Children's Social Worker

Job description

Children’s Social Workers, Rotherham, South Yorkshire

Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council, Children and Young People’s Services 

Children's Social Care, Various locations

Salary details: Up to £41,496 & excellent benefits

Now is the time to come and work for Rotherham Council Children and Young People’s Service. For more information about Rotherham Social Care jobs, please visit: https://www.rotherham.gov.uk/childrens-social-work-jobs

ABOUT THE OPPORTUNITY

Come and join the team here in Rotherham! We have strong and accessible leadership in place and a heartfelt pledge to provide a best practice centre of excellence. We are committed to cultivating a positive, practice-led culture underpinned by plenty of support at all levels. We pride ourselves on our strong learning environment and use this positively to develop staff and improve practice.  During our Ofsted focused visit, we were praised for our staff morale and positive organisational culture, which builds on positive comments already reported in the Ofsted report published January 2018.

We are committed to providing an outstanding service to the children and young people of Rotherham.  We regularly review our social care teams to make sure we have the right resources in place to support manageable caseloads, streamline administration and maximise the benefits of our state-of-the-art IT systems.  This gives our staff more time to dedicate in building a rapport and developing strong relationships that matter.  You will be joining an organisation that is rewarding in every sense and most importantly, that will serve our community to the highest possible standards.

Key benefits of working at Rotherham Council’s Children and Young People’s service are:

You will be joining an authority Ofsted rate as Good

Manageable caseloads.

Hybrid working arrangements to support its employees; this consists of a mix of office-based activity and time spent home working. This promotes a pro-active work/life balance culture throughout the Council, recognising the importance of flexibility to support a positive health and well-being ethos.

Strong management support and oversight with approachable and supportive senior managers

Regular reflective supervision

Excellent professional learning & development opportunities – guaranteed 15 days per year, underpinned by the Rotherham Family Approach which incorporates ‘Signs of Safety’, ‘Restorative Approaches’, and ‘Social Pedagogy’ as our methodological approach and framework

Bespoke Learning Academy to support practitioners

Excellent social work case management and reporting systems making your job easier

An accredited social work career pathway to Level 2, 3 and Advanced Practitioner positions and a proven record of ‘growing our own’ at all levels.

A positive learning environment to enhance your social work career.

Opportunity to talk to current staff via a virtual drop in to gain a greater insight

Able to offer fixed term contracts to cover maternity leave should that suit your personal circumstances

ABOUT YOU

You will have experience of working directly with children, young people and their families (through previous/current employment and/or voluntary work).

You will have some experience of working directly with children and young people ‘in need’ of support, protection and care (preferably through previous / current employment and/or social work training placements).

You will be able to organise your daily workload independently and prioritise competing demands with support.

You will be able to demonstrate initiative and be able to respond independently to unexpected situations. 

You will be able to communicate clearly, verbally and in writing, acting professionally, respectfully and tactfully when dealing with areas of sensitivity and potential conflict or disagreement.

You will be sufficiently confident to undertake home visits and attend meetings with families and other professionals.

You will have some experience of undertaking Early Help Assessments / Statutory Social Work Single Assessments of needs and circumstances.

You will understand the threshold and processes for undertaking child protection enquiries and joint investigations with the police and know about the practical application of child protection procedures.

You will be capable of accurate reporting and have the confidence to communicate complex information to a variety of audiences.

You will have some understanding of how evidence is presented in court.

You will be passionate about maximising a child’s life chances. 

You will care and want to make a positive difference for children, young people and their families.

Now is the time to come and work for Rotherham Council Children and Young People’s Service. Help us achieve our ambition to become outstanding – be part of our improvement journey and the transformational change that we are making. We are committed to making sure that every child makes the best start in life and we are striving to become a child-centered borough. Rotherham is a great place to live and work.

Our USP is the quality and extent of the 15 day training offer for Signs of Safety, using action research as the tool to embed the learning. We want excellent practitioners to help transform social work practice in Rotherham by generating a movement where excellent practice is the norm, resulting in consistently better outcomes for all our children. These are in accordance with our ambition to become a leading children’s services authority.

ABOUT YORKSHIRE

Rotherham and the wider South Yorkshire region is a great place to live and a stone’s throw from some of the UK’s finest towns and cities and is home to some of the most beautiful countryside in Britain. Easy to reach from Sheffield or Leeds, there are plenty of places to see, things to do and property is excellent value for money - all within a 2-hour train journey from London.

If you have any questions regarding these opportunities, please email them to one of the Heads of Service:

Matthew Boud, Locality Social Work – matthew.boud@rotherham.gov.uk

Sharon Sandell, LAC –Sharon.sandell@rotherham.gov.uk

Kelly White, First Response – kelly.white@rotherham.gov.uk

Laura Gough, Learning and Development – laura.gough@rotherham.gov.uk