Social Worker - Newly Qualified

Post title: Social Worker - Newly Qualified
Post number: SS.63369-V8
Salary: £33,486 per annum

Directorate/department: Social Services

Apply online now for post SS.63369-V8

Closing date: 11.59pm, 24 March 2023.

Further information

We recognise that social workers undertake a challenging but rewarding role and value the resilience they show by overcoming challenges every day.

The Academy is a new team within Child and Family Services and will sit at the top of level 3 on the Continuum of Need. The Academy will be made up of 3 pods and have 1 overall Hub Manager. Pod 1 will comprise of the Integrated Safeguarding Hub and Family Wellbeing Team. Staff from the Child Disability Team will make up Pod 2. The 3rd pod will be used to support newly qualified social workers in their first year of practice and will include an experienced Practice Lead and 2 Senior Social Workers.

Within The Academy NQSW's will have the opportunity to complete single assessments, develop care and support plans with children, young people, their families and support networks, support the ISH with strategy meetings and section 47's and provide support to children with disabilities and their parent/carers.

This will afford the NQSW's a well-rounded experience of social work over their first year of practice, whilst providing some protection from the complex level 4 work that is undertaken in the Supported Care Planning Teams. It is envisaged that by end of the year, and subject to 6 monthly reviews, the NQSW's will have the confidence, knowledge, skills and experience to move into the SCP teams to continue to develop as social work practitioners.

Our vision in Swansea which is well understood by the current workforce is 'doing what matters to make things better for children, young people and families. This is reflected in our drive that wherever safe children should remain in the care of their birth families. Signs of Safety is our practice framework and our social work teams work in small pods which allows us to work systemically with families to effect change. This supports good supervision and collaboration between staff. Building positive respectful relationships with families, listening to children and ensuring they are involved in decisions that affect their lives is at the heart of what we do.

Our recent CIW assurance visit in June 2021 highlighted the following:

• A positive attitude towards risk and a willingness to experiment, innovate and be creative was evident.
• Providers reported Swansea Council has taken a lead in influencing partners to adopt a more strength based/appreciative enquiry approach to communicating with people.
• Practice was respectful and we saw genuine efforts made by staff to understand people's circumstances and explore how best to work together in supporting people to meet their own personal outcomes.
• Feedback from staff via focus groups and survey results confirmed they felt appropriately supported throughout the pandemic.
• Swansea Council's robust and proactive approach to reviewing, and where appropriate, reducing the number of children looked after has continued to pay dividends during the pandemic. The number of children placed outside Wales has also been recently reduced. Most of the care experienced young people we spoke with were positive about their overall experience and levels of support.

As a Newly Qulaified Social Worker in Swansea Child and Family Services you will experience:

• A positive and supportive working culture where staff are trusted to do their job, problems are shared and solutions identified through regular conversations and reflection.
• Opportunities are taken to learn from things that did not work so well and seen as a positive way to support change when necessary.
• A whole service commitment to understanding and identifying the waste in our systems so that as workers you can spend less time completing paperwork and more time with children and their families.
• Innovative and creative ways of working so that there are always opportunities for your own personal development and reflection to consider how things can be done differently.
• Supportive leadership and managers who listen and value your input into the way our service can continue to develop and improve.
• Regular and quality supervision both formally and informally which values the importance of your well-being as well as opportunities to reflect on cases.
• The opportunity to work in small pods (6 people) within a larger Hub and a Practice Lead who will support you to develop your practice through regular reflection and discussion.
• A Senior Management Team who are visible, approachable and want to both hear and respond to staff.
• A culture where staff are regularly praised and acknowledged for the excellent work they undertake as valued members of the service.
• An innovative service who promote creative approaches to case management and are risk sensible.
• Access to coaching, mentoring and opportunities for peer group supervision.
• An excellent induction programme and tailored support to develop the skills, knowledge, resilience and confidence of all workers.
• Opportunities to work under a hybrid model where workers share their time between with the office and home.
• The importance and benefit of peer support is recognised with additional time dedicated to team development.

About you:

• You will be passionate about relationship-based social work and able to think creatively and reflect about how you can build relationships to understand what matters to children and their families and support them to achieve this.
• You will be committed to your own professional development and take up learning and training opportunities to continue to develop your existing skill and knowledge base.
• You will ensure that children and their families are at the heart of all decision-making and their voices are heard and evidenced throughout all aspects of your work.
• You will be motivated, dynamic and passionate about securing the best possible outcomes for children and young people.
• You will be compassionate, open, honest and respectful in all aspects of your work.

We are advertising for Newly Qualified Social Workers within The Academy for up to their first 12 months of employment when they will be supported to move into one of our Supported Care Planning Teams. For an informal chat about all Swansea has to offer please contact Naomi Rowe Naomi.rowe@swansea.gov.uk

Safeguarding
Within Swansea Council there is a "Safeguarding is Everybody's Business" principle, and this applies to all Swansea Council employees, elected members, volunteers and contractors. Further details can be found at https://www.swansea.gov.uk/corporatesafeguarding

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