How do we sum up Barnsley Council?
In Barnsley we believe in working collaboratively with our families and are excited about becoming a signs of safety local authority. When you join us, you can come on this exciting journey with us and have access to a full suite of development and training opportunities.
We have an Ofsted rated ‘Good’ Children's Services and a double award-winning, high-performing council with a growing economy, a thriving town centre and some truly impressive outcomes in our communities. We have been awarded Council of the Year for 2023 by the Local Government Chronicle (LGC) and The Municipal Journal (MJ). Our excellent Children's Services has been a key part of our win; we’re so proud of what we’ve achieved not just for the council but for our partners and Barnsley.
We’re impressed. Are you? It’s the perfect time to join our excellent team.
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About the Post:
We are an ambitious Local Authority who are committed to continued improvement activity in driving strength based, relational and collaborative practice in our work with children, young people, and their family networks. We want to make sure that we make a positive difference to the lives of children and young people.
Creativity, ambition and a focus on people. That’s what matters at Barnsley Council. Our award-winning council is on an exciting journey of change. It’s all about putting local people at the heart of everything, listening to and doing good for our communities. We’re now more innovative, more efficient and provide better value for money. The changes are clear to see - from new businesses and jobs, to improving school results and to museums being recognised for their community engagement.
Your role in our journey
It’s an exciting time to join us in Barnsley. We are restructuring our current generic out of hours provision and are establishing a dedicated Children’s Emergency Duty Team. We are looking for experienced, enthusiastic, and qualified Social Work Practitioners who can contribute to the development of the Team and provide an outstanding service for children.
You will have the confidence and skills to manage complex and high-risk children’s safeguarding situations, working closely with partner agency colleagues and taking a lead role in decision making where appropriate. You will need a good understanding of safeguarding procedures and be experienced in holding strategy discussions and progressing S47 investigations. You will be skilled in engaging parents and carers and in completing direct work with children, to diffuse crisis situations and develop safety plans utilising family networks.
We are looking for social workers who can work autonomously, manage competing demands, and work under pressure without the on-site support of their line manager. You will be confident in your decision making and risk assessment skills, and be able to provide advice, guidance and challenge to colleagues within Social Care and across agencies.
The team operate outside of normal office hours covering all urgent Social Work needs for Children and families in Barnsley. The team are operational from 4.30pm to 8.30am Monday, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays and from 4.30pm on Friday through to Monday at 8.30am. You will work alongside a colleague until 1.00am each evening and then the service reverts to one member of the team being on call between 1am and 8.30am.
As an experienced Social Worker, you will be able to evidence continued professional development, have a minimum of five years post qualifying experience demonstrate enhanced theoretical, legislative and research knowledge.
Shape a better future with us
Join our double award-winning council of the year 2023 on our journey to a brighter future. By working together, with each other and with our communities, we can take pride in improving lives. Let’s make a better Barnsley for everyone.
A lot to look forward to
Here at Barnsley, we live and work by four important values: honesty, teamwork, excellent service, and taking pride in what we do. As part of our team, you can be sure we’ll do all we can to support you in being truly excellent. Our dedicated Practice Development Hub will support you to prioritise learning and enabling you to achieve your potential. We’ve created a development process that lets you grow in the way that suits you - whether that’s training to be a leader or learning flexibly online. If you feel that you have the skills, knowledge and experience which will help us to achieve positive outcomes for our children, young people and families in Barnsley then we would like to hear from you.
If you would like to know more, please contact our Practice Development Hub on practicedevelopmentteam@barnsley.gov.uk
If you would like an informal discussion about this vacancy, please contact Clare Saxby (claresaxby1@barnsley.gov.uk)