Job Information
Achieving for Children is a Community Interest Company that has a public sector ethos, combined with the freedom to innovate enabling us to do things differently. As a not-for-profit social enterprise owned by three local authorities (Windsor & Maidenhead, Kingston and Richmond), we offer the freedoms of a social enterprise with the employment benefits of local government. To find out more about us .
SPA Support Assistant
We're proud to announce that AfC's Children's Services in Richmond have been awarded an Outstanding rating by Ofsted. This places Richmond alongside Kingston, which also holds an Outstanding rating, as a top-performing service. Our separately inspected Fostering Service has achieved a strong ‘Good’ rating, recognising our skilled and dedicated fostering workforce.
Come work with a skilled, stable workforce and be part of an organization that's truly making a difference.
The Single Point of Access (SPA) is the gateway for all incoming contacts into children’s services. The SPA ensures that consistent and timely responses are provided to all enquiries so that children, their families and professionals working with them receive high quality information and, where necessary, support and protection from children’s services and other agencies or professionals.
Through the Multi- Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH), the SPA works in partnership with the police, health and mental health, probation, and adult services to share information so that we can together provide the most appropriate response to concerns about children.
This is an exciting new role within the SPA where you will be responsible for ensuring referrals and contacts are uploaded onto our system efficiently and speedily. The SPA processes approximately 1500 to 2500 contacts a month and is a busy and fast paced environment.
This is a hybrid role, requiring three days in the office and two days working from home.
This is a 12 month fixed term contract position.
Operational area Kingston and Richmond Primary place of work Guildhall 2, Kingston upon Thames KT1 Appointment type Fixed Term Length of contract 12 months Business area Children's Social Care Full time/Part time Full-time Salary from £30,288 (SCP07) Salary to £31,611 (SCP10) Hours 36 Estimated Interview date/s 16/03/2026 Closing Date 06/03/2026 Ref No 2251 Documents
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About the role
As the SPA Support Assistant, you will work closely alongside Social Workers and Contact Information Officers, playing a crucial role in supporting the overall functioning of the SPA by ensuring large numbers of contacts are uploaded onto the system each day.
2. You will be familiar with information systems such as Gmails, police referrals, crystal reports and child data information platforms.
3. There is a high level of responsibility to ensure that processes are followed correctly and that the right information is sent to the right teams.
4. This will also include chances to explore different technologies to support the team most effectively and you will be managed by a SPA Team Leader.
For an informal discussion about the role, please contact Dan Clarke :
About you
The successful candidate will be:
5. Educated to GCSE level C or above (or equivalent) in Mathematics and English.
6. The ability to support the SPA team by uploading contacts and recording information accurately and within data protection legislation.
7. Experience of working in a data administration role.
8. A working knowledge of using a wide range of MS Office or Google packages, including Word,
9. Excel and PowerPoint and Google docs, slides and sheets.
10. Have project management support experience - updating registers, research and organising communications.
About our benefits
We are focused on creating a positive supportive environment, where you will have access to a really wide range of resources, as well as a competitive salary and all the perks to enable hybrid working. In AfC you will also have access to:
11. 29 days annual leave, increasing to 33 days after 2 years and 35 days after 4 years with an additional day off in your birthday month (Or for term-time workers, your leave entitlement consists of the non-working periods in your contract)
12. Tailored induction sessions commencing on the date you start working for AfC
13. Local Government salary and pension scheme (LGPS or Teachers Pension)
14. Flexible working options - helping to keep a good work life balance
15. A comprehensive Employee Assistance Programme
16. A range of staff benefits and discounts
17. An excellent learning and development offer to support your career pathway
To find out about all of the breadth of benefits of working for Achieving for Children. For our social work offer. For our Recruitment Journey,
Important Information
Start dates: Achieving for Children have meaning successful candidates join on a set date in each month. Candidates are advised to prepare for this should a job offer be accepted to ensure eligible continuous service is not affected.
Right to work: The UK has introduced a new points-based immigration system affecting EU and Non-EU workers and sponsorship requirements. We advise checking the for right to work guidance.
Equality: We particularly welcome applications from sections of the community who are currently underrepresented within our teams. Achieving for Children are committed to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible for everyone. We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and developing a culture that values differences, recognising that employees from a variety of backgrounds bring important and positive contributions and can improve the way we deliver services. We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer.
Safeguarding: We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. We expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. This post is exempted under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and as such appointment to this post will be conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory response to a check of police records via Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).
We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received. Therefore, it is strongly advised that you complete and return your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.