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Join an Outstanding Authority…

Bracknell Forest Council Children’s Social Care were graded as Outstanding by Ofsted in June 2022 (ILACS Inspection):

“Leaders lead by example and are available to all staff when needed for case exploration and discussion”.

“Children and young people in the care of Bracknell Forest benefit from consistently good support and care from their committed and caring social workers and foster carers”.

We have an exciting opportunity in our Children Looked After Team for an individual willing to share our commitment to improving outcomes for those children in our care. This role will support the Children Looked After team by working with children and young people in care placed at a distance from Bracknell Local Authority in order to give an equitable and high standard service to the children we work with. The key areas that this role will cover are Essex, London and Kent. Specific geographical areas currently include Canvey Island, Essex, Margate, Hollingbourne, Croydon, Westgate-on-Sea and Herne Bay. It is anticipated that applicants for this role may reside close to this area.

Our Family Safeguarding Teams exemplify how Children’s Safeguarding work can support families and secure the best outcomes for children and young people. We provide children, young people and families with the right service at the right time. Put simply, we change lives for the better.

If you are looking for a team that is inclusive, ambitious, and always learning, we’d welcome your application to join us.

We are a small and friendly local authority. The leaders and managers know that it is essential for social care workers to have a secure physical and psychological base from which to be the best workers they can be. Working collaboratively with families to keep them together, where it is safe to do so, is at the heart of our embedded Family Safeguarding Model and our approach is underpinned by Motivational Interviewing (MI).

What it's like working in our team...

Our teams of qualified social workers and family workers are co-located with and joint work with specialist workers in domestic abuse, mental health and substance misuse, meaning no lengthy waits for much needed services for our families and interventions that help build resilience and mitigate risks.

The CLA Team is a great team to work in with a shared passion and ethos providing a mutually supportive and positive team dynamic. We ensure monthly time for reflective team supervision and work with others across the service to draw on specialist knowledge and support. We have dedicated admin support.

Our social workers have the time to get to know everyone they work with, excellent support from managers and colleagues across the department and expert guidance whenever they need it. The work we do is centred around making a difference to each individual child who is looked after, including as they approach and enter adulthood via leaving care. Working alongside children and their social worker to achieve permanence for our most vulnerable we are committed to finding safe and secure ‘forever homes’ and the development of All About Me and Life Journey work for children.

Our workforce tells us:

• There is a supportive and approachable leadership and management team
• All teams offer each other good peer support; there is a strong focus on shared problem solving
• They feel appreciated and their development is prioritised
• Supervision is of high quality, reflective and routinely provided

You will be supported to carry out the following duties, responsibilities and training...

Social Workers are equipped with the tools to build meaningful relationships and make lasting changes for families. To further support you to provide high quality consistent social work, we have a comprehensive learning and development offer, driven by a dedicated Principal Social Worker. We have resilience groups, well-being events, regular, reflective one to one and group supervisions and peer support. Bracknell Forest is a great place to learn and develop your practice.

This role will enable you to continually develop your skills and knowledge, as well as contribute to the ongoing improvement of the services and support we deliver.

The benefits you will experience are...

• Flexible working opportunities
• Following probation period, an opportunity to take part in a 9-day fortnight trial
• A comprehensive induction and excellent ongoing training programme
• Annual retention bonus, market premia and relocation package
• Funded Social Work England annual registration fee.
• Generous holiday allowance with the option to buy, sell and bank annual leave
• Local Government Pension Scheme
• An interest free loan for a rail season ticket
• Access to Cycle to Work Scheme
• Internal sports and social club opportunities with discounted leisure centre and gym membership
• Supermarket discount
• A great office location next to travel links and the regenerated town centre (Lexicon)

What we're looking for...

In order to provide our children and young people with an outstanding service, we want to employ a social worker residing closer to the areas in which some of our children and young people reside, so that they are accessible and equity of service is implemented.

This is a new role within the team but the expectation for a practitioner would be to work from home for the majority of their employment, with access to the Bracknell office when required. The expectation from managers is that there is face to face attendance at monthly team meetings and for supervision.

We are looking for practitioners who can engage with children and their parents and carers, be reliable and provide stability and ambition for children and their families during the time they are working with us.

A successful applicant would need to have the ability to work in a multi-agency setting, think creatively and strive for the best for our children and young people.

To be successful, you must have current registration with Social Work England and have experience of working within the legal frameworks that support our work. You must have a commitment to facilitating better outcomes for children, be organised and skilled in effective engagement of families.

If you have the skills, knowledge, experience and enthusiasm we are looking for, and if you want to work for a local authority that values and invests in staff, we would love to hear from you.

Applications can be made simply via CV.

Successful applicants will be required to complete a full application form as part of our safer recruitment.

Interview date

Interviews are TBC.

Want to ask us a question?

For an informal discussion or to ask any questions about this role, please contact:

Chloe Herniman, Assistant Team Manager

Tel.: 01344 354336

Email: [email protected]

or

Hannah Morris, Team Manager - Life Chances

Tel.: 01344 351379

Email: [email protected]

For more information on working for Bracknell Forest Children’s Social Care visit our micro-site www.bracknell-forest.gov.uk/childrenssocialcare

Candidates should be able to demonstrate experience of working within the current Social Care System and Framework.

As part of the Council’s ongoing commitment to redeployment, please note that this vacancy may be withdrawn at any stage of the recruitment process if a suitable redeployee is identified.

Any candidates wishing to apply who would require sponsorship can determine the likelihood of obtaining a Certificate of Sponsorship for the role by assessing their circumstances against the relevant criteria.

No agencies please.

Equal Opportunities

Bracknell Forest Council – Working for Equality. We welcome applications from all sections of the community.

How to apply

Applications can be made simply via CV.

Successful applicants will be required to complete a full application form as part of our safer recruitment.