Student Social Worker Apprentice
Job description
Student Social Worker Apprentice
£28,371
Lincolnshire
We are offering a unique and exciting opportunity to join Lincolnshire County Council Children’s Services and train to become a qualified Social Worker through our innovative social work apprenticeship scheme in partnership with The University of Lincoln.
This is a permanent full-time role. You will be based in one of our frontline teams, attend Lincoln University one day a week and have one day a week for protected learning. The course will offer everything you need to become a qualified Social Worker. The university course fees are met by Lincolnshire County Council and you will receive a salary of £28,371 per annum. When you qualify as a social worker, you will be supported to enter a qualified social worker role within one our Children's teams. You will be expected to remain in a Children's social worker role for 3 years post qualifying. Should you leave within 3 years post qualifying, you will be expected to repay a proportion of the salary you have received.
Great work starts with having great people on board and that’s where you come in. We want to make the most of your skills, and to train, guide and support you to make a positive impact on the lives of children in Lincolnshire. If you’re interested in being part of the very exciting future of Social Care and transform the lives of children in Lincolnshire, then we will help you achieve your goals.
In becoming an apprentice, you’ll take on the responsibility for providing social work support for children, young people and families. You will have a small caseload and undertake a range of social work tasks to evidence the competencies required to qualify as a Social Worker. This will continually develop your knowledge, skills and experience. You will have a line manager, a mentor and a Practice Educator all of whom will guide and support you along your journey to becoming a social worker. We pride ourselves on having incredibly supportive teams and in a recent social work survey 92% of respondents said that at Lincolnshire, they had friendly and helpful work colleagues.
More information can be found in the briefing attached.
Our apprenticeships are available across various teams in Lincolnshire: Fostering North, Fostering South, Children In Care North, , Children with Disabilities (Countywide), East Lindsey North FAST (Louth), East Lindsey South FAST (Horncastle), South Holland FAST (Spalding), South Kesteven FAST (Grantham) and West Lindsey (Gainsborough). When applying you will be asked to confirm your location preferences.
Our Teams:
We have eight locality FAST teams based across the county in Lincoln, Louth, Horncastle, Gainsborough, Grantham, Spalding, Boston and North Hykeham. They are responsible for child in need, child protection and court work. Our teams are led by a team manager who line manages practice supervisors. The practice supervisors in turn, supervise the social workers in the team and social work apprentices. There are four locality heads of service who provide leadership to the locality social work and early help teams.
Our children with disabilities (CWD) social work team is a county-wide but based in Lincoln and Sleaford. The team is responsible for the assessment of children and young people, aged between 0-18 years, that have severe and profound disabilities through child in need, child protection, children in care and court work.
We have two children in care teams that are based in Lincoln and Sleaford. Our social workers support children and young people who have been accommodated under Section 20 – where care orders have been granted – and support those children in private fostering arrangements. We also work with unaccompanied children seeking asylum.
Our fostering social workers are known as supervising social workers (SSW). This is a key position that brings together children and young people in care. Our SSW act as a link between foster carers and children’s social workers, and they are there to support the child/young person by providing a placement that can meet their needs. They recruit, assess, support and develop foster carers to be able to meet the needs of our children in care.
In order to be considered for a post, you'll need
- A proven track record of demonstrable competence in working with children and families normally achieved with a minimum of 2 years’ experience.
- A strong understanding of the English language as this role is public-facing.
- GCSE, O Level or Level 2 functional skills in Maths and English. (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/english-and-maths-requirements-in-apprenticeship-standards-at-level-2-and-above)
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to present information clearly and succinctly to others.
- The confidence and social skills to build strong relationships with others.
- A driving licence is essential, as you’ll be required to travel around the county on a regular basis.
Mandatory Documents Required by University of Lincoln
As the apprenticeship is running in partnership with the University of Lincoln there are a number of additional documents they require.
- University Application Form (attached to advert)
- Photographic ID (driving license or passport)
- Suitability Form’ (attached to advert)
- Level 2 Maths certificate (in accordance with the ESFA accepted qualifications) for information visit https://tinyurl.com/32z6nnzd
- Level 2 English certificate (in accordance with the ESFA accepted qualifications) for information visit https://tinyurl.com/32z6nnzd
- Highest Qualification Certificate
The above documents will need to be uploaded into the mandatory documents section of the application form.
Successful candidates will be invited to a selection process in May.
Please be advised that we will be contacting referees as part of the shortlisting process.
For an informal discussion about this role, please email [email protected] and someone will be in touch.
Please be advised that this position may be subject to a criminal record check.
All candidates are advised to read the attached job information pack prior to making an application.
On occasion we receive significantly more applications than expected for some vacancies and under such circumstances we reserve the right to bring forward the closing date of the advertisement. We therefore strongly advise you to apply for the role promptly to avoid disappointment should the closing date be brought forward.
We operate a talent pool scheme whereby candidates who are not successful on this occasion may be considered for a period of up to 3 months for equal positions.
Lincolnshire County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
Fluency Duty
In accordance with Part 7 of the Immigration Act 2016 (Fluency Duty), the ability to converse at ease with customers and provide advice in accurate spoken English is essential for the post.
