The job itself

A great and exciting opportunity has arisen within the ChildrenLooked After team for a permanent full time Social Worker. TheChildren Looked After team works with children who are in long term care, up until the age of 16.

The Right Candidate

We are looking for an energetic, creative and experienced practitioner who can demonstrate tenacity and enthusiasmin making a positive difference to the lives of children and young people. You will have experience of working with children, young people and their networks and experience of working within a social care setting, as well as a demonstrable commitment to the values of family involvement, relational approaches and empowerment. You will be a fully qualified social worker who has completed their ASYE. You will be passionate about ensuring our most vulnerable children are supported to achieve their full potential.

You will be solution focussed, reflective and analytical in your approach. You will be able to demonstrate a high level of motivation and the ability to work independently, with skills in working within timescales and with conflicting priorities.

In East Riding we really value positive relationships. Therefore, it is essential that the post holder can work relationally with others with a flexible and adaptable approach – always demonstrating their commitment to working to the highest possible standards whilst remaining at all times child centred. You will have excellent written and oral communication skills which will enable you to prepare clear, analytical and coherent reports on work undertaken. You will be able and committed to writing child’s plans to a high standard each evidencing the voice of children, young people and families throughout the process.

This is where you can really make a difference. You will work with families and children with a wide variety of needs to deliver excellent practice which is consistent throughout the region. We want you to inspire us and have a real impact on the way we work. In return you will gain the opportunity to develop your professional skills and your career in a challenging but supportive environment.

If you are a dedicated professional who wants to make a difference for children looked after and enjoy the rewards of this challenging work then apply now, or if you require more information about this role, please contact Jess Goodacre.

The East Riding of Yorkshire Council, Children’s Services have been rated GOOD by Ofsted following our recent ILACS inspection. Inspections commented that ‘the development of the workforce academy, the practice standards and quality assurance framework has created a solid foundation for consistent practice to be developed from. There is a strong culture within the local authority of workers being supported in developing their careers. There is a comprehensive training offer available to support practice improvement.’.

Our model

‘You can, I can, We can’

We have created a bespoke practice model that reflects and connects our vision, our value base and our behaviour as one East Riding of Yorkshire approach to working with children, young people and their families, which is nurtured and grown from within East Riding of Yorkshire CYPSSS and owned by our workforce.

We remain committed to Signs of Safety as a practice framework, but this will be set within a much wider, values based, model of practice that clearly connects Signs of Safety much more clearly with the East Riding value base, and our overall approach to making and sustaining relationships with children, families, and communities.

Without a well embedded model, there is nothing to centre our practice on to ensure that, while the work may be different, all our teams are grounded in the same values, beliefs, theories and approaches. Having a well-developed practice model helps to create a common language for the service and enables everyone to understand how we go about doing the right things, in the right way and for the right reasons for children and their families.

Why work for East Riding?

East Riding is an innovative Local Authority which constantly strives to drive up the standards for children. Our vision is to ensure that all children receive excellent social work services to keep them safe and to make sure they reach their full potential in all areas.

We really value our social workers, and it is our fundamental belief that our staff are the most important asset in fulfilling our responsibility to provide a quality service to children, young people and their families. We therefore want to invest in you and your development, for advanced social workers this means having the opportunity to develop specialist skills, support to become a practice educator/assessor and ongoing support and training when in this role, a developing aspiring managers programme for those who want to develop into leadership and management roles, and support to develop your coaching and mentoring skills. We care about your career and will help you to identify your own goals and work with you to support you to achieve that within East Riding.

Our social workers and practitioners describe East Riding as ‘a family’; we really value our relationships with each other, with the families we support, and our partner agencies. We offer flexible working approaches because we want you to be able to enjoy your own family time and we know that this is important to our staff. We listen to what our social workers and practitioners are telling us and work hard to respond and make a difference – in East Riding we are so committed to this that we have a Principal Social Worker for those who are social work qualified and a Principal Practice Lead for our practitioners who are not, who champion the frontline voice across the service.

Other benefits of being a social worker in East Riding include:

• Social Work England fees reimbursed.
• Licence for Community Care Inform to support with evidence-based practice and CPD.
• Regular reflective supervision with a focus on your wellbeing, your development, and what is working well.
• Flexible working options including option for a 9-day fortnight.
• Christmas to New Year shut down – working arrangements are on a rota basis with additional time paid or time off in lieu.
• Strong management support at all levels.
• A service wide commitment to celebrating best practice and practice strengths.
• A service wide commitment to promoting staff wellbeing and support.
• An opportunity to make a real difference to the lives of children, young people and their families.
• Take a look at our recruitment web pages and our Children’s Social Care information page for a full range of benefits and support.

Other important information

East Riding of Yorkshire Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and is pursuing equality of opportunity in employment.

This post is subject to an enhanced DBS Check