Social Workers Complex Needs Team (Childrens Services)
Salary: Band 7 (Level 2) Band 8 (Level 3), £36,124 - £41,511 per annum. To aid attraction and retention of Level 3 (Band 8) Social Workers, Trafford have in place a market factor supplement of £2,400 per annum (pro rata to hours worked) which is payable monthly and reviewed on an annual basis.
Contract: Permanent
Location: Borough-wide, main office locations Trafford Town Hall or Sale Waterside
Here in Trafford Children’s Services our vision is that our teams are offering the right help at the right time, and that at all levels our interventions make life better for children and families. We are ambitious for our children and for our practitioners - and our core value is ‘would this be good enough for my child’?
We want to have practitioners and managers who are confident and brave in their practice and are supported by strong leaders at all levels. As a relatively small local authority, we pride ourselves on our friendly teams, manageable caseloads, creative approach and colleagues who support each other. We were pleased to see this recognised in the Ofsted report that followed our ILACS inspection in late 2022, which highlighted that “social workers in Trafford are overwhelmingly positive about both the local authority and the support they receive.”
In Trafford our approach is strengths-based, using relational and restorative practice. Our recent Ofsted report referred to our "relational model of social work practice, which is well regarded by the wider workforce, has been successfully implemented.”
We believe that a culture and environment in which our managers and social workers can thrive is an essential element of improving outcomes for children and families. To support this, we have invested in a 3-year programme with relational specialists Strengthening Practice to provide ongoing training and enhance our social workers’ personal development. Our 2023 Ofsted report recognised this, noting a “cultural shift (that) has been underpinned by a strong training offer to support social workers to develop the skills they need to provide a better service to children”.
We have a number of social worker vacancies currently within our Children with Complex Needs Service (CwD) in Trafford.
This is a really good time to be joining the service with low caseloads, a very experienced and supportive management team and a dedicated Head of Service.
The Service has a Social Work Team and a Short Breaks Team who both work closely together to support families and there is a range of support available following the expansion of the Short Breaks Offer over the last 12-18 months. There is exciting work taking place around Edge of Care for children with SEND needs as well as some early testing out of the Social Work Reforms. There is a supportive management culture and a positive working environment with the service co-located in Sale with a range of other multi-agency professionals.
We are looking for social workers with experience working with disabled children or those with a particular interest in this area and have vacancies at social worker and senior social worker levels.
Our commitment to you
We know that when you come to work in Trafford, we have a responsibility to provide you with the right tools and support to flourish in your new role.
Induction
We have recently updated our induction programme for new colleagues joining us at all levels. During your first two weeks you will have protected time to get to know your team, our systems and other parts of the service.
Workload
We are absolutely committed to ensuring that your workload is manageable. This isn’t necessarily a specific caseload number, as we all know that numbers don’t necessarily reflect the complexity of the children and families you are working with. But we believe that manageable workloads are critical, and managers will support you and confirm priorities through discussion and supervision. We have performance management reporting of caseloads and therefore at all levels we are responsible for monitoring workloads across the service.
There will be times where there is a level of flexibility required to meet the needs of the service or for individual children you work with, particularly in times of crisis. We will ensure that you are able to take additional hours back quickly to give you balance between your work and home life.
Supervision
One of our practice-led improvements has been to refresh our supervision framework, which has been a really exciting piece of work. We commit to offering monthly formal supervision that is both reflective and supportive and provides you with clear advice, guidance and direction. We also offer peer supervision as part of our refreshed framework, with practitioners involved in deciding the topics of discussion.
ASYE programme
We are committed to supporting our newly qualified social workers through their ASYE this includes a dedicated mentor, our bespoke training programme to support the move from theory to practice, regular learning sets and regular reflective peer group supervision.
Our new Second Supported Year programme is designed to give ongoing support to your personal development and includes masterclasses, peer group reflective sessions, coaching and one-to-one support.
Our Strengthening Practice programme
In September 2021 we began working with our relational practice partners, Strengthening Practice, who continue to support us and strengthen our Relational Model of Practice.
This is what our social workers have had to say about the programme so far:
· “I thought the training was great. It had tools I’d actually use and the trainer was awesome.”
· “It was amazing to have the time and headspace to reflect and analyse regarding assessments.”
· “The trainer was very approachable and the course made me excited to work with children and families again.”
Opportunities for progression
A number of Trafford social workers have recently had the opportunity to undertake project secondments and DfE pilot work. We’re always on the lookout for new initiatives that will benefit our service and our practitioners, and we will support you to step up and develop your skills in new ways wherever possible.
It is always wonderful to see colleagues progress within the service and we are keen to support our social workers to reach their full career potential here at Trafford.
A note from Pamela Wharton, Director of Early Help and Social Care.
“Thank you for showing your interest in a role here in Trafford. I hope that you find the information we have provided helpful and that you feel that Trafford is somewhere you want to come and work.
“Trafford is a great place to work and we are striving to make it even better. We believe the service structure we now have in place is working well and is enabling children and families to get the right help at the right time. You will find more information directly from colleagues about working at Trafford on our website. We hope you will like what you see and hear - and will be inspired to join us.
“I look forward to receiving your application. I firmly believe together we can truly make a difference.”
About the benefits
You will be welcomed into a friendly environment where your personal and professional development will be encouraged. You will have the opportunity to work and grow in a people-centered and values-based organisation that promotes a positive permission culture. Your opinions matter so you will have the opportunity to shape how we do things here at Trafford.
To learn more about Trafford as a place to work visit and to view more about our awards and benefits please visit: Trafford - Benefits | www.inploi.com (greater.jobs)
OTHER RELEVANT INFORMATION
Greater Manchester Continuous Service Commitment - greater.jobs | www.inploi.com
For this opportunity, you must be able to prove you have the right to work in the UK - if in doubt please visit the following link Employers' right to work checklist - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). Please note that we are not a licensed sponsor and as such will be unable to support you with a work visa.
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