Advanced Practitioner - Children Looked After Team

Posted 12th Feb, 2025
Location
Kingston upon Thames
Salary/rate
£50,574 – £53,607
Hours
Full-time
Working arrangements
Blended
Contract type
Permanent
Closing date
9th Mar, 2025
About the role

We’re celebrating an OUTSTANDING achievement across all areas in our latest Ofsted inspection (December 2024) and we’re looking for social workers to help build on this success.

Ofsted praised our leadership, saying: “Leaders have created an environment where staff feel valued, respected, and supported.” 

If you’re looking for a workplace where you can thrive, grow, and truly make a difference, this is your opportunity!

We are offering a £3,000 annual market supplement for this role!

We have new and exciting opportunities to join Achieving for Children as an Advanced Practitioner within the Looked After Children Team based in Kingston.

The Looked After Children service is focused on achieving permanency for children and young people placed in various settings such as kinship placements, foster placements and residential provisions. Our children and young people are transferred from the safeguarding teams to the permanency service when the final order is granted and a plan for permanency is agreed.

About the role

The Advanced Practitioner role is developed for those with extensive experience and skills that wish to remain in frontline practice and who may not wish to progress along a management route. Duties of the role will include:

  • Support practice related development across our services based in Kingston and Richmond focusing primarily on life story work.
  • A more complex caseload, fulfilling the responsibilities required of a Senior Social Worker by acting as a corporate parent  and being the lead professional for our children.
  • Responsible for assisting Social Workers to develop experience and skills in life story work.

For further information or an informal discussion about this role, please contact the Head of Service Elzanne Smit on elzanne.smit@achievingforchildren.org.uk

About our benefits

We are focused on creating a positive supportive environment, where you will have access to a really wide range of resources, as well as a competitive salary and all the perks to enable hybrid working. In AfC you will also have access to:

  • 29 days annual leave, increasing to 33 days after 2 years and 35 days after 4 years with an additional day off in your birthday month(Or for term term workers, your leave entitlement consists of the non-working periods in your contract.)
  • Tailored induction sessions commencing on the date you start working for AfC
  • Local Government salary and pension scheme (LGPS or Teachers Pension)
  • Flexible working options - helping to keep a good work life balance
  • A comprehensive Employee Assistance Programme
  • A range of staff benefits and discounts
  • An excellent learning and development offer to support your career pathway
About you

About you

To be an Advanced Practitioner in the Looked After Children Team you will need to...

  • Educated to a degree level with a relevant professional qualification in social work (CSS/CQSW or DipSw, MA SW, BA Hons SW).
  • Active Social Work England registration and proven evidence of professional development.
  • Ability to support the team in undertaking direct work and life story work using the Signs of Safety and Belonging framework,  tools and approaches that are rooted in evidence.
  • A passion to demonstrate and promote our values (Trust, Respect and Empower) through professional behaviours and relationships with all stakeholders and staff to support children and young people to live safe, happy, healthy and successful lives.
About Kingston upon Thames

Achieving for Children (AfC) is a community interest company (a not-for-profit social enterprise) created in 2014 by the Royal Borough of Kingston and the London Borough of Richmond to provide their children’s services. In 2017, the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead joined AfC as our third owner.

We deliver the full range of children’s services for the three councils. Achieving for Children is a great place to work for those looking for a new challenge. Our offer to you includes:

  • A role in an organisation that is supportive

  • An induction offer that starts before you join and includes a welcome event on your first day of employment.

  • 29 days annual leave, increasing to 33 days after two years and 35 days after four years

  • Local Government salary and pension scheme (LGPS or Teachers Pension)

  • Hybrid or mobile working and the technology and equipment to facilitate this

  • Positions available in three of the most desirable boroughs in the south - discrete relocation packages are available for selected roles

  • Travel assistance package for business use, including car and cycle mileage reimbursement, annual season ticket loan or business Oyster cards

  • Two days accredited Signs of Safety Foundation Training

  • 12 protected Development Days each year for all staff

  • Access to a huge range of additional professional development opportunities as part of our regional Social Work Teaching Partnership

  • On occasions we are in the position to offer some additional financial payments for particularly hard to place roles in selected service areas of AfC.

If you would like to have an informal chat about working with us, please email recruitment@achievingforchildren.org.uk