Senior Social Work Practitioner - Family Support Team

TN United Kingdom; Bristol; On-site; GBP 35,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

Bath & North East Somerset Council seeks a Senior Social Work Practitioner for the Family Support Team in Bristol. The role involves working with vulnerable families, conducting assessments, and ensuring child safety through collaborative practices. This position offers opportunities for professional development and a supportive work environment.

Benefits

Extensive training opportunities

Paid Social Work England membership

Laptop and iPhone for flexible working

Relocation Payments available

Regular supervision and support

Qualifications

• Experience in safeguarding and social work.
• Knowledge of the legislative framework governing children's services.
• IT skills for standard electronic systems.

Responsibilities

• Manage a caseload of children and families with complex needs.
• Conduct assessments and investigations for child protection.
• Collaborate with various agencies to support families.

Skills

Analytical skills

Organizational skills

Teamwork

Communication

Education

Relevant social work qualification

Job description

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Senior Social Work Practitioner - Family Support Team, Bristol

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Client:

Bath and North East Somerset Council

Location:

Bristol, United Kingdom

Job Category:

Other

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EU work permit required:

Yes

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Job Reference:

d972e09fd569

Job Views:

30

Posted:

23.05.2025

Expiry Date:

07.07.2025

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Job Description:

At Bath & North East Somerset Council we have one overriding purpose to improve people’s lives.

Temporary Contract to cover a Secondment (provisional end date 31/01/2026)

This post attracts a welcome payment of 5% of the starting salary of the grade (pro rata) to enable individuals to join our permanent workforce. This is payable upon successful completion of your probationary period and is subject to eligibility criteria.

This post is eligible for a £2,000 retention payment.

If your passion is around collaborative work with families, centred on building relationships in order to help families develop resilience and make changes for their children, then we are the Local Authority for you. Working with families to keep children at home wherever possible, our dynamic teams work with families from point of contact through to long term support and intervention. Our practice model is underpinned by relationship-based, systemic approaches to facilitate change, alongside trauma informed practice.

Bath and North East Somerset Children’s Social Care are an innovative small Local Authority focused on therapeutic assessment and support. Rated Good by OFSTED, with continued vision and drive to improve further.

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Senior Social Work Practitioner (with a Social Work qualification) to join one of our Family Support Teams, within the Safeguarding Outcomes Service. We are committed to being a dynamic and creative Local Authority, working hard to think differently about how we approach our work with families. We are deeply committed to providing tailored high-quality services and well thought out interventions to families to keep children safe. Our practice is values-driven with a strong ethos of child-focused interventions.

About the role:

You will work in partnership with an enthusiastic hub consisting of a Team Manager, Deputy Team Manager, Senior Practitioners, Social Workers, Family Support Practitioners and Administrative staff.

This rewarding role will see you responding to, co-ordinating and delivering a range of social care services to children, young people and families in the Bath and North East Somerset area for children subject to Child in Need Plans, Child Protection Plans, Children in Care, and children subject to legal proceedings. The role will include undertaking single assessments and section 47 child protection investigations. You will work closely with our colleagues across the service and have established partnerships with agencies across health, education, support services and adult services to ensure we can respond as effectively as possible to the needs of children, young people, and their families. This includes working alongside our Family Support Plus team who deliver extensive Family Group Conferences to utilise resources and support within families to keep children safe, as well as tailored interventions including the New Way domestic abuse service.

The post holder will manage their own caseload, which will include children and families with complex needs. You will be able to evidence a strong ability to analyse information and formulate outcome focused plans for children and families, as well as a commitment to driving forward care plans and legal work to protect children and promote children’s outcomes through permanency. Applicants must be confident in writing professional assessments/reports as well as presenting their evidence verbally, including in court proceedings. Applicants need to have very strong organisational skills to manage and prioritise their work effectively and in a timely way and will be committed to working as part of a team to support colleagues in delivering optimum services to children and families.

As a Senior Practitioner, you will have an opportunity to develop your supervisory skills through supervision of a Family Support Practitioner, as well as being able to access Practice Educator Professional Standards (PEPS) training to support a student social worker or taking on a mentoring role for newly qualified social workers on the ASYE programme from other teams.

We are seeking applications from workers who have relevant experience in safeguarding and are looking to enhance and further develop their skills and contribute to service development for vulnerable children in an exciting and dynamic service.

You can expect:

• Managed caseload; supporting children in need, children subject to child protection plans, and children protected through legal proceedings
• Regular supervision at a minimum of monthly one to one
• Weekly group reflective supervision to promote thoughtful and creative practice, supported by your peers and managers
• Monthly Peer Circles to ensure strong relationships and support between Senior Practitioners across the teams
• Extensive training opportunities, which include SARI workshops around culturally sensitive practice, opportunities to join a 6-month long training in Systemic Practice delivered by the Centre for Systemic Social Work, attachment-based workshops, and trauma-informed workshops
• Excellent administrative support with 3 admin staff supporting each team
• Tri-annual Social Work Conferences with guest speakers who are experts in the field. Examples of previous conferences have included Donald Forrester, Brid Featherstone, Rebecca Carr-Hopkins, ‘Annie’ from Surviving Safeguarding, and Dr Karen Treisman
• Paid Social Work England membership
• Access to Research in Practice
• Laptop and iPhone to promote flexible working, to enhance your work-life balance
• Relocation Payments are available
• A stable leadership team
• A stable and committed team, with very low rates of agency workers, and low vacancy rates

To apply you will have:

• A relevant social work qualification
• Knowledge of the legislative framework that governs children’s services
• Knowledge of theory and practice applicable to social work
• IT skills to enable operation of standard electronic systems
• Passion, commitment, and motivation to support the most vulnerable families in our area

If you are interested in this post and require more details or just to chat through the role and what’s involved, please contact Emily Alder, Team Manager Family Support Team on 01225 386280 or email [emailprotected]

Interview date: TBC

No agencies please.

About Bath & North East Somerset Council.

Working at Bath & North East Somerset provides an opportunity to contribute to your community and make a positive impact on the lives of residents. Our values shape how we work to deliver public services, and how we communicate with the residents we serve. We care about the best outcomes for local people, through our public services.

Why Bath & North East Somerset Council?

We offer a wide range of benefits, to ensure that you are paid fairly for your work, have the flexibility to enjoy a great work/life balance, and have the support you need. Go to https://jobsandcareers.bathnes.gov.uk/why-work-us/our-benefits

At Bath & North East Somerset Council we have one overriding purpose to improve peoples live. Find out more about our values at https://jobsandcareers.bathnes.gov.uk/why-work-us/our-values

We aspire to have a diverse and inclusive workplace and strongly encourage suitably qualified applicants from a wide range of backgrounds to apply and join us. Find out more on our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at https://beta.bathnes.gov.uk/equality-and-diversity

We are a Disability Confident Employer find out more at https://shorturl.at/ajrsW

The Council is committed to having a diverse and inclusive workforce. Applications for job-share, part-time and flexible working arrangements are welcomed and will be considered in line with business needs.

Please note that this role is subject to an Enhanced DBS Check.

Safeguarding Statement: The Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable groups and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment. As part of this commitment anyone working in a post with children or vulnerable groups will be expected to undertake an Enhanced DBS check with/without barred list checks.