Senior Practitioner – Family Safeguarding, Keeping Families Together

Children and Families is recognised as a service in which social workers change and prosper, with a culture of collaboration, integrity, and compassion; encouraging development and wellbeing of children, young people and their families and protecting them from domestic abuse, neglect and helps them to achieve better outcomes.

We’re looking for talented and motivated senior social workers who are excited by our new ways of delivering support to children, young people and their families to join our Family Safeguarding Team.  If you are looking for a friendly, creative, and dynamic working culture that supports and enables social work professionals to make a real difference for the most vulnerable then we would welcome an application from you.

Bracknell Forest Council is the local authority of Bracknell Forest in Berkshire, England. It is a unitary authority; The council office is in the heart of the vibrant town centre. Our borough offers great transport links with the M4, M3, M25 and the Southwestern Railway is local to us, so you can travel to work with ease, with free parking. We also offer a hybrid working arrangements, with time balanced between the office and home.

Bracknell Forest Council have a nationally recognised practice model – the ‘Family Safeguarding Model’.  The recent Ofsted stated “Social workers receive regular, purposeful multi-agency group supervision which is facilitated through the service’s chosen social work model. The sharing of findings and views for each worker provides a detailed understanding of the family situation, progress and what the barriers are that stop families making the required changes. This evaluation informs future case work and intervention”- June 2022

Favouring a relational approach in all that we do, over 80% of our workforce are permanent employees, caseloads are manageable and caring for ‘you and your family’ is a priority for the Council. 

Working collaboratively with families to keep them together, where it is safe to do so, is at the heart of the embedded Family Safeguarding Model and our approach is underpinned by Motivational Interviewing (MI).  This ensures families, children and young people feel empowered and enables parents to make the positive changes needed, to achieve improved outcomes for their children and their own wellbeing.  Therefore, parents are motivated to identify the changes needed within their own families which results in them achieving better outcomes for children.

What it’s like working in our team…

We know that social work, whilst rewarding, is not always easy.  To support high quality consistent social work, we have a comprehensive learning and development offer, driven by our passionate Principal Social Worker.  We have resilience groups, well-being days and events, group supervision as well as peer support.

We are graded by Ofsted as “Outstanding”.   In June 2022 Ofsted identified during the inspection

“Children receive the right support at the right time”.

Overall, Inspectors found that social workers and other frontline practitioners benefit from manageable caseloads, good training and powerful and highly reflective supervision that ensures children are at the heart of decision making.

Our teams of qualified social workers and family workers are supported by specialist officers in domestic abuse, mental health, and substance misuse, meaning no lengthy waits for much needed services for our families. It is all here, accessible and underpinning the planning and work being delivered to mitigate against risks, build resilience in families and enable families to meet their own children’s needs more effectively.  Access to family group conferences and mediation work with families is additionally available and supports all involved, to secure decisions and outcomes in children’s best interests.

We have a good early help offer and work in collaboration with statutory partners and voluntary agencies in the community. Supporting families to access these services and support is also part of our daily morale purpose to enable families to secure safety and confidence in their own abilities to look after their children.

You will be supported to carry out the following duties, responsibilities and training…

• To identify the needs of children and promote intervention and safeguarding
• To work alongside other professionals and Adult Workers as part of a multi-disciplinary team
• To manage a caseload of Child in Need, Child Protection, Care Proceedings and Children Looked After
• To take part in the team duty system responding to concerns as and when they arise
• To make effective use of time and be able to prioritise workload, ensuring timeliness in visiting, report writing and other deadlines
• With the Supervisor, be able to set clear goals and strategies as part of individual and group case supervision
• To contribute to service development and learning of others

We know that working in social care can be challenging. Bracknell Children’s Services offer training and reflective coaching to support social workers to continue to develop their skills and knowledge.

The benefits you will experience are…

• 27 days’ annual leave entitlement which increases following 3 years, with the option to buy, sell and bank annual leave
• Flexible working opportunities including working remotely
• Following probation period, an opportunity to take part in a 9-day fortnight trial
• A comprehensive induction and excellent ongoing training programme
• £8,000 relocation package
• Career progression, development opportunity including internal and external training courses
• Funded Social Work England annual registration fee.
• Local Government Pension Scheme
• An interest free loan for a rail season ticket
• Access to Cycle to Work Scheme
• Internal sports and social club opportunities membership
• A great office location next to travel links and the regenerated town centre (Lexicon)
• Free car parking
• Discounted leisure centre, Supermarket, and gym membership.
• Essential car user allowance and London Weighting

What we’re looking for…

We are looking for passionate, reliable, and motivated senior social workers who are excited by a new way of delivering support to children and families to join our family safeguarding team. We are looking for senior social workers who are registered with social work England and have at least 3 years’ experience and have also completed post graduate studies such as the Practice Educator course.

You will need to understand and have experience of permanence/ PLO/ legal processes and an in-depth knowledge of what works for children and families, relevant legislation, and know what good looks like in practice.

By applying for a senior social worker position, you will have a highly developed specialist knowledge of social work practice.  Your skills and expertise will enable you to take the lead with the most complex situations. 

If you have chosen social work as a profession and are passionate about improving outcomes for children and young people, then join us in Family Safeguarding to contribute to a service that works with families to enable lasting change for children.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people, and their families. Applicants should be aware that the post will only be offered to successful candidates subject to an enhanced DBS check as well as other employment clearances.

Interview

Applications will be shortlisted upon receipt, and we will send you an interview invite if your application form is successful.  As this is an ongoing advert, please note that vacancies may be withdrawn at any stage of the recruitment process following a successful appointment.

Want to ask us a question?

If you would like to meet the team or have an informal discussion, please contact: 

Donna Barber or Cheryl Perry, Team Managers 01344 352020; or donna.barber@bracknell-forest.gov.uk , cheryl.perry@bracknell-forest.gov.uk

For more information on working for Bracknell Forest Children’s Social Care visit our micro-site: https://www.bracknell-forest.gov.uk/jobs/childrens-social-care-jobs/about-childrens-social-care

Candidates should be able to demonstrate experience of working within the current Social Care System and Framework.

Social Work England registration fees can be claimed back from the Council.  

Any candidates wishing to apply who would require sponsorship can determine the likelihood of obtaining a Certificate of Sponsorship for the role by assessing their circumstances against the relevant criteria.

No agencies please. 

As part of the Council’s ongoing commitment to redeployment, please note that this vacancy may be withdrawn at any stage of the recruitment process if a suitable redeployee is identified.

Equal Opportunities

Bracknell Forest Council – Working for Equality. We welcome applications from all sections of the community.