Senior Practitioner - Children in Care

Birmingham Children’s Trust Limited; Birmingham; Hybrid; GBP 42,000 - 54,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Welcome payment

Retention payment

Relocation allowance

SW England registration fee paid

DBS fee paid

DBS Update Service reimbursement

Annual leave 30 days

Hybrid working

Salary sacrifice car scheme

On-site parking

Employee benefits

LG Pension

Gym discounts

Job summary

Birmingham Children’s Trust is seeking a Senior Practitioner for Children in Care to lead professional social work across cases and coach teams. The role involves complex caseloads, supervision, and ensuring best practice within the team, working with partners across services.

You'll hold significant post-qualification experience, with strong knowledge of safeguarding, legislation, and child development, and you will mentor colleagues to deliver outstanding outcomes for children and families in

Qualifications

• Recognised Social Work qualification and registration.
• Post-qualifying experience in children’s social care.
• Experience with Children in Care and safeguarding.
• Strong knowledge of legislation, guidance and child development.
• Excellent assessment, analytical and decision-making skills.
• Ability to coach, mentor and support colleagues.
• Excellent communication and relationship-building skills.
• Commitment to outstanding outcomes for children and young people.

Responsibilities

• Lead improvement of professional social work practice across case work cycles.
• Provide needs-led social work service aligning with legislation and best practice.
• Undertake complex casework within children and family services.
• Share knowledge of legislation, standards, guidance and procedures.
• Manage allocated complex caseloads with accountability.
• Promote joined-up partnership working with services and agencies.
• Provide quality assurance and coaching/mentoring to colleagues.

Skills

Excellent communication

Relationship-building

Coaching/Mentoring

Analytical decision-making

Education

Social Work qualification

Social Work England registration

Post-qualifying experience

Job description

About The Role

Senior Practitioner for Children in Care

At Birmingham Children’s Trust, we are committed to making a positive impact on the lives of over 10,000 children and young people in our city every day. Our mission is to support the most disadvantaged children and young people in Birmingham, ensuring they are safe, happy, and healthy.

Senior Practitioner for Children in Care – this is an exciting role and a great opportunity to develop your leadership skills and progress your career pathway in Social Work.

You will hold up to a number of complex families with the remainder of the role focused on role modelling, supporting and developing good practice and consistent performance within your team alongside the Team Manager. You will coordinate and facilitate group supervision, advising and guiding social workers in their work with children and families and progressing tasks delegated by the Team Manager.

At Birmingham Children’s Trust, we are dedicated in providing outstanding care and support to children and families across Birmingham. Our mission is to ensure every child has the opportunity to thrive in a safe, nurturing environment. We are a dynamic and forward-thinking organisation, committed to innovation and excellence in social work practice.

Within children in care, our work is both varied and rewarding, working with children and young people aged 0-18 who are subject to both interim and final Care Orders or placed in local authority care under section 20. We support children living at home under care orders, within connected care placements / foster care/ residential / semi-supported settings. We hold care proceedings within our children in care service at the point of interim care order, through until final order. We have a strong focus upon achieving permanency for our children at the earliest opportunity along with progressing reunification where safe and appropriate to do so.

Our services will always be joined up and you will develop robust partnerships with other teams and outside agencies; to include the police, health, schools and voluntary organisations.

We have been rated as ‘Good’ by Ofsted, following a 2023 inspection. This is a fantastic achievement for Birmingham Children's Trust, with many positive highlights focusing on areas including the quality of staff leadership, partnership working, safeguarding and corporate parenting.

This is a hybrid role based in Birmingham so you must reside within a suitable commutable distance around Birmingham and have the correct right-to-work documents to work in the UK. Sadly, we do not support those who require sponsorship.

What you’ll be doing:

• To provide a lead role in improving the quality of professional social work practice across the breadth of the case work cycle to children, young people and their families.
• To provide a needs-led, professional social work service to children, young people and their families, complying with legislative requirements and in accordance with established best practice.
• To provide a needs-led, professional social work service to children, young people and their families, complying with legislative requirements and in accordance with established best practice.
• To undertake complex casework arising within the children and family services.
• To share/communicate a thorough working knowledge of relevant legislation, national standards, guidance, research, departmental policy and procedures.
• To be responsible for allocated cases including a complex caseload.
• To take a ‘joined-up’ approach to ensuring the effectiveness of case working, actively promoting/encouraging effective partnership working with service users and other teams/agencies/organisations.
• To provide quality assurance and coaching/mentoring to work colleagues.

