Social Worker - Family Safeguarding

We have an exciting opportunity for an experienced Social Worker to join our Family Safeguarding Team, to make a difference to the lives of children and young people.  You will have the opportunity to develop your skills and expertise in a supportive and dynamic environment.

About the team… 

The Family Safeguarding Team are a multi-agency team who work collaboratively with specialist practitioners in domestic abuse, mental health and substance misuse as part of our embedded family safeguarding, we strive to keep families together when it is safe to do so.

The team focuses on longer term intervention, following transfer from our front door we undertake statutory social work interventions, including child in need, child protection, CLA and court proceedings.

The Family Safeguarding Team are a talented and dedicated group of professionals who are passionate about making a difference in the lives of children and families. The team is stable and established, providing high support and high challenge enabling you to give your best to the families who need it most. 

The children and young people we work with have told us they want social workers to:

• be friendly, fun and energetic.
• listen respectfully, take action and stick to deadlines.
• keep promises, be accessible and on time.

We would love to hear from you if you are:

• Social worker with experience in child in need, child protection and care proceedings.
• Reliable Social Worker who can build trusted relationships with children and young people and ensure their voice is heard.
• Social worker with proven ability to build strong and respectful relationships with families, their support network and partner agencies.
• Social worker with in-depth knowledge of the legal powers and key duties with safeguarding children and young people as well as the relevant legislation, policies, and procedures.
• Social worker with a proven ability to maintain records, manage complex cases, meet deadlines, and write reports and assessments to a high standard.
• Motivated Social Worker with a passion to make a difference.

We are a small, welcoming and friendly local authority. Our leadership team knows that it is essential for Social Workers to have a secure physical and psychological base from which to be the best practitioners they can be. We are proud of our connected and inclusive culture, with a strong focus on wellbeing, which will provide you with a strong sense of belonging.

To further support you to provide high quality consistent social work, we have a comprehensive learning and development offer, driven by our Principal Social Worker. 

Bracknell Forest Council have a nationally recognised practice model – the ‘Family Safeguarding Model’

Working collaboratively with families to keep them together, where it is safe to do so, is at the heart of the embedded Family Safeguarding Model; an approach which is underpinned by Motivational Interviewing (MI).  This ensures families, children and young people feel empowered, and enables parents to make the positive changes needed, to achieve improved outcomes for their children and their own wellbeing. 

We are graded by Ofsted as “Outstanding”.   In June 2022 Ofsted identified during our inspection that

“Children who need help and protection in Bracknell Forest receive a consistently high quality service”

Inspectors concluded that social workers and other frontline practitioners benefit from manageable caseloads, good training and powerful and highly reflective supervision that ensures children are at the heart of decision making.

In November 2023 our Ofsted monitoring visit highlighted:

• Social workers receive regular supervision from their managers.

• Caseloads are manageable and allow workers to have time to spend with children.

• Social workers are very positive about working in Bracknell Forest.

• Staff feel valued and that they can progress in their social work career. They feel well supported by managers and leaders.

Everything we do in Children’s Social Care is about improving the life chances of Bracknell’s children, put simply, we change lives for the better.

To further support you to provide high quality consistent social work, we have a comprehensive learning and development offer, driven by our Principal Social Worker. 

Because we’re Bracknell Forest... a great place to learn and develop your practice.

Key responsibilities ...

• Develop and implement effective safeguarding plans to protect children from harm.
• To work alongside other professionals as part of a multi-disciplinary team.
• To manage a caseload of Child in Need, Child Protection, Care Proceedings and Children Looked After.
• To take part in the team duty system responding to concerns as and when they arise.
• To make effective use of time and be able to prioritise workload, ensuring timeliness in visiting, report writing and other deadlines.
• To participate in regular reflective supervision and be able to set clear goals and intervention strategies.
• To develop and maintain accurate case records and comply with the department's policies, procedures and guidelines including data protection and GDPR.
• To contribute to service development and learning of others.

Our benefits… 

• 28 days* increasing to 33 days* after 3 years’ continuous service.
• The opportunity to buy up to 10 additional days* annual leave per year and sell 5 days.
• Hybrid working opportunities to support your wellbeing and work-life balance. 
• An inclusive and social working environment with a variety of staff networks. 
• Local government pension scheme.
• Life insurance cover (linked to the pension scheme)
• Sports and social club. 
• Enhanced maternity, paternity, adoption and fostering leave. 
• Career development through internal and external training opportunities. 
• A great office location next to travel links and Bracknell Forest’s thriving town centre. 
• Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to support your health and wellbeing. 
• Staff dental and health plans. 
• Discounted leisure centre and gym membership. 
• Supermarket discount. 
• Reimbursement for Social Work England registration fees.

*(pro rata for part time). 

Our Values

At Bracknell Forest Council our values define who we are and what is important to us.  Our core values are inclusive, ambitious, and always learning. These values influence the way we work with each other and the way we serve our residents and engage with our communities. We make our values real by demonstrating them in how we behave every day. If you’re excited about joining a diverse team that celebrates learning and strives for excellence, we’d love to hear from you. 

We are committed to ensuring an inclusive recruitment process for all applicants. If you require any reasonable adjustments to support your application or interview, please let us know by contacting recruitment@bracknell-forest.gov.uk.  We will work with you to support you throughout the process.  

Interview date 

Shortlisting will be done on a weekly basis, and interviews will be arranged a minimum of 7 days after this for suitable applicants.

Interviews will be conducted in person, providing candidates with the chance to personally meet the team and experience our work environment.

We will be reviewing applications regularly and reserve the right to close the advert early if suitable candidates are identified. To avoid disappointment, you are advised to submit your application as soon as possible.

Please note AI is prohibited during the interview, any candidate using AI will be withdrawn from consideration.

Want to ask us a question? 

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

Cheryl Perry- Team Manager – Cheryl.perry@bracknell-forest.gov.uk

Donna Barber- Team Manager – Donna.barber@bracknell-forest.gov.uk

 

At Bracknell Forest we champion equality, diversity and inclusion. At Bracknell Forest Council, we are always learning, ambition and inclusive. Please see our candidate pack for more details.

Bracknell Forest Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. We expect everyone employed with us to share this commitment. All successful candidates for this role will be subject to a DBS (Disclosure & Barring Service) check as part of our pre-employment checks process.

 

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

Social Work England registration fees can be claimed back from the Council.

 

We can only accept applications from candidates currently residing in the UK.

Candidates currently residing in the UK who require sponsorship to work are encouraged to assess their eligibility for a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) based on the relevant criteria. Please be aware that sponsorship availability varies and is subject to eligibility requirements and budget limitations. As a result, we cannot guarantee sponsorship for all roles and will evaluate sponsorship requests on a case-by-case basis.

No agencies please.