Newly Qualified ASYE Social Workers - Children's Services

Grade 8: £30,150 - £34,385 per annum

We want our staff and management teams to reflect the diversity of the communities we serve, and welcome applications from people of all cultures, ethnicities and religions.

These are exciting times for Walsall Children’s Services. We are committed to achieving the best outcomes for children and families, and doing this through creating the conditions where great social work practice can flourish. We want you to join us on this journey. Your first steps in Social Work can be some of the most rewarding and challenging in your career. We want you to take those steps with us.

In Walsall we are committed to your development. We offer an ASYE programme that is hosted by the Academy of Social Work, and has been nationally recognised as an example of good practice. When you join you will have a two week induction to introduce you to our practice framework in Walsall and the ASYE programme, and to start your training in key areas. You will then transition to join your team, where you will commence the ASYE programme with your Team Manager, supported by a Senior Practitioner and the Academy of Social Work. You will have a protected caseload across your first year, that will grow and develop as your knowledge and skills grow and develop. Across the year, there will be set training and practice development sessions, as well as study days so you have protected time for your learning.

The aim of the ASYE programme is to equip you with all the foundational skills you need as a Social Worker in a child and families setting. Here at Walsall we want to support you across your career, and we are dedicated to offering you opportunities to further grow and develop through a core training programme, and then through further progression opportunities.

Developing great Social Workers is a part of our ‘Walsall Right 4 Children’ transformation programme, which encompasses Children’s Social Care, Education, Early Help and Youth Justice. This year, we have remodelled our services to move into a locality way of working to enable Social Workers to build stronger links with partners and communities, and adopted the Family Safeguarding model to create multi-disciplinary safeguarding teams. We have also created a bespoke adolescent service ‘Turning Point’ and launched a Family Drug and Alcohol Court with partners in the region. There are more exciting developments to come.

We are advertising for vacancies in our Initial Response, Family Safeguarding and Fostering Services. Please state in your personal statement which services you are interested in applying for or if you would be happy to work in any of those three.

To apply for these posts you must be a qualified Social Worker who has not commenced an ASYE programme or be completing your Social Work qualifying programme this academic year and eligible to register with Social Work England.

Your application should be completed with a personal statement setting out how your knowledge, skills and experience demonstrate that you met the requirements of the job description/employee specification and the Professional Capabilities Framework for an ASYE Social Worker. 

For further information please contact Stephanie Perry at: Stephanie.perry@walsall.gov.uk

Applications close on 21/02/21

What do we offer you?

In addition to the ASYE programme, by choosing to join us in Walsall you will receive a package of benefits and support. These include:

• A generous annual leave entitlement offering a minimum 27 days leave per year plus 9 concessionary days and in addition to a flexible working scheme that allows up to a further 12 days leave per year
• Access to an award winning pension scheme
• All staff receive training in Restorative Practice and Motivational Interviewing, as well as other key methods and tools to support family-led decision-making and relationship-based social work.
• We are committed to a staff wellbeing programme to recognise and support our staff, recognising that to keep children safe and support families, social workers need to feel safe and supported
• We have a career pathway that moves from an ASYE programme recognised as a national example of good practice, to a Core Training offer for all Social Workers, to new Practice Supervisor Pathway and Team Manager Programme to support more experienced Social Workers in their development.
• This is part of a focused approach to staff development in our Annual Performance Conversations, and opportunities for individual continuing professional development activities linked to specialisms and interests, as well as the Practice Educator PEPs Level 1 and 2.
• We hold regular celebration events, service and practice development days, and staff engagement forums. We want to hear from you and improve and grow based on what you tell us!
• You will have your own direct work toolkit and access to a range of direct work resources and tools in your locality area
• We have a genuine commitment to equality of opportunity for all staff – we aim to employ a representative workforce that reflects the communities we serve

View Job Description & Employee Specification

View Information for Applicants

Walsall Council takes seriously the responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of all the children and young people entrusted to our care and it is our expectation that all staff will share this commitment. We will ensure continuous development and improvement of robust recruitment processes and procedures that promote a culture of safeguarding amongst our workforce. Completion of an enhanced Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check is a requirement for working with children and young people. Note: Applicants appointed to posts that require an enhanced DBS clearance must declare any periods of time that they have lived, studied or worked abroad and be prepared to provide an Overseas Criminal Records Certificate (OCRC) or a Statement of Good Conduct (SOGC) relating to anytime they were overseas.

This post is covered by the Government’s Code of Practice on the English Language Fluency Duty for public sector workers.  The postholder will be required to communicate verbally with customers and provide advice and/or information in accurate spoken English.