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Senior Social Worker - R&A/FSS

Senior Social Worker - R&A/FSS

Posted 17th May, 2024

Location

Lewisham

Salary/rate

£47,043 – £49,071

Hours

Full-time

Working arrangements

Blended

Contract type

Permanent

Closing date

28th Jul, 2024

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About the role

Main Purpose of the Job:

To provide an accountable statutory social work service to children, young people, and their families/carers, to include assessment, intervention, case planning, and review, appropriate to the work of the team and service unit.

Summary of Responsibilities and Personal Duties:

To be responsible for undertaking all social work on allocated cases, or those worked with on a short-term assessment basis.
To maintain accurate records of all work undertaken on behalf of the Directorate, and to ensure that service users are aware of their right to see such records.
To ensure that service users are aware of their right to complain about the service they receive.
To produce case reports and correspondence for a variety of readership, including meetings, conferences, court, other agencies, and service users.
To ensure that all work is undertaken in compliance with policies, procedures, guidance, and legislation.
To ensure that the needs of service users/carers from all communities are addressed, and that close attention is paid to equalities issues in all aspects of work.
To participate in duty systems for the service unit, as appropriate.
To develop and maintain effective working relationships at appropriate levels with other agencies relevant to the work of the unit.
To input data, using Information Technology, as required.
To take responsibility for one’s own, and others' safety, by ensuring that team members and other staff are not knowingly exposed to risk of violence.
To attend, contribute, and participate fully in supervision, in accordance with the Department’s supervision policy.

For Senior Social Workers Only:

To provide supervision, as appropriate, to social workers, students, and/or social work assistants.
To undertake such project work as appropriate to the post holder’s service unit.
To undertake cases with complex risk levels.
To take responsibility for decision making on duty on a day-to-day basis as appropriate.

Internal Contacts:

These include maintaining contact as necessary with colleagues and managers within the Children’s & Young People’s Division, Adult’s Care Services Division, Resources Division, and Strategy and Performance Division.

External Contacts:

This will include other Directorates within the Council, other Local Authorities, and other agencies, such as the police, probation, health services, and members of the public.

To carry out the duties of the post with due regard to the Council’s Dignity at Work Policy and core values.
All employees are required to participate in the Performance Evaluation Scheme (PES) and to undertake appropriate training and development identified to enhance their work.
All employees are required to comply with the Council's Health & Safety policies and procedures at all times, taking due care for themselves, colleagues, and members of the public.
Assist in carrying out the Council's environmental policy within the day-to-day activities of the post.
Undertake other duties, commensurate with the grade, as may reasonably be required.
Consideration will be given to making reasonable adjustments for a disabled postholder.
THIS JOB DESCRIPTION MAY NEED TO BE AMENDED BY THE DIRECTORATE TO MEET THE CHANGING NEEDS OF THE SERVICE.
Lewisham Borough Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people, and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share in this commitment.

About you

Knowledge

Knowledge of the Children Act 1989 and other relevant legislation
Knowledge of child protection policy, procedures, and practice
Knowledge of theory regarding best practice in child and family assessment and planning, and the ability to reference research and theory within own work
Knowledge of issues faced by children and families from ethnic minority communities and other minority groups

Aptitude

Ability to analyse data and formulate plans for intervention and service provision for children and their families
Ability to work in partnership with parents, carers, and other agencies
Ability to undertake direct work with children, young people, parents, and carers
Ability to produce clear, literate, and appropriate records, reports, and correspondence for a wide range of readership electronically
Ability to organise own work
Ability to recognise the limits of own accountability and responsibility, and to seek appropriate support, advice, and supervision
Ability to provide supervision and consultation to social workers, students, or social work assistants
Ability to use Information Technology for recording and reporting on cases
Ability to lead on complex and difficult cases independently

Skills

In communicating effectively with members of the public, other agencies, children, and their parents/carers
In forming relationships with children, young people, and parents/carers
In assessing and planning in a wide range of child care situations
In representing the Authority in court independently
In giving advice and making decisions on cases allocated to SWAs and SWs and progressing these decisions

Experience

Experience of assessment and planning for children and young people
Demonstrable post-qualifying experience of at least two years of working with children and families or be able to demonstrate expertise at a senior level

Professional Qualification(s)

Good general education with a good standard of literacy and numeracy
Social Worker Degree or equivalent
(Please note qualifications are an essential requirement and ORIGINAL certificates only will be accepted; these will be verified before the start of appointment)
Demonstrate continuous professional development and evidence-based practice
Registered with Social Work England

Personal Qualities

Self-motivating
Excellent interpersonal skills
Flexible

Special Requirements

Ability to work some evenings and weekends on occasion
Ability to work alone
This post is subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.

