Advanced Practitioner - MACPT

London Social Work for Children; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

Lewisham Council is seeking experienced advanced practitioners (Lead Child Protection Practitioners) to join new multi-agency teams. The role involves managing complex frontline practice, chairing child protection conferences and leading S47 enquiries.

You will work within the Family Help and Care division and contribute to ongoing reform to improve services for children and families. The post is based at Laurence House, Catford, with hybrid working between office and home.

Qualifications

• Qualified social worker with significant post-qualifying experience.
• Thorough technical knowledge of Working Together to Safeguard Children (2023) and related procedures.
• Strong understanding of Signs of Safety practice framework.
• Experience with the Families First for Children reform programme.
• Experience managing complex frontline practice as a manager or case holder.
• Excellent risk assessment and S47 enquiry handling.
• Ability to lead on S47 enquiries and chair meetings.
• Strong stakeholder collaboration and communication.

Responsibilities

• Managing complex frontline operational practice as a case holder.
• Leading on S47 enquiries and chairing strategy discussions and child protection conferences.
• Applying current child protection legislation and practice knowledge.
• Building relationships with a wide range of stakeholders.
• Working with partners to intervene decisively to protect children.

Skills

Leadership on S47 enquiries and chair/

Risk assessment

Communication and collaboration

Child protection practice knowledge

Reform context understanding

Education

Social work qualification

Registered with Social Work England

Job description

Discover yourself in Lewisham where what you do makes a difference to our vibrant and culturally diverse communities! We have a rich history of welcoming people from all over the world and are proud to be recognised as the UK's first Borough of Sanctuary, for our work in championing the rights of refugees and migrants.

It's an exciting time to join Lewisham as a Wave 2 Families First for Children Pathfinder local authority. We are recruiting inspirational, creative and ambitious Advanced Practitioners (Lead Child Protection Practitioners) to join our newly established Multi-Agency Child Protection Teams (CPT) and Multi-Agency Adolescent Protection Teams (APT), situated within our Family Help and Care division and our Families, Quality and Commissioning division. These posts are part of our reform programme and the redesign of how we deliver services to children and families in our borough.

The Child Protection teams work alongside the Family Help teams to intervene when child protection is required and where the risk to the child is from intra-familial harm. The Adolescent Protection teams work with children at risk of harm outside the home due to issues such as gangs, violence, child sexual exploitation and child criminal exploitation. The CPT/APTs also have a quality assurance role and will be responsible for chairing child protection conferences and working alongside Family Help Lead Practitioners in care proceedings and the Public Law Outline.

Key responsibilities include:

• Managing complex frontline operational practice as a case holder
• Leading on S47 enquiries and chairing meetings, including strategy discussions and child protection conferences
• Applying excellent knowledge of current child protection legislation and practice
• Forming effective working relationships with a wide range of stakeholders and colleagues
• Working with partners to create cohesive teams that intervene decisively to protect children from intra and extra familial harm

The role is primarily based at Laurence House, Catford, London, SE6 4RU, with excellent transport links including two train stations within 3–5 minutes' walk and a 15-minute train journey from London Bridge. Lewisham operates a hybrid working approach, with a combination of office and home working on a regular basis.

About you

Lewisham is seeking experienced, qualified social workers who are ambitious for children and families and ready to be part of leading local and national reform to social work practice. Candidates should be able to demonstrate a thorough technical knowledge of current child protection practice and an in-depth understanding of the current reform context.

The ideal candidate will:

• Be a qualified social worker with significant post-qualifying experience
• Hold a thorough technical knowledge of Working Together to Safeguard Children (2023), the Pan London Child Protection Procedures, and other relevant statutory guidance
• Demonstrate an in-depth understanding of the Signs of Safety practice framework
• Evidence a good understanding of the DfE Families First for Children programme of reform
• Have experience managing complex frontline operational practice, either as a manager or as a case holder
• Possess an excellent understanding of risk assessment and the conducting of S47 enquiries
• Demonstrate the ability to lead on S47 enquiries and chair meetings, including strategy discussions and child protection conferences
• Be skilled at forming effective working relationships with a wide range of stakeholders and colleagues
• Value communication, feedback, and inclusive and collaborative working
• Be professionally curious and value thinking slowly and calmly in a balanced way

Lewisham Council is a Disability Confident employer and welcomes applications from candidates of all abilities. Reasonable adjustments can be made throughout the recruitment process — please contact the lead contact on this advert to discuss your needs. This post is subject to an Enhanced DBS check. The post holder must hold a social work qualification and be registered with Social Work England.

