Social Worker - Court Team

Overview

Are you passionate about improving the lives of children and young people? Do you want to work for an employer who places major importance on high quality supervision, wellbeing and career development?

As a children’s social worker, you’ll have the incredible opportunity to shape futures and create lasting positive memories. Your role will be more than a job, it’ll be a chance to be a friend, mentor and advocate. You’ll work closely with children, families, schools, and other professionals to ensure that every child’s unique needs are met. Your empathy, patience and dedication will be the driving force behind meaningful change in their lives.

At Buckinghamshire Council we have an opportunity for a high calibre experienced Social Worker in our Court team.

To make a great Social Worker in our Court Team, you’ll bring your experience and knowledge from working in a similar environment within a Child Protection or Court team.

In these busy, fast paced teams, you’ll get on best if you are flexible and able to work well under pressure.

You will work closely with colleagues from various teams and build positive links between your team and other parts of the service to ensure effective multi-professional working.

‘I’ve worked at four local authorities, and this has been the most positive experience for me. My team is well-structured, supportive, and knowledgeable - I feel very lucky to be working with such great and professional colleagues.’ – Terri, Social Worker – Court Team

About us

Buckinghamshire Council is a relatively new organisation that combines the strengths and expertise of the previous five councils in the county to create positive change for local people, communities, and businesses. We are firmly focused on the future and have made a clear commitment to serve residents better and to provide stronger representation for Buckinghamshire, both locally and nationally.  

Buckinghamshire is an ambitious, rapidly growing county, and our economy is one of the strongest in the country. It is an area of outstanding natural beauty and ranks as one of the top rural areas to live in the UK and yet it is incredibly well connected– only an hour from London on the train. The county has a rich history and heritage and is the birthplace of the international Paralympic movement.

We are looking for motivated, ambitious and inspiring people to join us on our journey. You will be entitled to a range of different benefits to make sure you are happy both at work and at home.

About the role

Our supportive Head of Service has an ambition for the Court Team to become a centre of excellence for all care proceedings work. For this to be achieved we are now looking for skilled and experienced practitioners who know what good looks like in terms of evidence gathering and writing. Strong written skills coupled with experience in taking the stand and giving oral evidence, successful candidates will join an already strong and improving team to tackle some of the challenges ahead.

With a diverse population, work is often complex and varied also providing an excellent training ground for the right candidates wanting to take the next step.

This challenging but rewarding role will see you working directly with children and young people ensuring that the voice of the child is always heard and listened to.

Please see attached job description for more information.

About you

To make a great Social Worker in our Court Team, the ideal candidate will possess highly developed specialist knowledge of social work practice with children and families and be a qualified social worker registered with Social Work England.

We offer manageable caseloads, agile working, and access to comprehensive training and reflective supervision.

Most importantly you will share our dedication and passion to improve the lives of children and young people.

For a full list of responsibilities please see attached job description.

Other information

If you would like to find out more about this role, please contact Catherine Kingsman at [email protected]

Closing date: Midnight on Friday 31st may 2024

We reserve the right to close the vacancy once we have received sufficient applications, so please be advised to submit your application as early as possible.

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore applicants are required to declare:

• All unspent cautions and convictions cautions
• All adult cautions and spent convictions that are not protected (i.e. that are not filtered out) as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2020). For further information on filtering please refer to Nacro guidance, the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) guidance or Ministry of Justice (MOJ) guidance (see, in particular, the section titled ‘Exceptions Order’).

Our values

We have a set of values, which our employees have chosen, that represent what we are – Proud, Ambitious, Collaborative and Trustworthy.

By joining Buckinghamshire Council, you can expect:

• a fair and inclusive culture
• the chance to really make a difference to those around you
• health and well-being initiatives including an Employee Assistance Programme, Mental Health First Aiders and mindfulness workshops
• a unified voice through our Employee Representative Group
• ongoing support, and the opportunity to develop and progress in your career with us
• opportunities to take part in fun activities such as fundraising and social events

At Buckinghamshire Council, we know that our biggest strength comes from the people that work for us, and that’s why we’re working hard to ensure we continue to be an accessible and inclusive organisation.

From dedicated staff networks overseen by our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Steering Group, to proudly standing as a Disability Confident employer, it’s important to us that all our colleagues feel engaged, listened to, and valued. Our offer of flexible working empowers a productive and happy workforce and allows employees to combine work with other responsibilities and commitments.

We believe our workforce should reflect the diverse communities we service in Buckinghamshire, and are looking for like-minded individuals to join us in promoting equality, fairness, and inclusion for everyone.

About the Service Area

Buckinghamshire is a successful, growing place with fantastic natural assets, a highly productive economy and many resourceful and thriving communities. However, we are far from complacent and our new and ambitious unitary authority is well placed to tackle the challenges associated with growth, an aging population, climate change and inequalities in both opportunities and outcomes – particularly for our children and young people.

Children’s Services is on an improvement journey and as our very recent Ofsted report shows, we have continued to improve despite the pressures of the pandemic and have built solid foundations for future success. Relationships with partners are strong and our collective response to the pandemic has strengthened and deepened our work together.

We have a big, ambitious agenda for Buckinghamshire, and our teams work collaboratively and at pace to make a positive difference to the lives of children and young people across the county.

We are looking for talented and driven individuals to help us achieve the best outcomes for our children, young people and families in Buckinghamshire. Our key priorities include continuing to protect vulnerable children and young people from harm, whilst sustaining an environment where social work practice can thrive. Through our vital work with our partners, including The Buckinghamshire Safeguarding Childrens Partnership, we continue to improve our collective response to children and young people who have been exposed to domestic abuse, exploitation, substance misuse and mental health issues.

No matter what role you take on in our Children’s services, you will be part of a team who is dedicated to supporting children and their families to achieve their full potential.

We recognise and reward you

Hard work and success deserves recognition. That’s why we pride ourselves on the benefits we give our people. We actively encourage a good work-life balance and promote flexible and agile working arrangements.

We provide discounts on various Cafés, restaurants, shops and auto enrolment onto our generous Pension Scheme with an employer contribution of 24.6%.

We also offer a salary sacrifice personal car lease scheme and the opportunity to gain membership to Costco. We have discounted gym memberships - https://jobs.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/working-buckinghamshire-council/

Social Workers are also entitled to a generous enhanced reward package, as follows:

• Competitive salary with a market increment
• A ‘Golden Hello’ lump sum payment upon successful completion of probation
• New lease car scheme
• Annual leave up to 30 days per year, as well as other types of leave and the opportunity to buy further leave
• Up to 15 days per year training, learning and development offer
• Free parking across all of our office sites 

If you are interested in relocating to Buckinghamshire and working with us, relocation packages are also available.