JOB TITLE:   Duty Social Worker (Safeguarding – North Staffordshire)

Newcastle Specialist Safeguarding Unit, Castle House, Barracks Road, Newcastle, Staffs ST5 1BL

Grade 9

Salary:  £32,234 - £36,922 per annum

37 Hours per week – Permanent

This is an exciting opportunity to join the Newcastle & Kidsgrove Specialist Safeguarding Team 1 as a Duty Social Worker at a time where there is significant investment across Children’s Social Care.

We are committed to working with partners and families to support 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 Staffordshire, we have recently embarked upon the journey of embedding a new practice model, restorative practice. We want to improve the lives of all children and young people, using a whole system approach enabling children to be happy, healthy and safe and supporting families to enable children to remain at home wherever possible. We confidently manage risks and are supported to be courageous and ambitious as an organisation. Restorative approaches are widely accepted as a highly effective way of achieving better outcomes for children, young people and their families.

We are looking for a qualified Social Worker, with a minimum of 12 months post qualification experience with direct experience working with children and families who are committed to supporting children to remain with their families. 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. Successful applicants will have excellent communication skills, the ability to build relationships with children, families and other professionals alongside a value base committed to striving for the best outcomes for 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 including a new aspiring team managers programme. To learn more about social work in Staffordshire visit:

https://www.childrenssocialcarecareers.co.uk/

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. 

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

By clicking on the apply button you will be redirected to Staffordshire County Councils online application website. Please note, you are only able to view the Job Description and Person Specification on the WM Jobs  board NOT via Staffordshire County Council's online application site.  

To submit your application, you will need to register an account on the website (NB this is a separate login to WM Jobs). 

We collect personal information from you when you register with us to make an application. Information we collect includes name, email address and other contact details. We will use this information to communicate with you generally and to assess your application.

By clicking on the Apply button and submitting your application form, you are giving your consent to the processing of your personal data in the ways described Here

If you experience any technical issues accessing or completing the application form please contact recruitment@staffordshire.gov.uk

Closing Date:    Sunday 13^th December 2020  (at midnight)
Interview Date:  TBC

For further information about this position, please contact Corrin Harrison, Team Manager, Newcastle Specialist Safeguarding Service (Team 1) on 07773 791967.

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.

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.

Our Values

The County Council has adopted a set of values that seeks to achieve the best outcomes for its citizens, communities and employees.

Our People Strategy sets out what we all need to do to make Staffordshire County Council a great place to work, where people are supported to develop, flourish and contribute to our ambitious plans. 

Our values are at the heart of the Strategy to ensure that the focus is on what is important to the organisation and the people it serves:

• Ambitious - We are ambitious for our communities and citizens
• Courageous - We recognise our challenges and are prepared to make courageous decisions
• Empowering - We empower and support our people by giving them the opportunity to do their jobs well.

Benefits of working for us….

We recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive working environment where employees can achieve their full potential and achieve a healthy work-life balance.

In addition to your salary, as a member of staff, you will have access to a range of benefits including:

• An excellent local government pension scheme
• Generous holiday entitlement from 24 up to 33 days (plus 2 extra statutory days and bank holidays) depending on job role and length of service
• The option to buy up to an additional 2 weeks annual leave
• A range of flexible working options, depending on your job role, which includes agile working, flexible retirement
• Family Friendly Policies - maternity, adoption, paternity and parental leave
• Volunteering Scheme
• Training and development opportunities, including coaching and mentoring
• Access to health and wellbeing support (including Occupational Health, Physiotherapy and Counselling Services)
• Eye care vouchers
• Car lease scheme / cycle & car loan scheme / employee car share scheme
• Bus and rail travel discounts