Trainee Social Worker (Children's)

‘Social workers told inspectors that they feel well supported by their managers and senior leaders and enjoy working in Cornwall. Social workers are capable, committed and are ambitious for their children’s futures and demonstrate a breadth and depth of skill and experience. These are qualities that are reflected in the positive outcomes that are being achieved for children in Cornwall’

Ofsted 2022

‘Social workers have a very good understanding of the children they work with; they visit them regularly and ensure that their needs are holistically well considered’

‘Staff development is delivered through an effective and well-targeted workforce development framework. Staff morale is high.’

Ofsted 2019 – Outstanding grading

We believe that the children of Cornwall deserve the very best. Particularly in these extraordinarily challenging times they are at the heart of children’s social work in Children and Family Services. As part of our commitment to developing excellent practice, we have designed a career and qualification pathway for front line social workers and a core curriculum to develop knowledge and skills to ensure they offer the most effective social work intervention with children and families. This ensures that we continue to build on our strong, resilient Social Work workforce.

We are looking to recruit applicants interested in embarking in a career in social work in Cornwall. This scheme offers both an Undergraduate and Postgraduate pathway. This scheme is offered both the external applicants, and existing staff working within the TFF directorate.

The Undergraduate Route follows an Integrated Social Work Degree Apprenticeship with fees funded from Cornwall Council’s apprenticeship levy.

More details on the course can be found here:

http://www.open.ac.uk/business/apprenticeships/degree-and-higher/social-worker-degree-apprenticeship

The Masters level Post graduate diploma is fully funded by Cornwall Council training budget. More details on the course can be found here:

https://www.open.ac.uk/postgraduate/qualifications/e85

If you work within direct service provision with children and families, have strong values and ethics, a commitment to humane, relationship- based practice, an abiding curiosity, motivation and passion for this area of work, and have been considering a career in social work, we would like to hear from you.

To be considered for the Traineeship Scheme you must:

• Be working directly with children and their families, either as a practitioner or as a first line manager
• Have a proven track record of taking personal responsibility for the quality and consistency of your own practice in line with service standards.
• Be motivated and passionate about working with children and families
• Have good relationship skills, being able to communicate effectively in both verbal and written formats
• Hold a commitment to working for Cornwall Council as a social worker, completing your Assessed and Supported Year in Employment ( ASYE ) and early social work career practice within Children’s Service.
• We also welcome internal TFF employees to apply as part of our internal sponsored traineeship scheme. To qualify you must be a full-time employee of the Together for Families Directorate, be working directly with families, have support from your Team Manager and Head of Service , as well as meeting the below requirements.

Additional requirements are that you:

• Hold GCSE grade 9–4/A*–C/ Functional/Key Skills Level 2 in English and mathematics, or a certified equivalent (evidence will be required with your application)
• Be willing to undertake distance-based learning with the Open University

• Meet the OU Post graduate programme requirements if you hold a current degree and wish to pursue to Masters route (CFS staff only)
• Can work full time, to meet the needs of the service and course requirements.
• Are committed to working with Cornwall Children and Family Services as a Social Worker for 3 years post qualification (Please note starting salary as a Qualified Social Worker is £31,968, Grade 3 SCP 4).

We will support you with:

• A salary as a Trainee Social Worker, whilst you undertake your training
• The costs of university fees and associated expenses (for the SW Integrated Apprenticeship degree route fees are funded by the apprenticeship levy)
• Qualified and experienced Practice Educator support
• Appropriate practice placements in line with the requirements of your social work course

We believe that this is an exciting opportunity to start a career in social work in an ambitious Children’s service which was judged ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted in 2019.

This position will be subject to an enhanced criminal record disclosure check. Cornwall Council is committed to safeguarding and following safer recruitment principles to help make sure our staff and volunteers are suitable to work with children, young people and adults at risk. It’s a vital part of creating a safe and positive environment and making a commitment to keeping all service users safe from harm.

This is a public/customer-facing role, where the statutory English language requirement for public sector workers applies.

We are happy to talk about flexible working options.

More information about our social work careers is available here.

More information about working for Cornwall Council is available here.

Fairness and inclusion are at the heart of our vision for Cornwall. In order to best serve our communities, we are striving to achieve a diverse workforce that is inclusive of all backgrounds, cultures and identities; e.g. race, disability, sex, gender, age, religion and sexual orientation. We are an equal opportunities and Disability Confident employer, and we will assess applicants on their merits.

Whilst the location/work-base for this role has been specified, our evolving ways of working means that the role may require you to also work remotely (e.g. from home/other locations). We will discuss this with you during the recruitment process.

To Apply …

Please view the Role Profile for the level of role you are applying for, as follows:

Role Profile - Apprentice Level 6 Social Worker

Role Profile - Sponsored Trainee Social Worker (PgDip)

Please accompany your application with scanned copies of your certificates evidencing the entry requirements i.e. maths and English GCSE’s at grade C or equivalent (for all applicants) and a degree certificate if applying at M level.

For further information on the role or entry requirements please email PSWpracticeeducation@cornwall.gov.uk

Your application will need to demonstrate how you meet the required criteria. Please ensure you answer all of the pre-screening questions in full, within the application form. Guidance on how to complete your application can be found here – The application process

Please be advised that for this role we are accepting uploaded supporting statements and/or CVs to support your online application.

Assessment centre style Interviews will be held in person and split over 2 days on 16 and 21 June 2023. You may be required for both days. Candidates who are successfully shortlisted will need to complete a Candidate Assessment Preparation pack from the Open University prior to proceeding to interview. Further details will be provided at shortlisting stage.