Children's Social Worker

Cheshire West and Chester Council; Chester; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 42,000; Full time

Job summary

Cheshire West and Chester Council is seeking experienced Social Workers to join our Children's Social Care teams. You will contribute to child protection and planning assessments in a supportive environment with excellent management and training opportunities. We offer a flexible working environment, promoting work-life balance and professional growth.

Benefits

Free parking

Competitive salary and rewards

Flexi time

Support for Social Work England Registration

Excellent training opportunities

Qualifications

• Experience in child protection or Care Proceedings is required.
• Supportive teamwork environment with access to training opportunities.
• Excellent management support and supervision.

Responsibilities

• Assessing and planning for children and families in need.
• Collaboratively working with partner agencies.
• Providing support to 'looked after' children.

Skills

Experience in assessment and planning

Child protection knowledge

Teamwork

Communication skills

Creativity

Education

Social Work Qualification

Job description

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We want to recruit experienced, committed, creative, resilient Social Workers to join our Children's Social Care teams across Cheshire West and Chester in all our three localities of Chester, Ellesmere Port and Winsford.

Cheshire West and Chester Council is a place where everyone can Thrive – through our core values of Teamwork, Honesty, Respect, Innovation, Value for Money and Empowerment.

We will provide you with a supportive and collaborative working environment in modern and bright offices, where you can be assured of excellent management support and supervision, and your personal career development and progression will be actively encouraged.

We meet regularly as a service to provide practice development sessions and reflection opportunities.

We offer an excellent work-life balance, flexible and remote working arrangements.

You’ll get free parking at all our office locations, and we’ll pay your Social Work England Registration.

You’ll benefit from competitive working rewards, up to days ‘flexi time’ per year, and your annual leave will be days per year if you have less than years of continuous service, and days if you have over years.

We offer competitive salaries.

Our Children's Social Care workforce is passionate and committed to improving outcomes for children, providing a high-quality service to children and families. You will benefit from excellent working relationships with our partners and support from a stable leadership and management team. We are committed to shared learning and development, and you will actively contribute to the progress of our services.

We have developed ‘Our Way of Working’ with our multi-agency partners to ensure improved collaboration and a common approach to working with families, using Motivational Interviewing and Trauma-Informed Practice. We will support your knowledge and skills development to work creatively in planning and decision-making with children, families, and partner agencies to achieve positive outcomes, focusing on prevention at every level.

This is an ongoing recruitment programme. While a closing date has been set, applications will be considered as received, and interviews arranged. Please apply early if interested.

We are recruiting to the following teams:

• Child in Need Teams, based in Chester, Ellesmere Port, and Winsford.
• Child Protection/Court Teams based in Chester, Winsford, and Ellesmere Port.
• Permanence Teams (working with children who are ‘looked after’) based in Winsford and Ellesmere Port.

You need experience in assessment and planning in child in need and/or child protection, or working with children subject to Care Proceedings and who are 'looked after'.

Please see the Job Description / Person Specification for details.

Our social workers report feeling supported and part of a team. They have access to excellent training opportunities. Managers strive to make Social Workers feel valued and recognized, being approachable, available, and compassionate. Social Workers are encouraged to be creative and strive for excellence, feeling valued and supported by their team, manager, and senior managers.

Our investment in professional development means many of our Senior Practice Leads, Team Managers, and some Senior Managers have progressed within our organization.

As employers, we recognize the importance of a flexible working arrangement, allowing us to provide services more effectively and promote work/life balance. We are committed to agile, flexible, and mobile working, utilizing technology to maximize flexibility while maintaining team cohesion and support networks.

We have a strong and supportive political and senior leadership team with extensive experience and knowledge about children’s outcomes across Cheshire West and Chester.