Children’s Social Worker - SWISS (Social Workers in Secondary Schools)

We are looking to hire 2 permanent Social Workers

• Social workers to be based in schools (fully embedded)
• Focus is to undertake statutory work as well as preventative Early Help work emerging from the respective secondary school
• The Team will be based primarily in the Early Help Service and matrix managed by the Family Support and Protection Service.

The Role:

• The focus of the SWISS Scale-up is to carry out statutory social work. Social workers will have an allocated caseload of children who have been referred to Children’s Social Care (CSC) and have met the local authority’s threshold for a service ranging from those who are children in need to those who are Looked after children.
• Social Workers will be based at their identified schools 5 days a week. This will allow them greater opportunities to get to know the young people in schools and be more accessible. The Social Workers will mainly be undertaking statutory work with elements of early intervention work for young people and their families who are attending their identified schools. It is therefore expected that any annual leave is taken during school holidays.
• Social workers being based in school this may include advising staff, families and young people when they have concerns that they would like to discuss or working with siblings in the family not considered as meeting threshold. Early Intervention work should continue to be provided as a separate service and would include Team Around the Family and completing Common Assessment Frameworks.

Statutory Social Work Would Include:

• Having a caseload of children who may be subject to a child in need service, on a Child Protection plan.
• Carrying out assessments in line with local authority procedures.
• Working with the Youth Offending Team to support children who are involved in antisocial or criminal behaviour, if applicable to the specific school.
• The role of social workers in schools is mainly early intervention, to achieve the best outcomes for children, social workers are encouraged to work with that child in the context of their family and wider community.

Examples of this Preventative Work Includes:

• Working together with the school to build better relationships with families and better understand their needs. This may also lead to families having more clarity of potential concerns and the decision to refer to Children's Social Care if needed. Families would also receive advice and information around this process to support collaborative working.
• Working with feeder primary schools that siblings attend or multi-agency working to support an integrated family approach.
• Providing an educative component, where the school learns from the social worker’s expertise in terms of safeguarding issues and referrals for example. This could happen through the school welcoming and encouraging the social worker’s input in relevant meetings such as inclusion meetings. However, social workers should not be carrying out duties of other professionals, be those teachers or other statutory professionals.

About You

Are you a child-centred, committed, and creative Social Worker looking to further your career in a highly supportive workplace?

• You should have been qualified as a social worker with at least 3 years of post-qualification experience. You will effectively manage a caseload, with varying degrees of complexity dependent upon skills and length of experience, with appropriate supervision, guidance and support. 
• You will work in accordance with national and local policies and procedures, and use the law, regulatory and statutory guidance to inform practice decisions. 
• You will prepare and produce a variety of high quality professional written documentation to required quality standards on behalf of the Local Authority will work with the school, partner agencies and represent the Council at a range of meetings, proceedings and reviews as required. You will ensure effective statutory intervention as well engage in preventative work.
• You will build effective relationships with children, young people and their families enabling full participation in assessment, planning, review and decision making. 
• You will provide support based on best evidence, which is tailored to meet individual child and family needs, and which addresses relevant and significant risks. 

Additional Details

Tower Hamlets vision for our borough is that: people are aspirational, independent and have equal access to opportunities; we are a borough that our residents are proud of and love to live in; and we are a dynamic, outcomes-based council using digital innovation and partnership working to respond to the changing needs of our borough. We want people who aspire to our TOWER values: Together; Open; Willing; Excellent; Respect.

Tower Hamlets has a zero-tolerance approach to, and works to eradicate, all forms of discrimination on the basis of race, sex, disability, age, religion or belief, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marital status, status as a civil partner, gender, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy and maternity and looks to employ a diverse workforce representative of those groups. We recognise that people can also be disadvantaged by their social and economic circumstances, so we will work to eliminate discrimination and disadvantage caused by social class. 

We are a Disability Confident Employer, which means applicants who declare a disability and meet the essential criteria for the post are guaranteed an interview. Care experience has also been adopted by the Council as an additional protected characteristic.

We welcome applicants interested in flexible working arrangements and also applicants who live in the borough. 

Timeline

• Closing - 17th November 2024
• Shortlist - 18th November 2024
• Test/Interview - 25th November 2024

Please hold the above dates.

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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).

Tower Hamlets Councils are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.