Join Swindon and make a difference for children and their families.
There has never been a better time to join our Children’s Services teams as following a recent inspection, we have been rated ‘Good’ by Ofsted (July 2019).
We now have opportunities to join our Assessment and Child protection service (ACP).
The ACP team undertake assessments and investigations of any issues relating to child protection. Social Workers will be expected to undertake the following: involving:
- Home visits
Collaboratively working with professionals, practitioners and other agencies
Statutory Assessment
S47 enquires
Initial Children Protection Conference
Looked after Children first review
Initial Court Statement
Our transformation journey
Like all other local authorities we are experiencing an increase in demand. As an organisation we know our Children’s Services have not been good enough in recent years which is why last year we started making big changes across the service to provide the best care for children and great conditions for our staff. This started with us recruiting an entirely new leadership team of experienced, forward thinking managers who are driving changes in the service and we aim to be one of the best Children’s Services in the country.
Improvements include:
Multi-million pound investment in staff and support
Significant restructure creating smaller social worker teams
New intuitive IT system to cut down on desk time and make mobile working the norm
A separate ‘Children Looked After’ team to make sure we provide the best service for children in care
High standards for management practice, support and supervision for staff
Listening to our social workers by holding regular social work forums.
At the heart of it all is our desire to promote and cultivate a strong learning culture combined with outstanding leadership and supervision. Here is what you can expect to find when you arrive:
Early help and community health practitioners co-located with our social workers, providing great working relationships
Fantastic relationships with partner agencies such as the police and Swindon CCG
Teams located within communities, providing a closer connection to the people we work with.
Our new offer to you
We recognise that getting the best outcomes for our Children means getting the best from you and we have listened to what our Social Workers most value.
As a result, we are delighted to launch our revised offer, to include:
£3000 “golden hello” payment after 1 years’ service
Retention payments of £2000 after completing 2 years’ service and a further £2000 after 3 years’ service
Relocation allowance of up to £8,000 (eligibility criteria)
Competitive salaries
Free car parking at our central Swindon campus
A career average revalued earnings (CARE) pension scheme
25 days holiday (plus bank holidays) rising to 31 days after 10 years’ service
Leisure and Legal Services discounts
Eating Out, Shopping and Entertainment discounts
Flexible working
About You
Your aspirations should be limitless and you will be as determined and passionate about Children’s Services as we are. As a local authority we will continuously drive forward improvements in our services and we want our Social Workers to be part of our transformation, contribute to improving the safeguarding of our children, and we will make sure you have the full support network and training to do it.
Our teams are ambitious and proactive and we are looking for people who will share that ambition and be a part of our journey.
Candidates must be fluent in the English language (as a requirement of Part 7 of the Immigration Act – for the effective performance of a customer-facing role).
Our commitment to your development
We are dedicated to ensuring that you can progress your continued professional development and access training and learning opportunities linked to the BASW competencies for career progression.
We have recently launched the Social Work & Leadership Academy. The Academy has been created to celebrate the best in professional practice in Social Work and Social Care Leadership. The Academy represents an opportunity for Swindon Borough Council to demonstrate how we support, develop and value the professional disciplines in Social Work and Social Care through a targeted framework of career development and learning opportunities.
For more information or to arrange an informal chat please contact: Jayne Irvine or Gail Normah on 01793 466818.
