Richmond upon Thames

The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames is in southwest London. It is well known as one of London's greenest boroughs and the only one that lies on both sides of the River Thames. It has lots of parks and open spaces, including the Royal Parks of Richmond Park and Bushy Park. Some of the borough's other attractions include Hampton Court Palace, Kew Gardens and Twickenham Rugby Stadium.

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. Our service offer is based on strong universal provision delivered through our children’s centres and youth centres. This is offered alongside targeted early help that provides support to families at the earliest opportunity to prevent children’s and young people’s needs escalating and facilitate family resilience. We expanded our universal services with the addition of health visiting and school nursing when Windsor and Maidenhead joined the company. These public health services complement our specialist nursing and therapy services for children with disabilities and complex health needs.

At AfC, our mission is to provide children and their families with the support and services they need to live happy, healthy and successful lives. We strive to achieve excellence in everything we do by putting children and young people first in the design, delivery and evaluation of every service we provide.

Our broad service offer is informed by leading practice and a strong evidence-base of what works best. It is guided by our daily work with children and young people and the organisations that work with us to help and support them. This can only be achieved through the commitment and dedication that each and everyone of our employees shows to their work.

As a social enterprise, we take a business approach to delivering our social aims. We have the independence and flexibility to tailor innovative solutions to the needs of children and their families, whilst maintaining our strong bond and deep commitment to society and public service.

We work closely with Kingston, Richmond and Windsor & Maidenhead councils to set priorities and ensure that children's services remain an integral part of the local public sector offer across all three boroughs.

Ofsted rates our children’s social care services in Kingston as ‘Outstanding’ and as ‘Good’ in Richmond and in Windsor & Maidenhead.  The support we extend to our social work staff is well regarded and this includes the training and professional development available to each worker. Being part of our team means you are supported from day one in the organisation.

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.

Supervision:

• One-to-one case supervision

• Professional supervision

• Peer or group supervision

• Reflecting teams (safe spaces to discuss practice and the ‘use of self’ in peer groups)

• Annual professional development

• Coaching scheme to enhance professional development and provide dedicated time to focus on your individual needs

• An accessible, permanent and stable leadership team

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