Job title: Senior Practitioner; Social Work with Families
Department: Children’s Services
Location: Croydon Council (CR0)
Grade / Salary: Grade 15; £49,890 - £51,903 + £3,000 welcome payment + £2,500 retention payment
Hours of work: 36 per week / Monday – Friday
Contract type: Permanent
At Croydon Council, we have created Senior Practitioner roles for experienced social workers to remain in practice developing and sharing expertise – could this opportunity be the next move for you?
Job Purpose
The Senior Practitioner role reports to the Team Manager providing leadership of practice through exemplary direct work; development of staff and specialist focused on a given area of practice.
They are an expert practitioner who directly delivers or contributes to the delivery of positive safety and well-being outcomes for children. They will support other staff within the team to develop their level of practice and expertise and growing the confidence in their practice.
The Senior Practitioner would have a developed ability to deliver on outcomes and functions as a role model for their team through the effective exercise of the following functions:
Engagement and relationship building / maintaining.
Analytical and continuous assessment
High standard of report writing and case recording
Making professional judgments and recommendations based on assessment and review
Development, co-ordination, implementation, and review of evidence-based plans
The provision of direct help by the worker
The matching of child / family with evidence-based services relevant to the identified needs.
The co-ordination of multi-professional / agency input to assessment, planning and help.
The application of theory and theoretical frameworks to all aspects of practice.
Supporting the development of creative and innovate care planning to support children and their families.
Oversee the planning for children where necessary
Delivering to performance standards consistently across the measures within the journey of the child.
Benefits of Working With Us
Highly competitive salary & retention payment of £2,500 giving up to £54,403pa
Welcome Payment of £3,000
A pension scheme with an average employer contribution of 20%
31 days annual leave in addition to Bank Holidays
Accredited Systemic Practice training
A range of CPD opportunities
Investment into your staff well-being
Good management support for practitioners, regular supervision, group supervision led by systemic therapists and access to a clinical therapist to support your work directly.
Hybrid working policy enabling work from home and flexible working approaches to support your work-life balance where the role allows plus a high-quality office base from where direct work is delivered from.
We are looking for experienced Senior Practitioners, who also have:
Qualified Social Worker and up to date registered with Social Work England
Foundation level systemic practice qualification - desirable
Practice Educator or Practice Teacher qualification – desirable
Knowledge of national policy, strategy and developments regarding children’s social care, and areas that impact on children’s social care.
Knowledge of relevant theoretical frameworks, practice models and research findings.
Knowledge of models of reflective supervision that impact on practice and outcomes.
Able to maintain records that evidence our engagement with children and families, informs the quality assurance framework e.g., quantitative, qualitative and outcome information for the children and families, the views and experiences of children and families
Home to 94,000 children, Croydon is a truly unique place to practice social work. We are a borough with big ambition, grit, and determination. Children's social care was judged ‘good’ in our last Ofsted inspection.
Our systemic practice framework places emphasis on relationships as key to supporting change for families. We make sense of the world through relationships, focusing on the whole family system and thinking about our own part in that too – what we bring, our own family stories and beliefs, how we use ourselves in the work that we do. Our practice model is all about collaboration - with our families, networks and partners; being open to challenge and ensuring our practitioners are highly trained in a variety of intervention approaches. Our established clinical service will support you to grow your own systemic practice within the service, providing accredited training, co-working and direct work with families.
For an informal chat about working in Croydon, contact Agata Stolowska at agata.stolowska@croydon.gov.uk