Social Worker - Referral and Assessment
Children's Services

Salary:                    Grade H/I    £31,346 - £38,890 pro-rata for part time (bar at £34.728 dependent on PQ award)    Hours:                     37 hours & 18.5 hours 
Contract:               Permanent & Fixed Term (12 months)

Exciting opportunities have arisen to join Bolton’s Children’s Services as a Social Worker in the Referral and Assessment Service. We have both permanent vacancies and a fixed term contract for 12 months. On the fixed term contract there may be the potential opportunity to join our permanent staff team after the 12 months.

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 wellbeing 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 and accessible senior management team (including the Assistant Director) who are passionate about improving services for the children and families in Bolton.
•A newly formulated Advanced Social Work Practitioner post in every team to support your personal development and the continuous practice improvements across the service.
•A Restorative Practice approach that actively encourages imaginative and family focussed interventions.
•A strong commitment from partners to work collaboratively.
•An organisation that genuinely care for its workforce and the community in 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 Referral and Assessment Service comprises of three teams who operate as part of a duty service rotating into the Multi Agency Screening and Safeguarding Service which provides and enables the department to provide an efficient and effective social work service.  In doing so, the main purpose of the job is to undertake initial child / family assessments, including Section 47 enquiries and the provision of short-term intervention.

If you wish to discuss the position or service further, please contact Natalie Nicholson on 01204 33 7400.

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-centred 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.

About Us
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













Location
Bolton Boroughwide
Vacancy Description
 
Salary:                    Grade H/I    £31,346 - £38,890 pro-rata for part time (bar at £34.728 dependent on PQ award)    Hours:                     37 hours & 18.5 hours 
Contract:               Permanent & Fixed Term (12 months)

Exciting opportunities have arisen to join Bolton’s Children’s Services as a Social Worker in the Referral and Assessment Service. We have both permanent vacancies and a fixed term contract for 12 months. On the fixed term contract there may be the potential opportunity to join our permanent staff team after the 12 months.

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 wellbeing 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 and accessible senior management team (including the Assistant Director) who are passionate about improving services for the children and families in Bolton.
•A newly formulated Advanced Social Work Practitioner post in every team to support your personal development and the continuous practice improvements across the service.
•A Restorative Practice approach that actively encourages imaginative and family focussed interventions.
•A strong commitment from partners to work collaboratively.
•An organisation that genuinely care for its workforce and the community in 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 Referral and Assessment Service comprises of three teams who operate as part of a duty service rotating into the Multi Agency Screening and Safeguarding Service which provides and enables the department to provide an efficient and effective social work service.  In doing so, the main purpose of the job is to undertake initial child / family assessments, including Section 47 enquiries and the provision of short-term intervention.

If you wish to discuss the position or service further, please contact Natalie Nicholson on 01204 33 7400.

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-centred 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.

About Us
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