Children's Social Workers and Senior Social Workers (Family Safeguarding Service)

The role

Would you like the opportunity to shape and develop lives of children?

Are you keen to join an organisation committed to outstanding practice?

Would you like to join a council that promotes positive outcomes for children?

If yes, we have the perfect role for you!

We are looking to recruit a full time Social Worker to work in our Family Safeguarding Service and help play a central role in providing transformational help for families to achieve positive outcomes for children in Wandsworth!

Our vision

Our values inspire our Outstanding Practice Framework, which creates the context for our Social Workers to build relationships with families that bring about change to support children to live at home wherever possible.  Coupled with our implementation of Family Safeguarding we believe we have the best practice conditions we’ve ever had to achieve the best possible outcomes for children and families in Wandsworth. 

In our recent inspection in November 2022 Ofsted highlighted “the healthy culture that has been created in the organisation places children at the centre of its ethos and approach. This is alongside the whole organisation embracing a ‘support and challenge’ model. These developments ensure that everyone is accountable for children’s progress, and their impact is evident at all levels within the service”. “Support, challenge, appreciation and kindness” were seen and heard in every conversation with a range of staff, managers and senior leaders according to our report, and our ‘healthy culture’ was lauded by inspectors.

Family Safeguarding is a strengths-based approach that was developed in Hertfordshire in 2015. This new way of working focuses on supporting parents and carers with the aim of keeping children safely within their families. This is achieved through a more collaborative way of working that encourages parents and carers to identify the changes needed within their own families. This approach is helping us achieve better outcomes for children in Wandsworth by reducing the need for children to come into care.

Motivational Interviewing is a key component of the approach and all staff undergo training with the aim of working collaboratively with families, empowering and engaging parents to make positive changes for their children and themselves. Outcomes for children in Hertfordshire since 2015 have shown consistent improvement, with significant reduction in child protection plans, care proceedings and domestic abuse incidents.

We are so proud that Wandsworth is the first Local Authority in London to implement this new way of working. We have invested in all our staff, our leaders as well as partners to enable us to make our engagement with families and communities in Wandsworth a success. We passionately believe that if we invest in new ways of thinking and working, you'll have everything you need to do the job you trained for. We have incredibly sound, solid and strong leadership in Ana Popovici and Nick Pendry, who have an exciting vision to transform our approaches to the most vulnerable in society.

About the service

The Family Safeguarding Service has a stable, knowledgeable and creative team. You will be working collaboratively with your colleagues across the service and the partnership to deliver a high-quality and responsive social work service. We value each staff member in the service to be a leader and champion of exemplary practice and work with families with a range of needs including child protection, care proceedings, and looked-after children.

Our Family Safeguarding Teams comprise Children's Social Workers, along with Children’s Practitioners, Adult Mental Health Practitioners, Substance Misuse and Domestic Abuse Practitioners all working together as one team. The service consists of nine Family Safeguarding teams covering three geographical clusters of Roehampton, Battersea and Tooting.

About you

We are looking for creative social workers for our children and families who wish to support families hope, self-esteem and potential; and to practice in a way that is respectful and ethical, privileging each families right to make the best possible decisions for their children.

We are looking for people who are creative and champions for our children and families to achieve the best possible outcomes, as our children deserve the best.

You will need a relevant social work qualification and Social Work England membership, along with the experience of working across voluntary and statutory agencies. An excellent communicator, collaborator who is compassionate and understand the needs of children and young people. You will also have applied knowledge of relevant legislation and guidance.

All Social Worker applicants need to complete their ASYE Year to be eligible for these posts.  Wandsworth council runs a separate program for newly qualified Social Workers.

All our social workers:

• Are part of a small team of only five social workers with manageable caseloads
• Have business support for your team who work in collaboration with you
• Are part of various working groups within the service and across the partnerships to champion areas of best practice and influence positive outcomes for children and families.
• We have an excellent training offer for Social Workers ranging from Systemic Training, Motivational Interviewing, Trauma Informed Practice and various other reflective spaces to promote best practice.
• Access to great transport links

Benefits

In return for your skills, knowledge and experience, we can offer you a salary up to £47,082 per annum (subject to experience).

We can also offer you:

• £5,000 welcome bonus (Paid in two instalments The first £2,500 after 6 months on successful completion of your probation period and the second £2,500 after 12 months of employment)
• £1,000 retention bonus (every 2 years’ service)
• Payment of Social Work England registration fee
• Performance related salary progression scheme
• 32 days annual leave plus bank holidays (40 paid days in total)
• Regular reflective supervision and peer group supervision
• Tailored Personal Development Plans​
• Amazing training opportunities​ – including systemic supervision and motivational interviewing training
• Relocation package for experienced social workers moving to London

We recognise the importance of a good balance between work and home life so we do everything we can to accommodate flexible working including, working from home, compressed hours, term time only, job shares and other arrangements. Please just let us know in your application or at any stage throughout the process (and beyond) if these are options you’d like to explore. We also offer a generous holiday allowance of 40 paid days (pro rata) including bank holidays and a wide range of learning and development opportunities.

In addition, we offer a comprehensive range of staff benefits such as membership of the Local Government pension scheme, childcare vouchers, new technology scheme, interest-free loans on annual travel cards, discounts with many leisure activities, restaurants, shops, and other establishments. You will also be availed of all training available to the service.

Equality Statement

Richmond and Wandsworth Councils are committed to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible for everyone. We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and developing a culture that values differences, recognising that employees from a variety of backgrounds bring important and positive contributions to the Councils and can improve the way we deliver services. We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer.

Important Information

This post is exempted under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and as such appointment to this post will be conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory response to a check of police records via Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) helps employers make safer recruitment decisions and prevent unsuitable people from working with vulnerable groups, including children. It replaces the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) and Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA).

How to apply?

When you apply, you will be asked to upload your most recent CV and complete a couple of short application questionnaires.

For an informal discussion about the role please contact either Liisa Jordan Service Manager Liisa.jordan@richmondandwandsworth.gov.uk or Jo Ross Head of Service Jo.ross@richmondandwandsworth.gov.uk