SEND Senior Practitioner

London Borough of Waltham Forest; City Of London; On-site; GBP 45,000 - 55,000; Full time

Job summary

A public sector organization in the City of London seeks a qualified Senior Practitioner for its Children with Disabilities Specialist team. The role focuses on delivering high-quality support to children and families, mentoring social workers, and collaborating within a multi-disciplinary environment. Candidates must have a minimum of two years of social work experience and demonstrate extensive knowledge of child protection laws. This position offers the opportunity to make a significant impact in a nurturing and supportive service.

Benefits

Supportive work environment

Opportunities for professional development

Diverse and inclusive workplace

Qualifications

• Minimum of two years post-qualifying experience in children and families setting.
• Demonstrable knowledge of child protection legislation and procedures.
• Ability to manage complex cases and assessments.

Responsibilities

• Deliver high-quality relationship-based practice.
• Manage complex cases and conduct risk assessments.
• Provide support to social workers and contribute to service development.

Skills

Social work experience

Knowledge of legislation

Culturally sensitive service delivery

Effective communication

Ability to work under pressure

Team collaboration

Agile behavior

Willingness for flexible hours

Education

Qualification in social work

Job description

We're seeking dedicated, qualified, and experienced Senior Practitioner to join our Children with Disabilities Specialist team. Children with Disabilities Specialist Team is a place where you can realise yours. If you are a dedicated and creative social worker looking to make your mark in working with children with disabilities, develop your career and improve the lives of children and their families, our forward‑thinking Children’s Directorate should be your next career destination. We are a supportive, focused, and inspirational service. Our shared purpose is to nurture independence and freedom of choice in our children, young people, and families, helping them to achieve the best possible outcomes. All our staff work together to build and maintain a centre of excellence and best practice. In return for your hard work, we will give you the time and active support you need to make a difference. Promoting creativity is at the heart of our agenda to develop social work; you will be encouraged to share ideas, bring about positive change, and strive to continuously improve outcomes for our vulnerable children and young people.

Key Responsibilities

• Delivering high‑quality, relationship‑based practice with children and families.
• Supporting and mentoring social workers.
• Managing complex cases and risk assessments.
• Contributing to service development and performance improvement.
• Working collaboratively in a multi‑disciplinary environment.
• Be a key part of a high expectation and high challenge culture, delivering outstanding services to children and families.
• This is a pivotal role for someone who thrives in a dynamic setting and is passionate about improving outcomes for children with disabilities.
• To undertake assessments to ascertain the needs of disabled children, providing support, assessment of their ongoing and changing needs and interventions which will secure their welfare.
• To work with the children and their families / carers to develop a package of support / assistance as they prepare to become adults and in their early adult life that promotes and maintains independence and wellbeing; where appropriate involve other agencies and use community resources to provide equality of opportunity, full participation and inclusion in society.
• To review the needs of children, their families and formulate plans for those children in accordance with statutory responsibilities and departmental policies.
• Attend any Court hearings as appropriate and give evidence when necessary.
• To ensure timescales are met for Court reports and panel papers when necessary.
• To ensure each child has a detailed Child in Need Plan which can be presented to Review, in consultation with the team manager.
• To identify and where appropriate manage any safeguarding and quality of care issues in line with directorate policy and practice requirements, taking forward appropriate actions and communication with supervisor / line manager/ other directorate officers and develop investigating officer skills.
• To maximise the life chances of disabled children through education, health care and leisure opportunities.
• To ensure child protection procedures and processes are followed in relation to disabled children.

No specific projects or initiatives the candidate will be involved in.

Requirements

• Proven social work experience/placement in children and families setting/minimum of two years post‑qualifying experience
• Demonstrable knowledge and experience of issues relating to children in need, child protection and looked‑after children, including relevant legislation, guidance and procedures
• Experience of service delivery which is culturally sensitive and responsive to the needs of a multi‑cultural community
• Able to prioritise and effectively work under pressure
• Managing a quality service by ensuring key performance indicators relating to service areas are met
• Ability to work well within a team and maintain clear and regular reporting lines to line manager and senior team members
• Display agile behaviours and understand change at any given moment and respond to it effectively
• Ability to communicate clearly, both verbally and in writing, and to follow through on required actions
• Commitment to the participation of children, young people and their families both at an individual and service level
• In rare emergency situations, the ability to work flexible or unsocial hours at short notice

Terms and Conditions

The below terms and conditions apply to this role: Satisfactory employment references and CIFAS identity checks; Satisfactory declaration of interest; This role is subject to safer recruitment practices as it involves work with children and/or vulnerable adults; Satisfactory DBS check; Continued professional body registration; Suitable driver’s licence. As a public authority, we must ensure that members of staff in public‑facing roles are able to speak fluent English. This means that they must have a command of spoken English, with confidence and accuracy, sufficient for the effective performance of their role. This requirement does not refer to any particular English language qualifications, regional or international accents, dialects, speech impediments or the tone of conversations. It does not require staff to speak only in English.

Bursting with culture, energy, and opportunity, the London Borough of Waltham Forest is a fantastic and exciting place to work. We are a highly ambitious borough. Driven by culture and the innate creativity of our residents, we have developed new and innovative ways to build our communities. Our Council is relentlessly resident‑focused, insight‑led, digitally driven and commercially minded; a Council focused on meeting the needs of our existing and future residents. London Borough of Waltham Forest is one of the employers. This accreditation is a proof of our commitment to creating a healthy, fair and inclusive workplace. This includes fair pay and conditions, workplace well‑being, skills and progression and diversity and recruitment. Waltham Forest is a diverse borough where diversity is valued and is integral to both, service delivery and employment of its staff. The Council is proud of its rich mix of communities and as the largest employer in the area, it works hard to respond to the changing needs of its population. We use our statutory duties on race, gender and disability equality and best practice in respect of age, faith and sexual orientation to ensure equality of opportunity in the workplace. The Council is committed to meeting its 4 equality objectives: Promoting equality of opportunity; Opposing all forms of discrimination, intolerance and disadvantage; Ensuring our workforce reflects the diverse communities of Waltham Forest at all levels; Providing fair, appropriate, accessible and excellent Services to all. Respecting Diversity is a core Council value. To support the above and reduce the risk of bias in its recruitment activities, the council is operating an anonymous shortlisting process, which hides personal information that can identify individuals until their application has been considered for shortlisting. The council also operates a scheme whereby, for jobs graded up to and including scale SO2, internal candidates are considered first. This includes those candidates who self‑identify as having a disability for the purposes of the Disability Confident scheme. For more information, please refer to our recruitment and selection policy. We are keen to support employees to balance their working life with other commitments. Therefore, wherever possible, we will consider working arrangements that suit an individual's personal circumstances whilst still meeting the needs of the Council. If you would like to discuss the possible flexible working options that might be applicable to this role, please contact the person named below or feel free to discuss this during your interview.