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 .
Advanced Practitioner - Safeguarding (Richmond)
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.
We have an opportunity to be a Advanced Practitioner in the Safeguarding Team in Richmond, in this role you will be responsible for assisting social workers to develop their experience and skills in managing court work.
Operational area Kingston and Richmond Primary place of work Civic Offices, 44 York Street, TW1 Appointment type Permanent Business area Children's Social Care Full time/Part time Full-time Salary from £52,194 (SCP38) Salary to £55,323 (SCP41) Hours 36 Estimated Interview date/s 04/03/2026 Closing Date 22/02/2026 Ref No 2244 Documents
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About the role
The Safeguarding service is focused on progressing long-term plans for children and their families. This includes Child in Need, Child Protection, pre-proceedings and court work retaining responsibility until Final Orders are made. The Advanced Practitioner will:
2. Have extensive experience and skills that wish to remain in frontline practice and who may not wish to progress along a management route
3. Have a more complex caseload of Child Protection, pre-proceedings and court cases
4. Be responsible for assisting social workers to develop experience and skills in managing court work including co-working cases to assist in developing this experience. They will be required to deputise for the Team Leaders where needed
5. Support social workers so that their practice is effective, meets regulatory requirements, complies with statutory guidance, and learns from evidence-based interventions and innovative practice
For further information or an informal discussion about this role, please contact hiring manager Judith Cox on:
About you
To be an Advanced Practitioner in the Safeguarding Team, you will need to possess the following qualifications and experience:
6. Educated to a degree level with a relevant professional qualification in social work (CSS/CQSW or DipSw, MA SW, BA Hons SW)
7. Active Social Work England registration and proven evidence of professional development
8. Significant experience working in Child Protection, court work and permanency planning
9. Experience of keeping and maintaining records (in accordance with local policy) and producing accurate reports, presentations, written updates to a range of stakeholders (which may include families, children or young people)
10. An ability to manage an agreed caseload of complex cases including court work
11. Experience of writing evidence for Court as well as giving oral evidence in court cases
12. Knowledge of statutory legislation (for example The Children Act) and national policy drivers that will affect children’s services and your role
13. A passion to demonstrate and promote our values (Trust, Respect and Empower) through professional behaviours and relationships with all stakeholders and staff to support children and young people to live safe, happy, healthy and successful lives
This role is developed for those with extensive experience and skills that wish to remain in frontline practice and who may not wish to progress along a management route.
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:
14. 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)
15. Tailored induction sessions commencing on the date you start working for AfC
16. Local Government salary and pension scheme (LGPS or Teachers Pension)
17. Flexible working options - helping to keep a good work life balance
18. A comprehensive Employee Assistance Programme
19. A range of staff benefits and discounts
20. 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.