Salary: Grade
H/I £31,346 - £38,890 pro-rata for part time (bar at
£34.728 dependent on PQ award)
Hours: 37
Contract: Permanent
My name is Ian Walker, and I am
the Assistant Director for Social Care and Early Help in Bolton.
As I approach my first year in
the role I look back and see with some surprise, and not a little pride, how
much we have developed and progressed in such a short period of time. How any
organisation manages change is the truest of tests of its well being and I have
to say that the whole of the Service has evidenced its flexibility,
adaptability and functionality to an amazing degree.
This gives me total confidence
that we will take on whatever challenges and opportunities that come our way in
2021.
As a result, I can honestly say
that this is a really exciting time to join us in Bolton.
Our management and senior
management team are now all permanent employees and we are heading towards that
benchmark within the social work teams.
We do still have, however, a few
exciting opportunities that have arisen for you to join Bolton’s Children’s
Services as a Social Worker.
Not for one minute have I
regretted my decision to join the Bolton Family and I don’t think you will
either.
So,
what will you gain from an application to work in Bolton?
· Working with a
manageable caseload and in small teams ensuring readily available line
management support.
· A stable
accessible and co-located senior management team (including the Assistant
Director) who are passionate about improving services for the children and
families in Bolton.
· A commitment
to learn from the ‘Covid experience’ and to support a formal working at home
arrangement into the future.
· A newly
formulated Advanced Social Work Practitioner post in every team and formalised
Progression Pathway to support your personal development and the continuous
practice improvements across the service.
· A Restorative
Practice approach that actively encourages imaginative and family focused
interventions.
· A strong
commitment from partners to work collaboratively.
· An
organisation that genuinely care for its workforce and the community it works
with.
We
may be rated as ‘Good’ but we aspire to be even better.
Bolton
2030 is our long-term vision for our Borough. In Bolton our vision is to
support people to Start Well, Live Well and Age Well. This includes supporting
our children to get the best possible start in life, so they have every chance
to succeed and be happy.
Here
in Bolton, we keep children and young people at the centre of all the work we
do; we strive to offer families the support and intervention they need to make
and sustain positive change so they can safely meet the needs of their children
wherever this is possible, and when children cannot remain with family that
they have timely plans of permanency.
Bolton’s
Children’s Services were judged as ‘GOOD’ in an Ofsted ILACS inspection in 2018.
Ofsted
commented:
“Children
who need help and protection are supported by timely and effective services,
delivered by skilled social workers, with decisions that are made by managers.”
“Good
management oversight from experienced team managers, who have manageable spans
of control, allows for regular formal and informal supervision and provides
staff with effective support to ensure that their work with children and
families is purposeful and effective.”
The Looked after Children Teams in Bolton are split into three
small teams. In Bolton we keep children and young people at the centre of all
the work we do and there is a major focus on improving the outcomes for all
looked after children.
The successful candidates will be qualified Social Workers with
a passion for working with children and their families to improve outcomes for
looked after children.
You will be a motivated and enthusiastic
practitioner with the ability to build professional relationships with children
and their families, to ensure their participation in your social work practice.
You will have good knowledge and experience in
safeguarding children, as well as being able to produce high quality
assessments and understand the current changes within children’s social work.
You will be resilient, adaptable and capable of
working effectively with colleagues from other professional disciplines.
You will be an excellent communicator, efficient in
time management, report writing and completing assessments as well as a strong
team player who values the strength of working in a person-centered manner. All roles require Social Workers
to be able to write reports to an excellent standard and deliver accurate and
concise information verbally, in written form and also where necessary in
court.
Staff
benefits include
•Generous Annual Leave – a minimum of 28 days
annual leave, rising to 31 days after 5 years’ service.
•Essential Car User Allowance
•Flexible Working and access to remote working and
mobile technology
•Access to Gym Membership and Cycle to Work Schemes
•Local Government Pension Scheme
•Relocation scheme
•Employee Assistance Programme
Our
offer to you –
•Regular informal and formal supervision from
experienced Managers
•A clear progression pathway
•Access to learning and development training and
activities for your Continued Professional Development
•Opportunities to shape practice and service
delivery with the Principal Social Worker Team
•Full access to Research In Practice learning
resources
•Support to achieve accreditation with the National
Assessment & Accreditation System
All
NQSW’s will receive regular high-quality supervision and be supported by strong
visible leadership.
The
ASYE Assessor is a qualified and registered Social Worker.
NQSW’s
will be subject to a 12-month probationary period to support completion of the
ASYE Programme.
The
ASYE programme in Bolton
•Your
ASYE Assessor will provide fortnightly supervision for your first six months
and then monthly supervision until the end of the programme. This is alongside
supervision with your line manager.
•Your
ASYE Assessor will undertake your assessments in collaboration with your line
manager.
•There
will be three direct observations completed of you within your first year. One
of these is completed by your ASYE Assessor and two by your line manager.
•You
will have the opportunity to co-work cases in order to learn from more
experienced practitioners.
•You
will hold a reduced caseload that is linked with ASYE reviews at 3, 6 and 10
months during the ASYE Programme. This will ensure you have the time to develop
your potential and enable theory and practice to become aligned.
•You
will receive an induction and attend monthly workshops that offer time for
reflection and opportunities for learning and development. This also gives opportunity
to be part of a group with other practitioners who are in their first year of
practice.
•You
will receive allocated study time to enable you to complete the evidence
required for the portfolio and will complete a taught module for NQSW’s with Manchester
Metropolitan University.
•You
will be assessed against the Knowledge and Skills Statements (KSS) at three,
six and twelve months.
Progression to Grade I for
existing Grade H Social Workers in Bolton will be achieved by successful
completion of the Progression Pathway
We are committed to
safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expect
all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. A DBS check is therefore required for this
post.
This post is a designated
customer facing role under the fluency duty and requires a specified level of
spoken English as per the person specification.
This organisation has signed up to the Greater Manchester
Continuous Service Commitment. That means we will recognise your continuous or ‘unbroken’
service in any Greater Manchester local authority or NHS organisation,
Transport for Greater Manchester, Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service or
Greater Manchester Combined Authority, giving you access to our service-related
benefits.
To see if you are
suited to this role, please review the job description.
Job Description.docx
BN DBS.pdf
BN Right to Work.docx
BN Privacy Notice.docx
BN VB Framework.pdf
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