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Children’s Services is a service area within Coventry City Council that supports children and families across the city.

The vision and commitment of Children’s Services ensures that a high quality and child centred service is provided, ensuring the right help at the right time and engaging with partners.

Children’s Services is committed to outcome-driven and impactful interventions and measures success by the outcome for children and families.

The service reflects and responds to the changing needs of Coventry and its population and understands the need for a reflective and flexible service with a strong Early Help offer to provide early and targeted intervention so that families can access the support they need from a variety of partners and agencies.

A successful recruitment and retention strategy has resulted in a committed and stable workforce who are dedicated to delivering excellent services to children and young people in Coventry.

If you are a newly qualified social worker we want to hear from you. It is a great time to join our diverse workforce within Children’s Services, with great opportunities to develop your learning, ongoing training to improve practice, a clear way to progress through our progression pathway, and an engaging team that recognises success and values staff.

In Coventry our Social Workers combine established values and contemporary thinking to put the child at the beginning, middle and end of our work”.

Are you a Student Social Worker who is nearing the end of their qualification or recently qualified? Are you interested in a Career with Coventry Children’s Services? Coventry’s Social Work Academy will give you a great grounding for your career so that you flourish and have the tools to do your job well!

For Newly Qualified Social Workers (NQSWs)

Coventry’s Social Work Academy will develop and promote your core skills, knowledge and skills; and support your journey into Newly Qualified Social Workers from the start of their professional careers to be confident in the work they deliver, with the re-assurance that within the high levels of challenge, there is a highly supportive network and framework around them to enable them to do their job well!

Newly Qualified Social Workers spend 6 months based within the Academy with time spent with “host” and “shadowing” teams, so NQSWs can experience developed practice and gain a good understanding of the systems, processes and services in Coventry. The learning environment of the Academy offers NQSWs higher levels of supervision and support throughout their Assessed and Supported Year in Employment (ASYE). NQSWs will receive coaching, mentoring and guidance from the Social Work Academy Team to assist them in transitioning from students into professional practice.

The Offer

High levels of supervision at early stages, promoting critical reflective practice which supports judgement, decision making and promotes emotional resilience.

NQSWs feel part of Coventry Children’s Services and are able to build an empowering supportive network around them to deliver “good” social work.

We will provide 6 months of core social work learning and professional development from experienced Social Workers, Practice Educators and University partners.

Opportunities to shadow and jointly work with children living in complex situations including children who are care experienced and subject to child protection plans, in order to prepare NQSWs for more independent practice as their experience grows.

Critical reflection time to explore the work NQSWs shadow to translate theory into practice and to consider the impact of interventions for the children and families.

Support and training in Signs of Safety methodologies with families, so that this practice naturally informs assessments and interventions with children and families.

A career progression scheme to promote and support both learning, and professional development.

Outreach support from the Social Work Academy for the final 6 months of the ASYE when NQSWs are settling into their team.

This post is exempted under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and as such appointment to this post will be conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory response to a check of police records via Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).

We are looking for student Social Workers who are nearing the end of their qualification or recently qualified and have completed their placements. You will either already be registered with Social Work England or will be able to obtain your registration within 4 weeks of employment with us.

For full details on the application process please read the attached document on our jobs page labelled 'Coventry City Council Application Process'

Successful candidates will commence employment in early April 2023.

Interview date(s): Commence 23rd February 2023

Coventry has a proud, innovative and creative spirit that throughout its history has seen communities come together to tackle problems and bring about real social change.

We are cutting-edge, challenging, youthful, vibrant and diverse.

At Coventry we are committed to excellence in everything we do. With around 4800 staff from a range of different backgrounds, our aim is to recruit and develop talented people who will focus on our customers, take responsibility, work together and find better ways of doing things.

To deliver the best services to our residents, we need the best people working for us to make a difference to our communities.

If you join us, we will provide a fantastic rewards and benefits package - to find out more please visit https://www.coventry.gov.uk/council-vacancies

It’s great to know that you are interested in working with us at Coventry City Council. As a prospective employee, it is important that everyone who works for us is committed to our One Coventry values and shares our commitment to becoming a more diverse and inclusive organisation.

Our Values are: