Advanced Practitioner - Children with Disability

Northamptonshire Children's Trust; England; On-site; GBP 42,000 - 65,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

SWE Registration paid yearly

Relocation costs up to £8,000

28 days annual leave + 8 bank holidays

LGPS + life cover

Job summary

Northamptonshire Children's Trust is seeking an Advanced Practitioner to lead and mentor a team of social workers within the Children with Disabilities service. The role involves maintaining a small caseload, joint work with less experienced colleagues, and providing expert guidance in safeguarding and permanence planning.

You will support ongoing professional development, supervision, and adherence to statutory guidance, ensuring high-quality outcomes for disabled children and their families in

Qualifications

• Qualified social worker with ASYE completed and registered in England.
• Experience supervising and mentoring social workers, especially newly qualified staff.
• Ability to authorise assessments, plans and related documentation.

Responsibilities

• Supervise, support, advise and mentor newly qualified and less experienced colleagues.
• Chair strategy meetings and contribute to safeguarding planning.
• Ensure adherence to legislation, guidance and local policies in safeguarding.

Skills

Advanced social work

Supervision

Mentoring

Decision making

Education

ASYE completed

Social Work England registration

Tools

DBS enhanced check

Job description

About the role

We have a wonderful Children with Disabilities Team (CWD ) here at Northamptonshire Children's Trust!

The CWD team ensures that children and young people with substantial and long-term disabilities and complex health needs are given every opportunity to meet their full potential, enjoy the best possible quality-of-life, and are safeguarded from harm.

The CWD Team provides a social model of disability that challenges and seeks to remove the barriers to children and young people with disabilities and enable all children and young people to have access and opportunities to reach their full potential.

There are two teams within CWD, locality based in North and West Northamptonshire. Each team consists of a Team Manager, Advanced Practitioner, who may hold a small caseload of children however their main focus is to support and supervise Social Workers / Senior Social Workers and a Newly Qualified Social Worker within their team. The CWD team also has an annual review service for those children with a settled package of care and support hours.

We collaborate with other professionals to ensure immediate and prompt responses. Their combined knowledge and expertise keep children and young people in Northamptonshire safe from harm. We are supporting excellence in Social Work practice, with a new practice approach including signs of safety and systemic practice, and clear personal development opportunities for the right candidates.

About the team

Our CWD Team is a statutory service that focuses on the most vulnerable disabled children and young people in Northamptonshire. CWD teams are knowledgeable, fun and supportive. They work hard and at pace and the Managers within CWD are always present and available for the team to provide advice guidance and support.

What will you be doing?

We provide substantial and long-term support to children and young people with disabilities, typically up to the age of 18. We ensure they are given every opportunity to meet their full potential, enjoy the best possible quality-of-life, and are safeguarded from harm.

You will undertake work with children, young people and families that require you to have advanced social work expertise, maintaining a small caseload as well as joint working some children with less experienced social workers.

Additionally, you will supervise, support, advise, and mentor newly qualified and less experienced colleagues handling complex or high-risk cases. This includes authorising assessments, plans, and related documentation, as well as chairing strategy meetings and discussions.

Your role will also involve guiding and mentoring social workers to ensure their adherence to legislation, statutory guidance, local policies, and best practices in safeguarding vulnerable children, supporting looked-after children, and planning for permanence.

About you

We are seeking to recruit an experienced, enthusiastic, and dedicated Advanced Practitioner who shares a passion in supporting the progression of others. The Advanced Practitioner role is ideal for a Social Worker looking to develop their skills and experience. You will receive support from the Team Manager with regular supervision, numerous training opportunities and a commitment to your on-going professional development.

The ideal candidate will be confident in their analysis and decision making to deliver purposeful and effective social care and have a strong desire to develop social work expertise to support NCT on its improvement journey.

You will be a qualified social worker, who has completed your ASYE. Registered with Social Work England and have the commitment and passion to be at the forefront of delivering best practice

This role is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore subject to an enhanced DBS certificate. It is also a regulated activity and will be subject to a Barred List check

Our benefits

We are committed to continuous improvement, building a skilled, knowledgeable, and flexible workforce alongside promoting innovation and creativity whilst keeping children, young people and families at the heart of all we do.

We really value our workforce and offer you a great benefits package including:

• SWE Registration paid yearly (social care colleagues)
• Recruitment Welcome Bonus of £6,000
• Relocation costs of up to £8,000
• Retention bonus payments for established personnel
• 28 days annual leave, plus 8 Bank Holidays (pro rata for part time) and an additional 5 days, after 5 years
• Local Government Pension Scheme plus immediate life cover (3 times your annual salary from day one) and ill-health pension protection.
• Opportunity to purchase up to 25 days annual leave
• Employee Assistance Programme - We have an employee support programme run by Health Assured, an independent, external organisation. Health Assured is available for you and your immediate family members, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year and includes telephone counselling, legal advice, bereavement support and medical information.
• Employee discounts with local and national retailers, days out, finance, health and beauty, travel and eating out plus lots more.
• Flexible and family working arrangements including enhanced maternity benefits
• A permanent, supportive and inclusive management team where you will be empowered to make good professional decisions
• Extensive Learning & Development and career development opportunities
• Subsidised town centre car parking scheme

About us

At Northamptonshire Children's Trust, children, young people and families are at the heart of everything we do. Every decision we make and every action we take is guided by our commitment to delivering high-quality services that make a lasting difference to the lives of children, young people and families across Northamptonshire.

We know that our people are our greatest strength. Our workforce is at the centre of our success, and we are committed to creating an environment where colleagues feel valued, supported and empowered to do the best job of their lives every day. We foster a culture built on kindness, collaboration and trust, where achievements are recognised, ideas are welcomed and innovation is encouraged.

We are proud of the positive impact we make together and delighted that our work has been recognised by Ofsted, with an Outstanding rating for Leadership and Management and Good ratings across Help and Protection, Children in Care and Care Leavers.

At NCT equality, diversity and inclusion are part of us and in everything we do, to enable all colleagues to develop and thrive in our organisation. We are a Disability Confident employer and have a commitment to care leavers, who we guarantee an interview if they meet the essential criteria.

If you are passionate about making a difference and want to be part of an ambitious, supportive and forward-thinking organisation, Northamptonshire Children's Trust could be the place for you.

Supporting Children - A Career That Matters