is such a large local authority there are numerous opportunities to learn and experience working across a variety of geographical and demographical service areas.

We are now looking to recruit a Senior Practitioner for the Specialist Safeguarding service in Newcastle. You will be a qualified Social Worker, ideally with a minimum of 2 years post qualification experience.  Your caseload will include the undertaking of Initial Visits, Child Social Work Assessments and S47 enquiries, the management of child in need and child protection plans and direct work with children.  Your role will include care proceedings work and some work with looked after children.

Making sure you are well supported and given the opportunity to develop and progress is a high priority at Staffordshire and is very important to us.  We have an excellent staff development programme and good practice is recognised and rewarded.

You will receive:

A highly regarded structure of support for all staff, including regular supervision

Exceptional opportunities for learning and development throughout your career

Specialist support groups

For an informal discussion regarding the position please contact Corrin Harrison on 01782 485262.

To apply for this post click on the ‘Apply’ button below.

Staffordshire County Council have made changes to the existing online application site.  Any existing log on credentials (username and password) expired on 1^st September, and applicants will now need to create a new account to proceed with an application

Closing Date:  Sunday 24^th November 2019 at midnight
Interview Date:  TBC

Please be aware, only application forms completed online will be accepted. We will not accept CV’s or Word application forms.

This Authority is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

Use for roles requiring a standard or enhanced DBS

This position is subject to a criminal records check from the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly CRB) which will require you to disclose details of all unspent and unfiltered spent reprimands, formal warnings, cautions and convictions in your application form.