Children's Social Worker - Court Team
Welcome and Retention Bonus:
Whole package totals up to £47,857 (including Retention Bonus)
Social Workers within this service area are able to work flexibly between home and work to meet the needs of the service whilst recognising the benefits that a hybrid model of working can bring.
We are looking for confident and skilled Social Workers to work in the Court and Adoption Service. Our objective is to deliver the best outcomes for children and young people.
Social Workers within the Court and Adoption Service are responsible for cases relating to children subject to proceedings who may either be looked after or living at home. Your role will include the undertaking of all tasks associated with working with Children under statutory frameworks, whilst ensuring compliance with Court direction, and providing the Court with child-focused evidence, analysis and well-informed care plans. You will play an intrinsic role in working directly with the children and young people, ensuring their wishes and views are heard, respected, and relayed to the court. It's a great time to join Sutton as we have introduced a Special Guardianship Team and Therapeutic Support Workers to manage SGO and Parenting assessments to support all Social Workers within the Courts Team.
Your knowledge and experience will allow you to apply social work theories to formulate and test hypotheses in reaching a professional judgment and decision. You will produce a good standard of professional documentation relevant to your service area and be able to prioritise your workload and work within defined timescales. Principles of human rights and social justice are fundamental to the role and you will be required to effectively balance the protection of individual rights against the need to use professional authority and accountability effectively to safeguard vulnerable children and young people.
The successful candidates will be an enthusiastic and motivated individual with a caring and calm approach. You will demonstrate empathy when dealing with sensitive situations and strong interpersonal skills using different ways of communicating. Showcasing the ability to assess and record a child's needs, applied through evidence based practice to justify decision making. We welcome applications from experienced child protection practitioners with a clear ability to write comprehensively, speak with clarity and are able to deliver analysis based on evidence and research.
Our culture of strong, accessible and supportive management will provide you with good regular supervision and the opportunity to take part in case discussions.
In addition, We would expect the successful candidate to demonstrate the following competences (not limited to):
You are a Qualified Social Worker with a Social Work degree or recognised qualification and registered with the relevant regulatory body Social Work England
Have completed the Assessed and Supported Year in Employment (ASYE)
Have a good level of experience of working in a children and family settings and have managed a complex case load
Hold the relevant skills, knowledge and aptitude to ensure that all vulnerable people are safeguarded from abuse and that all statutory functions, local policy, procedures are adhered to in a timely manner and documented accordingly.
Sutton combines a high quality of life, green and spacious, with distinctive town centres providing access to jobs and culture the capital has to offer.
Ofsted rated us as ‘Good’, with 'Outstanding' leadership, in December 2021. However, we have not rested but continue to strive to do more for families, strengthen practice and bring innovative ways of working across our systems.
As an organisation that values and nurtures talent, we’re committed to helping you fulfil your potential and will offer you a supportive, friendly and collaborative environment to grow and develop your career and skills. We’re constantly striving to improve our ways of working so putting your ideas across - however big or small - will be fully encouraged and supported by your colleagues and our dynamic and experienced management team.
In addition, we offer a modern and flexible working environment for our staff, supported by our IT infrastructure, including Google Chromebooks and Google Apps.
Employees have access to a wide range of benefits, some of which include:
Generous annual leave entitlement plus bank holidays (pro-rata if part-time working hours apply)
Flexi-time (Please note, this applies to roles at grades 1-9 only)
Comprehensive learning and development programme
Local and national discounts for shopping, eating out and leisure activities
Interest free season ticket loans
Local Government Pension Scheme
Car parking scheme
Bicycle loan facilities and cycle to work scheme
Zip car scheme
Free eye tests and contribution towards glasses
Confidential wellbeing and counselling support
Subsidised gym membership
Interested in working in Sutton? Hear from our staff below on why they think Sutton is a great place to be a Social Worker.
If you have any questions about applying for this role, please contact recruitment@sutton.gov.uk