Social Worker - Court Team - Children's Services

The London Borough of Sutton “is uncompromising in its focus on improving quality of frontline social work” – Ofsted

London Borough of Sutton works closely with Kingston University and regional partners as part of the Developing Together Social Work Teaching Partnership (SWTP). The partnership offers staff a wide range of pre and post qualifying education opportunities to promote continuous learning and development. This includes staff being encouraged to support the practice education of Social Work students and those in the assessed and supported year in employment (ASYE). Staff are also given the opportunity to attend conferences, workshops and have access to research and practice resources to support their ongoing professional development.

Social Worker - Court Team

Salary – (Grade 8): £34,809 - £44,628 (£44,628 unconsolidated maximum)

Social Workers receive a Welcome Bonus of £1000 paid in your first month salary followed by a Retention Bonus of £1000 after your first completed year of service, a retention bonus of £2000 after your second completed year, followed by a retention bonus of £3000 every completed year thereafter 

Whole package totals up to £47,728

Social Workers are able to work flexibly between home, work and court environments, to meet the needs of the service whilst recognising the benefits that a hybrid model of working can bring.

We are looking for confident and skilled Social Workers to work in the Court and Adoption Service. Our objective is to deliver the best outcomes for children and young people.

Social Workers within the Court and Adoption Service are responsible for cases relating to children subject to proceedings who may either be looked after or living at home. Your role will include the undertaking of all tasks associated with working with Children under statutory frameworks, whilst ensuring compliance with Court direction, providing the Court with child focused evidence, analysis and  well informed care plans. You will play an intrinsic role in working directly with the children and young people, ensuring their wishes and views are heard, respected and relayed to the court. It's a great time to join Sutton as we have introduced a Special Guardianship Team and Therapeutic Support Workers to manage SGO and Parenting assessments to support all Social Workers within the Courts Team.

Your knowledge and experience will allow you to apply social work theories to formulate and test hypotheses in reaching a professional judgement and decision. You will produce a good standard of professional documentation relevant to your service area and be able to prioritise your workload and work within defined timescales. Principles of human rights and social justice are fundamental to the role and you will be required to effectively balance the protection of individual rights against the need to use professional authority and accountability effectively to safeguard vulnerable children and young people. 

Our vision encapsulates the community-based approach and commitment to improving the quality of life and well-being for all Sutton residents.

PRIDE - our acronym that illustrates our five core values which reinforce the vision and provide the underlying context to the ways in which we work:

• Working in PARTNERSHIP with the people who live and work in the borough 
• Making our services open and accessible so that everyone is listened to and treated with RESPECT 
• Seeking INNOVATIVE approaches in order to provide better, more cost-effective services 
• Promoting DIVERSITY and ensuring that we recognise and celebrate difference within the context of fairness and equality 
• EMPOWERING everyone so that we can all 'take part and take pride' as active citizens and staff.

Our Team

Sutton’s Court Team provides a specialist service to Children within care proceedings, working closely with Courts to secure their safety and wellbeing through the means of permanency.

The Borough prides itself on engaging with children and young people, and this is no different in the Court team with the expectation of staff undertaking direct work with children to elicit their voice and to give age-appropriate clarity and reassurance. Supporting our social workers with their career development is a priority for us.

In Sutton we ensure that our social workers have manageable workloads, regular supervision, and through annual appraisals you will have the opportunity for career development and progression. Court social workers will also have the opportunity to develop skills by undertaking a variety of assessments including viability, parenting and together and apart assessments.

The successful candidates will be an enthusiastic and motivated individual with a caring and calm approach. You will demonstrate empathy when dealing with sensitive situations and strong interpersonal skills using different ways of communicating. Showcasing the ability to assess and record a child's needs, applied through evidence based practice to justify decision making.  We welcome applications from experienced child protection practitioners with a clear ability to write comprehensively, speak with clarity and are able to deliver analysis based on evidence and research. 

Our culture of strong, accessible and supportive management will provide you with good regular supervision and the opportunity to take part in case discussions.

In addition, We would expect the successful candidate to demonstrate the following competences (not limited to):

• You are a Qualified Social Worker with a Social Work degree or recognised qualification and registered with the relevant regulatory body Social Work England

• Have completed the Assessed and Supported Year in Employment (ASYE)

• Have a good level of experience of working in a children and family settings and have managed a complex case load

• Hold the relevant skills, knowledge and aptitude to ensure that all vulnerable people are safeguarded from abuse and that all statutory functions, local policy, procedures are adhered to in a timely manner and documented accordingly.

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

Please apply online outlining what skills, abilities and experience you can bring which makes you an ideal candidate for this role. Please ensure you refer to the requirements outlined in the job profile when completing your application.

To support our diversity agenda and reduce the risk of bias in our recruitment activities, our short listing process completely anonymises personal information that can identify job applicants e.g. name, title etc. Our hiring managers review and short list applications based on the information provided as part of your application as to how well you meet the requirements and criteria for the role, as outlined in the job profile.

The closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received. Therefore, it is strongly advised that you complete and submit your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

We pride ourselves on being a diverse, inclusive and welcoming Borough and we aim to create a workforce which reflects the community we serve. We are respectful of difference and realise the positive value of diversity in our workforce. We welcome and encourage job applications from people of all backgrounds and particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic candidates and disabled candidates, as these groups are currently under-represented in our workforce. As part of our Disability Confident Committed status, we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum/essential criteria for the role.

We offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements, staff engagement forums, and inclusive staff networks who help drive our diversity agenda.

The UK has introduced a new points-based immigration system affecting EU and Non-EU workers and sponsorship requirements. We advise checking the GOV.UK website for right to work guidance.