About the Role
An exciting opportunity has arisen to shape and deliver the Designated Social Care Officer (DSCO) role, which will be new to London Borough of Sutton. The role is aimed at strengthening collaborative working between Social Care, Education, SEND and Health. We are looking for someone who is passionate about improving services for children with special educational needs and disabilities.
The DSCO will strategically lead in framing the social care elements of the SEND Strategy across the local authority/local area partnership and ensure that we are in compliance with the legislative requirements of the SEND Code of Practice (2015), as we meet our statutory responsibilities under the Children and Family Act (2014) and Care Act (2014).
The successful candidate will also contribute to and influence SEND organisational design through better alignment of the SEND and social care systems, providing a more joined-up experience for children and their families.
About Us
Sutton's CYPDS provides a specialist service to children and young people with disabilities and their families and SEND. The CYPDS is comprised of two social work teams, and a team of specialist support workers who work closely with SEND. We are passionate about achieving the best outcomes for children and young people with disabilities, and promoting robust preparation for adulthood. We pride ourselves on engaging fully with children and young people, and ensuring that direct work is undertaken so their voices are heard. Our service has a strong learning culture, and there are many training opportunities. Our culture of strong, accessible and supportive management will provide you with good regular supervision, and the opportunity to participate in restorative group supervisions. The role will sit across children's social care and SEND.
Our Offer To You
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
About You To be successful in this role you will need to hold a recognised qualification in social work, education or other relevant profession, and have an in-depth knowledge of social care processes and the SEND reforms agenda. You will also need to have effective leadership and negotiation skills, be used to working collaboratively with Directors, managers, practitioners and partners to drive organisational development and change.
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