Advanced Practitioner IFD (2 posts)

Children's Social Work Matters; Barnsley; On-site; GBP 42,000 - 54,000; Full time

Job summary

Barnsley Council’s Children’s Services is seeking an advanced social worker to join our integrated front door team. You will work with team managers to provide peer supervision, develop and deliver training, and drive best practice to ensure timely decisions and effective safeguarding for children and families in Barnsley.

You will screen Contacts and Referrals, participate in the telephone duty system, and use your experience to assess risk, gather information, and engage families in safety

Qualifications

• A social work qualification and current registration with Social Work England.
• Experience of practice teaching, mentoring, supervising others or similar.
• Advanced experience of applying in practice, the principles of legislation relating to child protection, looked after children and the provision of services to children in need.
• In-depth knowledge of relevant policy, guidance and best practice in safeguarding children, and a high level of professional competence and confidence.
• Minimum 3 years post qualifying experience

Responsibilities

• Work alongside team managers to provide peer supervision, support, and guidance.
• Develop and deliver training, support learning, and drive best practice across Children's Social Care to deliver timely and effective decision-making.
• Engage with the multi‑agency partnership and promote partnership working with Barnsley services.
• Promote relationship-based social work, conduct screening assessments, and model excellent social work practice at the front door.
• Undertake screening of Contacts and Referrals from multi-agency partners and the public; participate in the telephone duty system.
• Gather information, analyse risk and inform decisions on next steps; work with multi‑agency colleagues to inform proportionate interventions.
• Engage families in safety planning within a strengths‑based approach.

Skills

Practice teaching

Mentoring

Safeguarding policy knowledge

Education

Social work qualification

Registration with Social Work England

Job description

Job Description

How do we sum up Barnsley Council? Well, we’re an Ofsted rated ‘Good’ Childrens Services and a double award-winning, high-performing council with a growing economy, a thriving town centre and some truly impressive outcomes in our communities.

Job Description

How do we sum up Barnsley Council? Well, we’re an Ofsted rated ‘Good’ Childrens Services and a double award-winning, high-performing council with a growing economy, a thriving town centre and some truly impressive outcomes in our communities.

Creativity, ambition and a focus on people. That’s what matters at Barnsley Council. Our award-winning council is on an exciting journey of change. It’s all about putting local people at the heart of everything, listening to and doing good for our communities. We’re now more innovative, more efficient and provide better value for money. The changes are clear to see - from new businesses and jobs, to improving school results and to museums being recognised for their community engagement.

Our excellent Children’s Services has been a key part of our win; we’re so proud of what we’ve achieved not just for the council but for our partners and Barnsley.

We’re impressed. Are you? It’s the perfect time to join our excellent team.

Barnsley 2030

Why Barnsley is booming podcast

About The Post

We are an ambitious Local Authority who are committed to continued improvement activity in driving strength based, relational and collaborative practice in our work with children, young people, and their family networks. We want to make sure that we make a positive difference to the lives of children and young people.

Your role in our journey

The Integrated Front Door provides an integrated pathway for all concerns about child safety or welfare. It is the Front Door for referrals into our Early Help Service and Children’s Social Care. We are a co-located service with partners from the Police, Health, Education, Domestic Abuse Services, Drug and Alcohol Services, and Probation.

Our Front door is dynamic, has excellent partnership relationships that we continue to develop as well as building our links with community-based resources. We work closely with our Early Help Service and a range of Targeted Services within the borough.

As an advanced practitioner you will work alongside team managers, to provide peer supervision, support, and guidance. You will develop and deliver training, support learning, and drive best practice across Children’s Social Care to deliver timely and effective decision-making, engagement with the multi‑agency partnership, promote partnership working including developing links with services across Barnsley. You will be key in promoting relationship based social work, purposeful screening assessments, and modelling excellent social work practice at the front door.

As an advanced practitioner you will also be expected to undertake screening of Contacts and Referrals from multi agency partners and members of the public and participate in the telephone duty system alongside social work colleagues. You will be an experienced and knowledgeable practitioner and will have a clear understanding of thresholds for intervention. You will be able to gather information, analyse risk and identify levels of need to inform decisions in relation to next steps. You will have experience of working alongside multi‑agency colleagues and will utilise their expertise to inform decisions which are proportionate. You will be committed to engaging families in safety planning and to working within a strengths‑based approach.

We are looking for someone with passion and drive to improve the outcomes and lived experience of children within Barnsley. You will be able to work at pace to ensure decision making is timely. You will know what good looks like and will be confident in working within a performance management framework which supports good outcomes for children.

What You’ll Need

• A social work qualification and current registration with Social Work England
• Experience of practice teaching, mentoring, supervising others or similar
• Advanced experience of applying in practice, the principles of legislation relating to child protection, looked after children and the provision of services to children in need.
• In-depth knowledge of relevant policy, guidance and best practice in safeguarding children, and a high level of professional competence and confidence.
• Minimum 3 years post qualifying experience

Shape a better future with us

Join our double award-winning council of the year 2023 on our journey to a brighter future. By working together, with each other and with our communities, we can take pride in improving lives. Let’s make a better Barnsley for everyone.

A lot to look forward to

Here at Barnsley, we live and work by four important values: honesty, teamwork, excellent service, and taking pride in what we do. As part of our team, you can be sure we’ll do all we can to support you in being truly excellent. Our dedicated Practice Development Hub will support you to prioritise learning and enabling you to achieve your potential. We’ve created a development process that lets you grow in the way that suits you - whether that’s training to be a leader or learning flexibly online. If you feel that you have the skills, knowledge and experience which will help us to achieve positive outcomes for our children, young people and families in Barnsley then we would like to hear from you.

If you would like to know more, please contact our Practice Development Hub on [e-mail]

About

Visit our dedicated webpage to hear from our social workers, our Executive Director, and learn more about the role and Children’s Services:

https://www.barnsley.gov.uk/services/jobs/childrens-social-worker-jobs-in-barnsley/