People and Place
Short Breaks Team
Ref: 000498
Contract: Permanent
Salary: £30,559 - £33,366 per annum (Grade 5)
Hours: 36.66 per week
Based: Metropolitan Place, Oldham OL1 1TT
Closing Date: Sunday 27th July 2025
Interview: TBC
Informal Enquiries: Head of Service Martine Lewis
Email: Martine.Lewis@oldham.gov.uk
Why should you work in Oldham?
Officially rated as a ‘Good’ by Ofsted, we are proud of our relentless approach in seeking the very best outcomes for our children and families, and there’s never been a better time to join the team and be part of our success story.
Oldham is a wonderful place of diversity, where people of all cultures come together. This is one our greatest strengths and our social workers enjoy using a breadth of skills and gaining a variety of experiences whilst supporting children and families from diverse backgrounds.
We use systemic practice as our chosen practice model, focusing on building relationships with children and families, understanding the context and family dynamics, and reflectively learning together. 2024 has seen the launch of our new systemic reflective hubs, as our Social Work Academy continues to offer reflective supervisions and tailored support through an innovative 2-year ASYE programme.
We have a strong ethos of ‘Growing our own’, providing a great environment to excel in your social work career.
Our Promises to you:
* A manageable and diverse caseload aligned with your experience and skills.
* A commitment to your continuing professional development through a bespoke learning and development programme
* A variety of career opportunities to progress and develop with us in Social Work
* Regular, quality, and reflective supervision and learning from practice audits with fortnightly training days in each of our services.
* Monthly Group Supervision with your team
* Weekly Learning Spaces to focus on a specific area of learning.
* A permanent and supportive Senior Leadership team
* Full corporate and service Induction
* Direct link to a Team Manager, Advanced Practitioner and Social Work Consultants from our Social Work Academy.
* The opportunity to become a Practice Educator and to develop students within our organisation.
* Dedicated support to develop you in your role and opportunities to meet your career aspirations.
* During the SSYE [LM1] (second supported year in employment) you will have a consultant social worker in the CSWA who will offer reflective supervision every three months as well as meetings with your manager at 6 and 12 months to ensure that your professional development plan is being supported.
* Focus on child and family-centred outcomes across all sectors by ensuring the right intervention is identified at the right time, there by building a safe, happy, healthy, and successful future for children and young people.
You will be rewarded with great benefits:
* Competitive pay with a £2,000 retention payment. (After 2 years this includes Social Worker G7, G8 and Advanced Practitioner G9)
* Hybrid working giving flexibility for you to manage your diary and offer a better work/life balance.
* Free town centre parking
* Essential car user allowance of £500* and mileage expenses at 45p per mile.
* Reimbursement of Social Work England professional registration fees currently £90 per year
Other generous benefits including:
* 25 days annual leave with the option to purchase additional days, and which increases after 5- and 10-years’ service.
* Attractive defined benefit pension scheme with a market leading AVC option for additional retirement savings
* Discounted gym membership
* Staff discount scheme for shopping, entertainment, eating-out, eating-in, travel, motoring and more.
* Salary sacrifice scheme, including Cycle to Work
* Wellbeing support, including an Employment Assistance Programme that provides 24 hours access to advice and support.
* Staff recognition and celebration events
Our employees say
“One of the reasons I’ve worked here for so long is because it’s like a family and a listening organisation, where people are encouraged to participate and get involved”.
“Our Social Worker teams are friendly, approachable and professional”.
“We all want to make a difference to the families and children that we work with”.
“Oldham values the person, the families, and the inclusive culture”.
Hear more from our employees and explore our Social Work Academy offer here
Ofsted says
“Children are well supported by social workers, who ensure that their health, education and emotional needs are met”.
“Staff are tenacious”.
“Children and families in Oldham benefit from a comprehensive range of early help services”.
“There is strong partnership working”.
“Senior leaders promote the participation of cared for children and actively seek their voice in developing and shaping service delivery”.
