Children's Social Worker

In Sutton, there is much for us to be proud of both as a council and as a borough. This includes high levels of resident satisfaction, the quality of our services, our success in addressing our financial challenges to date, the way that we involve and engage with residents on key issues facing the borough, and the enthusiastic and motivated staff that we employ. 

Looking ahead, there are plans for the delivery of new homes and new schools and the London Cancer Hub is being developed, while the Council is also seen as a driving force within the South London Partnership of five outer south west London boroughs focused on strategic growth, regeneration and investment.

All of this demonstrates a good track record and an authority that is ambitious and set to deliver more improvements for the borough. We've set out our vision for the future of Sutton in our corporate plan - Ambitious for Sutton. This strategic plan will shape the outcomes we achieve, the services we provide, and the impact we have on residents, to make Sutton a great place to live, work and raise a family.

Situated in Zone 5, Sutton is less than 30 minutes by train from central London, and south and south west London are easily accessible by public transport. There are 10 train stations which serve key neighbourhoods within the borough providing direct connections to London Victoria, London Bridge, London Blackfriars and St Pancras International. Sutton also has direct rail connections with Epsom, Dorking, Guildford and Horsham, as well as Wimbledon for an interchange with the London Underground and West Croydon for the London Overground. There’s also an extensive road network which provides close and easy access to the M25 and M23.

Children's Social Worker - Locality Team

Welcome and Retention Bonus:

• £1000 paid in your first month salary and £1000 paid at the end of your 1st completed year in service
• £2000 paid after your 2nd completed year in service
• £3000 paid in your 3rd completed year in service and every completed year thereafter.

Whole package totals up to £47,857 (including Retention Bonus)

Social Workers within this service area are able to work flexibly between home and work 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 our Locality Team. Our objective is to deliver the best outcomes for children and young people.

Reporting to the Team Manager, you will work within the frameworks of Section 17 and Section 47 - undertaking assessments, planning, and interventions with Children and their families. Your role will consist of completing direct work with children to keep them safe, ensuring their voice, wishes and views are central to the planning and delivery of work.

You will lead and coordinate multi-agency partnerships, plans, interventions, and meetings to ensure children and young people are safe and their holistic needs are being met. Within your team's geographical area you will support children and young people through robust assessment, SMART planning and effective intervention to achieve positive outcomes within their families and communities. Working within a restorative practice approach, you will work in partnership with families and multi-agency colleagues in intervening to address both the presenting concerns and underlying difficulties.

Compliance is key to our statutory requirements and as a Social worker you will deliver all aspects of work in accordance with safeguarding policy, procedure, and standards, ensuring that the children are at the heart of your decision making.

The London Borough of Sutton Children’s Services offers a supportive and inclusive environment for its Qualified Social Work staff. Specialist support on challenging cases, regular structured supervision, and an environment that encourages all those to take part and ensure their voices are heard. 

Our Locality Teams offer a social work service to children and young people in the Borough who are living at home on plans under Section 17 or Section 47 of the Children Act 1989.  This is achieved by working in partnership with relevant agencies, children and young people and their families. We provide a supported working environment that ensures manageable caseloads, regular supervision,  daily management support and an abundance of learning and development opportunities for our Social Workers to grow and flourish.  In addition we have a creative and flexible approach to the working week which allows for both home and office working which promotes a work/life balance.

Working 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, and workshops and have access to research and practice resources to support their ongoing professional development.

Sutton Council also has a number of staff network groups such as the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic +A Network, LGBTQ +A Network and Women’s +A Network to ensure staff have a voice to drive positive change in the organisation.

The successful candidates will be enthusiastic and motivated individuals with a caring and calm approach who have a thorough understanding of the frameworks that underpin social work practice. You will bring insight and experience to the team and the lives of children and show initiative which will help develop our services to an outstanding standard. You must also enjoy working in a high pace team, being able to deliver consistency, energy, and passion to make a difference in children's and young people's lives. 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)

• 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.

If you have experience in Children's services, are competent in assessment and direct work, and are looking for the next challenging step in your career with a supportive management team, then apply today!

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 - the key highlights from our recent Equalities Workforce Report can be seen here. 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.

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