Part Time Support Worker - Family Time & Support Service

Essex County Council; Essex; On-site; GBP 11,000 - 14,000; Part time

Job summary

Essex County Council in Colchester is seeking a Part Time Support Worker for the Family Time and Support Service North. The role is permanent and part-time, delivering 16 hours per week (1:30pm to 5:30pm, Mon-Thu) with a pro rata salary of £11,366 to £14,380 per annum.

The post supports children in care to enjoy safe family time, assist with care plans alongside Qualified Social Workers, and deliver targeted interventions in collaboration with partners.

Qualifications

• Evidence of continuing professional development and in-depth knowledge in relevant professional area.
• Experience building relationships with children and families in times of challenge and crisis.
• Experience observing, facilitating, and reporting on Family Time.
• Experience undertaking direct, activity-based work with children and families.
• Knowledge of issues impacting children, young people and families.
• Knowledge of social care policy and guidance.

Responsibilities

• Support children and young people in care to have safe and meaningful family time.
• Support social workers to implement and monitor care plans and write reports.
• Maintain high professional standards contributing to service improvement.
• Highlight issues and implement safeguarding plans.
• Build strong relationships with service users, offering practical support.
• Collaborate with internal and external partners to improve outcomes.
• Provide information about third party agencies relevant to service users.
• Participate in meetings, reviews, and court hearings and provide evidence.
• Write effective reports for professional meetings and court.
• Meet annual performance targets within the management framework.

Skills

CPD

Relationship building

Family Time observation

Direct work with children

Child welfare knowledge

Social care policy

Partnership work

Education

NVQ/BTEC Level 3

First Aid certificate

Sign Language knowledge

Job description

Part Time Support Worker - Family Time and Support Service North

Permanent, Part Time

£26,284 to £33,256 Per Annum, Full Time Equivalent

Location: Colchester

Closing Date: Monday 26th October 2026 at 11.59pm

Please note that visa sponsorship is not available for this role. Applicants must have a current, unrestricted right to work in the UK.

Interview Date: Thursday 5th November2026.

Please note that this position is being offered as a Part Time role, working 16 hours per week (1:30pm to 5:30pm Monday to Thursday), with a pro rata salary of £11,366 to £14,380 per annum.

Here in Essex, we continue to raise the bar about practice and our investment in our workforce is second to none. It's an exciting time to join us having received our 2nd Outstanding Ofsted rating in a row.

The Opportunity

Children and Families is recognised as a service in which social work can develop and prosper, with a culture of collaboration, integrity, and compassion; promoting development and wellbeing of children, young people, and their families; protecting them from neglect and abuse. Working together with partners delivering a range of early help, family support and effective social work interventions which build resilience, remove barriers, and enable children and young people to look forward to a brighter future.

Child and Family Support Workers work within the Family Time and Support Service, ensuring that children and young people in care have safe and meaningful Family Time with their family members, as well as working alongside the frontline teams in conjunction with Qualified Social Workers to deliver bespoke, targeted intervention work, in accordance with the care plans, to vulnerable children and families. This work will normally be time limited, with measurable impact and meet the assessed needs.

Educated to Level 3 or with activity based alternative experience, in a social care setting, you will be passionate about engaging with and providing direct support in the community, building strong working relationships with partners to jointly deliver improved services.

Accountabilities

• Responsible for supporting children and young people in care to have safe and meaningful family time with their family members, in accordance with their care plans.
• Responsible for supporting social workers to implement and monitor care plans, and write reports where required, which deliver interventions for children and families.
• Responsible for maintaining high standards of professional practice which contribute to continuous improvement across the service.
• Responsible for highlighting issues and implementing plans to safeguard a child.
• Building strong, effective relationships with the service users, providing practical advice and support, where necessary and deemed appropriate, enabling children and families to sustain change and function effectively within the community.
• Work collaboratively across the service, with internal and external professional partner agencies, to ensure improved outcomes for children and families.
• Provide information and advice in relation to involvement/accessing of third party agencies relevant to the needs of the service user (e.g., benefits agencies, immigration, and housing).
• Participate in meetings, reviews, case conferences, and court hearings to provide information, insight, and evidence.
• Writing effective reports which could be used in professional meetings, forums, and court.
• Specific individual and shared targets and objectives are defined annually within the performance management framework.

The Experience You Will Bring

• Educated to NVQ/BTEC Level 3 or equivalent experience.
• Evidence of continuing professional development and in-depth knowledge in relevant professional area.
• Experience of building strong, effective relationships with children and families in times of challenge and crisis.
• Experience of observing, facilitating, and reporting on Family Time.
• Experience of undertaking direct, activity based work with children and families where required.
• Knowledge and understanding of the issues impacting children, young people, and families, leading them to require support.
• Knowledge of legislative and policy guidance applicable within Social Care settings.
• Proven track record of working with partners and external agencies.
• A certificate in First Aid and/or knowledge of Sign Language is desirable in this role.