About You:

We’re looking for someone who has:

• A recognised Social Work qualification.
• Current Social Work England registration.
• Significant post-qualifying experience within children’s social care.
• Experience working with Children in Care and managing complex safeguarding issues.
• Strong knowledge of relevant legislation, statutory guidance, and child development.
• Excellent assessment, analytical, and decision-making skills.
• The ability to coach, mentor, and support colleagues to develop their practice.
• Excellent communication and relationship-building skills.
• A commitment to achieving outstanding outcomes for children and young people

Our offer to you:

At the Trust, we value our people and are committed to supporting your professional development, wellbeing, and work-life balance. When you join us, you’ll benefit from:

• In addition to the salary offered, there is an welcome payment of £1,000 paid in full in your first months salary -T&C's will apply.
• A Retention payment of up to £5,000 per annum paid monthly subject to tax and NI deductions - T&C's will apply.
• A relocation allowance of up to £8,000 -T&C's will apply.
• Payment of your Social Work England registration fee.
• Payment of your DBS application fee, plus reimbursement of your DBS Update Service subscription.
• A generous annual leave entitlement of 30 days, plus bank holidays, increasing to 33 days after 5 years’ service and 35 days after 10 years’ service.
• An early finish every Friday, helping you make the most of your weekend.
• Access to our Salary Sacrifice Car Scheme, offering the opportunity to drive a brand-new car through an affordable fixed monthly payment, with no deposit or credit checks and a range of all-inclusive driving packages.
• Free on-site parking at our One Avenue Road (Aston) and Lifford House (Stirchley) offices, including free electric vehicle charging points.
• A comprehensive employee benefits package, including Occupational Health services, reward and recognition schemes, employee discounts (including the Blue Light Card), health and fitness offers, wellbeing support, and much more.
• Flexible and hybrid working, with a range of working patterns that support both the needs of the Trust and a healthy work-life balance.
• Membership of the Local Government Pension Scheme, providing a generous career average pension.
• Discounted gym memberships with PureGym and Nuffield Health to support your health and wellbeing.

About Us

Help us to change children and young people’s lives!

At Birmingham Children’s Trust, we are committed to making a positive impact on the lives of over 10,000 children and young people in our city every day. Our mission is to support the most disadvantaged children and young people in Birmingham, ensuring they are safe, happy, and healthy.

Why Join Us?

• Impactful Work - be part of a team that makes a real difference in the lives of the city’s most vulnerable children.
• Supportive Environment - enjoy a supportive and collaborative work culture where your contributions are valued.
• Career Development - benefit from tailored development programs, supportive supervision, and a range of learning opportunities to enhance your skills and advance your career.
• Generous Benefits - take advantage of our competitive reward package including generous leave allowance, Local Government pension scheme, and additional benefits.

Our Values

We approach our work with care and compassion, actively listening to the needs of the children and young people we serve. We involve them in the decisions that affect their lives, ensuring their voices are heard and respected.

We are committed to using our resources wisely, ensuring that every penny is spent where it counts the most. We foster collaboration among schools, health professionals, and the police, working together to create a supportive network for our young people.

We believe that when we work as one cohesive team, the children and young people of Birmingham are more likely to thrive. Our unified approach ensures that we provide the best possible support and opportunities for our growth and development.

Join us and together, we can create a brighter future for all.

Safeguarding

At Birmingham Children’s Trust, we are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people.

Depending on the role, you may be asked to undergo the appropriate level of Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check to assess your suitability for working with children and young people.

The level of check (Standard, Enhanced, or Enhanced with Barred List) is determined based on the specific responsibilities of the role and the level of contact with children and young people.

We are committed to the fair treatment of all applicants, including those with criminal records. Having a criminal record will not necessarily bar an individual from working with us. This will depend on the nature of the position and the circumstances and background of the offence.