Salary Details: Spinal point 35-42 (£33,282 - £39,930)  
Job Term: Permanent  
Appointment Type: Full-time  
Hours: 36  
Location: Kingston, Chessington and Twickenham
Directorate: Specialist Children’s Service 
Service: Safeguarding & Referral and Assessment 

About the Role 
This is a great opportunity for a Social Worker to join a lively, engaging and outward facing team. 

Safeguarding/ Child Protection Team 
The Teams work directly with children who are subject to a Child Protection Plan, or who have Child in Need status, and their families. This will include Strategy discussion (open cases) Child Protection Conference Review; and Child In Need Planning and Review. 

Referral and Assessment Team
The Teams respond to all children’s social care referrals received by the Single Point Assessment team (SPA).
Referral and Assessment investigate concerns about a child’s safety or wellbeing, make an assessment of the risk and protective factors in the family and decide on the most appropriate course of action.   Within the teams, our Social Workers support children and their families that need care and support and find the best solutions for their situation to preserve the child’s safety within their family and the local community.   

In addition, we have recently introduced an exciting, bespoke ‘hub model’ funded through our Partner in Practice work. This model encourages social workers, family support workers systemic family therapists to work in partnership, driving down caseloads and collaborating on cases.    

About us  
We have been up and running for four years, and in that time we have established a reputation as one of the leading children’s services providers in the country. We are one of the Department for Education’s eight ‘Partners in Practice’, tasked with leading improvement across the sector. 

About you
The ideal candidate will be able to:

• demonstrate excellent customer care in a child and family environment
• be passionate about making a positive difference to the lives of children and young people. 
• demonstrate their knowledge of gathering evidence through the use of direct tools to help determine to children and which will inform assessments.   

In return, we will offer you high-quality support and development opportunities. Our learning and development offer was highlighted as a key strength by the judging panel when they named us Social Work Employer of the Year in 2016. 

How to find out more  
If you would like to find out more about this exciting opportunity, please contact Victoria Haywood, Social Care Recruitment Lead, at victoria.haywood@kingston.gov.uk for an informal discussion.   

If you would like more information about this role please see attached the Job Profiles for Social Worker - Safeguarding and Social Worker - Referral and Assessment.   

Benefits of working for Achieving for Children 
As a social enterprise owned by three local authorities (Kingston, Richmond and Windsor & Maidenhead), we offer the freedoms of a social enterprise with the employment benefits of local government. We offer a range of excellent staff benefits, including generous annual leave entitlements, cycle to work scheme, annual season ticket loan, childcare vouchers, and discounts on a range of local shops, restaurants, gyms and leisure centres and much more.  

The successful candidate will have access to; 

• Excellent learning and development opportunities and schemes of support
• A competitive and desirable retention package (to include a generous local government pension scheme) 
• Retention of continuous service benefits, for those moving from a local government post 
• A clear progression path when key qualification milestones are reached 
• Tools and models  including Signs of Safety
• Reflective supervision from an experienced management team  

You will find out more about our organisation at https://www.achievingforchildren.org.uk 

How to apply 
Before applying please refer to the role profile and ensure you meet the essential criteria. You will then need to complete the online application, adding a supporting statement addressing how you meet the criteria outlined on the role profile. Some of our positions require CV only.   

Achieving for Children is an equal opportunities employer and is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. We expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. 

All candidates will be required to undertake a Criminal Record Check. The possession of a criminal record will not necessarily prevent an applicant from obtaining this post, as all cases are judged individually according to the nature of the role and information provided. However, should you not declare an offence that is subsequently revealed, e.g. through the DBS check, then this may place your appointment in jeopardy.  

Closing Date: 30th September 2018