Recruitment Events for Experienced Social Workers

Join us for exclusive events dedicated to qualified social workers registered with Social Worker England. Discover why Lewisham is the ideal career move in Children’s Social Care.

Please note these events are for qualified social workers registered with Social Worker England. Separate events for students and newly qualified social workers are planned. While we welcome international applications, please be aware that we are currently unable to sponsor work visas, and registration with Social Work England is required.

About Lewisham

Welcome to Lewisham – a vibrant and culturally diverse borough that is bursting with fantastic things to see and do. As a truly international borough with over 170 languages spoken in our homes and businesses, a thriving cultural scene, and a treasure trove of indie shops, bustling markets and more, it’s a great place to start and build a career.

Social work in Lewisham is changing and we have set out our vision and values for how we practice. In Lewisham Children’s Social Care (CSC), we know what good social work looks like and we are passionate about creating the right conditions and culture for good practice to thrive.

Our social workers benefit from working in small, supportive teams with caseloads on average between 15-20 children. Our ‘Signs of Safety’ practice framework means we are committed to working in a relationship-based way with children and families, focussing on strengths in the family network to effect change. A positive learning culture which promotes opportunities for reflection and relationship-based practice is important to us. We are committed to developing our practice using reflective practice spaces such as case mapping, thinking spaces and group supervision.

Our permanent and stable senior management team are visible and approachable. Our dedicated PSW and workforce team supports professional development across the service so that you will;

be supported through our comprehensive learning and development offer, which includes subscriptions to ‘Research in Practice’ and ‘Making Research Count’.
receive regular supervision and appraisal.
have 1-1 practice development coaching as a case holding practitioner, and professional development coaching as a manager.
have access to regular ‘Signs of Safety’ training and the opportunity to become a practice leader through attending our bespoke practice leader course.
have access to external leadership development opportunities such as Pathways and the Black and Asian Leadership Initiative (BALI).
have a clearly defined career progression pathway with opportunities for professional development at all levels.

We have a strong working relationship with Goldsmiths, University of London as part of the South East London Teaching Partnership so our practitioners have the opportunity to teach on social work courses as teaching consultants. We host ‘Step Up’, ‘Frontline’ and traditional route students and social workers have the opportunity to become practice educators.

Core CSC Staff Benefits include:

We have been awarded the Mayor of London’s Good Work Standard – a benchmark for high employment standards. We are also one of the first London Councils to be accredited a London Living Wage employer and are a Disability Confident employer as well as a Timewise accredited Flex positive employer. We offer a 35-hour working week, and:
The opportunity to work in a thriving, diverse and developing inner London borough with a stable management team, manageable caseloads and a workforce group committed to promoting your development and emotional wellbeing
Generous salary for social workers at all levels
Generous holiday entitlement - starting at 27 days a year (plus public holidays) rising to 32 and 35 days after 5- and 10-years’ continued service.
Oyster card access for travelling in and around London for work and we are exploring initiatives, including Zip cars
Flexible working policies and a variety of hybrid, and flexible working options – we know how important this is to you
Smarter Working with new modern technology and training to support this
Career average pension scheme
Family friendly policies including maternity, paternity, adoption, shared parental, and special leave for emergencies.
Variety of support schemes including key worker housing, tax-free childcare scheme, access to Civil Service Sports Club which offers financial discounts and savings on days out and entertainment. KAARP activities and entertainment discounts. We offer a shop local discount scheme, volunteering leave, long service awards, membership of the Crownsavers Credit Union and access to Payroll Giving.
Health and Wellbeing support includes a staff support hub and 24/7 employee assistance programme which incorporates mental health support, counselling services and access to the PAM Assist health and wellbeing app.
We have signed the Menopause Pledge and offer gender specific and gender-neutral health and wellbeing support with access to financial advice. We offer discounted gym and leisure centre membership including free lunch time swimming; interest free loans for season tickets, nursery childcare, and bikes, a “try before you buy” bike scheme and cycle training, smoking cessation, free eye tests and money towards glasses.
Active Employee Groups including the Black and Multicultural Forum, Anti-racist Network Group, LGBTQ+ Forum, Disabled Staff Forum, Climate Emergency Staff Forum, Trade Union Memberships, and a staff-led Change Network

Staff tell us they feel valued and enjoy working in Lewisham and are well supported by their managers with regular reflective supervision and good access to training.

“Lewisham has so much to offer any social worker. I feel supported, respected and valued every step of the way”
Lewisham Social Worker

If you have any questions about applying for this role, or if you are interested in having an informal discussion about working with us, please contact our Recruitment and Retention Manager, Angela Main at angela.main@lewisham.gov.uk or Sara Taylor, our Principal Social Worker: sara.taylor@lewisham.gov.uk

Apply now

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