About Lewisham

Welcome to Lewisham – a vibrant and culturally diverse borough that is bursting with fantastic things to see and do. As a truly international borough with over 170 languages spoken in our homes and businesses, a thriving cultural scene, and a treasure trove of indie shops, bustling markets and more, it’s a great place to start and build a career.

Social work in Lewisham is changing and we have set out our vision and values for how we practice. In Lewisham Children’s Social Care (CSC), we know what good social work looks like and we are passionate about creating the right conditions and culture for good practice to thrive.

Our social workers benefit from working in small, supportive teams with caseloads on average between 15-20 children. Our ‘Signs of Safety’ practice framework means we are committed to working in a relationship-based way with children and families, focussing on strengths in the family network to effect change. A positive learning culture which promotes opportunities for reflection and relationship-based practice is important to us. We are committed to developing our practice using reflective practice spaces such as case mapping, thinking spaces and group supervision.

Our permanent and stable senior management team are visible and approachable. Our dedicated PSW and workforce team supports professional development across the service so that you will;

be supported through our comprehensive learning and development offer, which includes subscriptions to ‘Research in Practice’ and ‘Making Research Count’.

receive regular supervision and appraisal.

have 1-1 practice development coaching as a case holding practitioner, and professional development coaching as a manager.

have access to regular ‘Signs of Safety’ training and the opportunity to become a practice leader through attending our bespoke practice leader course.

have access to external leadership development opportunities such as Pathways and the Black and Asian Leadership Initiative (BALI).

have a clearly defined career progression pathway with opportunities for professional development at all levels.

We have a strong working relationship with Goldsmiths, University of London as part of the South East London Teaching Partnership so our practitioners have the opportunity to teach on social work courses as teaching consultants. We host ‘Step Up’, ‘Frontline’ and traditional route students and social workers have the opportunity to become practice educators.

Core CSC Staff Benefits include:

We have been awarded the Mayor of London’s Good Work Standard – a benchmark for high employment standards. We are also one of the first London Councils to be accredited a London Living Wage employer and are a Disability Confident employer as well as a Timewise accredited Flex positive employer. We offer a 35-hour working week, and:

The opportunity to work in a thriving, diverse and developing inner London borough with a stable management team, manageable caseloads and a workforce group committed to promoting your development and emotional wellbeing

Generous salary for social workers at all levels

Generous holiday entitlement - starting at 27 days a year(pluspublic holidays)rising to 32 and 35 days after 5- and 10-years’ continued service.

Oyster card access for travelling in and around London for work and we are exploring initiatives, including Zip cars

Flexible working policies and a variety of hybrid, and flexible working options – we know how important this is to you

Smarter Working with new modern technology and training to support this

Career average pension scheme

Family friendly policiesincluding maternity, paternity, adoption, shared parental, and special leave for emergencies.

Variety of support schemes including key worker housing, tax-free childcare scheme, access to Civil Service Sports Club which offers financial discounts and savings on days out and entertainment. KAARP activities and entertainment discounts. We offer a shop local discount scheme, volunteering leave, long service awards, membership of the Crownsavers Credit Union and access to Payroll Giving.

Health and Wellbeing support includes a staff support hub and 24/7 employee assistance programme which incorporates mental health support, counselling services and access to the PAM Assist health and wellbeing app.

We have signed the Menopause Pledge and offer gender specific and gender-neutral health and wellbeing support with access to financial advice. We offer discounted gym and leisure centre membership including free lunch time swimming; interest free loans for season tickets, nursery childcare, and bikes, a “try before you buy” bike scheme and cycle training, smoking cessation, free eye tests and money towards glasses.

Active Employee Groups including the Black and Multicultural Forum, Anti-racist Network Group, LGBTQ+ Forum, Disabled Staff Forum, Climate Emergency Staff Forum, Trade Union Memberships, and a staff-led Change Network

Staff tell us they feel valued and enjoy working in Lewisham and are well supported by their managers with regular reflective supervision and good access to training.

“Lewisham has so much to offer any social worker. I feel supported, respected and valued every step of the way”

Lewisham Social Worker

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