“Relentless focus on improvement by a strong and stable leadership team, with progress made across many areas of practice,”
Read the full Ofsted report here
About the Role:
Supporting the work of a team undertaking direct work with children and families, to promote and safeguard the welfare of children, in accordance with their appropriate plans and strategies, working with children who have additional needs assessing and reviewing short break support packages and holding ‘Team around the Child’ meetings to ensure we meet their needs. The role involves working with colleagues from all agencies to ensure effective service delivery, promoting co-ordinated integrated working for the best outcomes for the child/young person and their families.
We work directly with children, young people, and families, providing practical help, advice and guidance on issues affecting family, relationship and functioning, complete short breaks assessments and support plans care. This will include assessment visits, direct work attending TAC and EHC review meetings at family homes and other designated venues.
Your responsibilities will include:
* Knowledge and understanding of the legislative framework and policies in relation to safeguarding children and SEND.
* Excellent written and oral communication skills, particularly in writing assessments and SMART support plans for young people.
* Proven experience in demonstrating your impact on families in achieving positive outcomes for children and influence the professional networks that you work with.
* Innovative and positive engagement with children and families in their assessments and SMART support planning and a passion for delivery of high-quality services and interventions to vulnerable children in partnership with a wide range of agencies.
What we need from you:
All applicants must meet the relevant criteria, including the right to work in the UK. We do not accept applications from candidates who require sponsorship.
Oldham Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. All roles require strong commitment to securing good outcomes for children, operating in a supportive environment focused on effective delivery, including identifying and responding appropriately to any safeguarding concerns, ensuring the immediate decision making reflects an analysis of risk and protective factors.
We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and therefore expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
About Us:
We want Oldham to have vibrant, safe neighbourhoods where people are proud to live with opportunities for healthier, more fulfilled lives; and a sustainable, thriving economy. As we look to the future, the challenges may be significant, but so are the opportunities. We’ve identified three missions with our residents and partners, focusing on what will deliver the biggest impact:
A Great Place to Live, Healthier, Happier Lives, and Green and Growing.
We’re looking for candidates who will support us to achieve our ambitions and we encourage you to download our Corporate Plan: Ready for the Future and our Oldham Plan for further information.
Our Values and Behaviours:
By driving innovation, investing in our people, and championing our communities, we will ensure that Oldham continues to be a place where everyone can live their best life. To support this, we have three core values which define who we are and how we operate. These are ‘Proud, Ambitious, and Together’, and they shape our culture, inform our decisions, and inspire us to deliver on our commitments to the people of Oldham.
We have translated these values into five behaviours which guide our actions and are the standards we hold ourselves to, day in and day out:
* Work with a resident focus
* Support local leaders
* Committed to the borough
* Delivery high performance
* Take ownership and drive change
You can find out more about our values and behaviours on our greater.jobs Oldham page
Our Benefits Package:
At Oldham Council we offer a great benefits package for our employees, which includes the following:
* 25 days annual leave which increases after 5 and 10-years’ service
* The option to purchase additional annual leave.
* An attractive LGPS benefit pension scheme with the option to make shared cost additional voluntary contributions.
* Discounted gym membership with Oldham Active .
* Staff discount scheme for shopping, entertainment, eating-out, eating-in, travel, motoring and more.
* Salary sacrifice scheme for home and electronics and Cycle to Work.
* Wellbeing support, including a Mental Health First Aider network and an Employment Assistance Programme that provides 24 hours access to advice and support.
* Staff recognition and celebration events.
* Peer support groups
Inclusive Recruitment:
We work closely with employees to help them work at their best, including making adjustments such as flexible working, describing available working patterns, providing equipment or making changes to the workplace.
If you’re an applicant with disabilities, anyone aged 24 or under and have previously been in or currently in care, a carer or someone who has served in the Armed Forces and you meet the essential criteria of the role, you are guaranteed to reach the first stage of assessment under our Guaranteed Assessment Scheme .
Data and Privacy:
For details of how we use your data please see our privacy notice .
Important Information:
Please note that should a vacancy that has been released for internal or external recruitment be deemed suitable for a current employee at risk of redundancy, it can be pulled back at any point, up to the post being formally offered to a candidate who is not at risk of redundancy.
Right to Work in the UK from 1st July 2021.doc