Role: ADVANCED PRACTIONER SOCIAL WORKER

Division: Supporting Families Division  

Salary: Grade L -£55,158- £58,197 plus zone 2&3 travel card

Contract: Permanent

Location: LBTH Town Hall, 106 Whitechapel Road, London E1 1BJ

About Us

We believe that the best place for children is to be raised within their own families, immediate or wider, wherever it is safe and appropriate to do so.​

In Tower Hamlets we are committed to building relationships and strengthening families by working with people in a compassionate and understanding way. ​

We are ambitious for Tower Hamlets children and families and endeavour for every child and young person to be healthy, safe and successful.

Tower Hamlets is a progressive, ambitious and diverse place to work. We place children and families at the heart of everything that we do and are relentless in our pursuit of positive outcomes for all.

Our Better Together Practice Framework is based on the ideas and concepts which underpin Restorative Practice and draws from other strength-based approaches, such as Systemic and Trauma Informed Practice

Our C-Change approach: Connect, Curious, Community, Co-Produce, Collaborate, Check,  sets out “6 Cs ” for our work with children, young people their parents and carers, and each other.

We've been working hard to make Tower Hamlets a great place to practice social work. We are committed to developing excellent Social Work practitioners and making Tower Hamlets an employer of choice. 

About the role:

We are recruiting to the post of Consultant Social Worker (CSW), who are Advanced Practitioners, within the Family Support and Protection Service. The post has the responsibility to the Frontline Programme, which is embedded within the service.

If you are passionate about building relationships with children and families at their first contact with Children’s Social Care, focused on working towards positive outcomes for children and have at least 3 years of post-qualifying experience in a statutory Children’s Social Care team, we would love you to apply.

 Family Support and Protection Service (FSP) consists of 10 social work teams. Family Support and Protection undertake child in need work, child protection work, alongside court work. This enables social workers to gain a good understanding of statutory work, but we also work closely with schools, health and voluntary organisations that formulates good partnership working with the ultimate aim of safeguarding and supporting children, young people and their families.

Relationships matter and this ethos in the service is embraced by all to engage with children foremost in mind leading to better outcomes and aspirations.

About you:

Have working knowledge of the framework within which social care operates, inclusive of legislation and national guidance and procedures specific to this post

Have knowledge of statutory work with children, including children in need, child protection, children looked after and court work. Knowledge of different types of interventions in family support

1. A nationally recognised or other social work England recognised social work qualification
2.  Have at least 3 year of post-qualifying experience in a statutory Children’s Social Care setting .
3. The opportunity The CSW role requires you to work systemically with families and coordinate the work of four Frontline participants to develop them into outstanding social workers who will affect positive change for children.
4. Have undertaken and been successful within Frontline’s Recruitment and Selection Process to be either a CSW or Deputy CSW

The role is made up of the following core components:

• Practice expert -Consistently model good and outstanding social work practice and skill to participants on the programme.
• Consistently model high quality social work by: identifying and managing risk, being curious and analytical, hypothesising, building strong relationships and using evidence-based interventions to help families change.
• Be the named case holder of all cases assigned to the unit and responsible for ensuring statutory requirements of the unit’s cases are complied with.
• Provide ongoing support and guidance to participants on their cases, being the main point of contact for participants in the unit, answering questions they have.
• Take responsibility for decisions in case work (in accordance with your line management responsibility). This includes consistently demonstrating confidence in being able to explain to participants your decisions and the way these have been made. –
• Support participants to develop leadership qualities in practice, building on their leadership training, encouraging participants to set a vision with families, coordinating professional networks toward a common goal, and working effectively with conflict.
• Practice educator -Create good learning opportunities for participants by identifying appropriate cases for the unit throughout the year.
• Use your judgment to expose participants to increasingly complex and varied casework at the appropriate level, increasing their autonomy as they demonstrate progress.
• Support the participants to apply the practice models they have learnt (systemic approach; social learning theory and motivational interviewing) in case discussions and work with children and families.
• Regularly observe the participants in their direct work with families, giving developmental feedback. At specific observation points in the year, you will assess and grade the practice observed.
• Prepare progress review reports on each participants in January and July each year, providing evidence and analysis of each participant’s progress through the programme.

Our offer

There has never been a more exciting time to practice, develop, and grow as a Social Worker at Tower Hamlets. Our vision is that every practitioner who has a role in the life of our children and families will be able to develop their skills and grow with Tower Hamlets. We will help you to develop excellent social work practice, leading to career advancement at your own pace.

We offer a competitive salary -£55,158- £58,197 plus zone 2&3 travel card, season ticket loan. We are committed to developing excellent Social Work practitioners and if you choose to work with us you will benefit from:

• Up to 31 days annual leave rising to 32 days with 5 years continual service and 8 bank holidays
• A manageable and diverse caseload and good quality reflective supervision
• Coaching and support from our well-established Learning Academy, and the opportunity to practice within our bespoke practice model Better Together, which encompasses restorative, systemic and trauma informed practice principles Core, elective, flexible and specialist learning pathways, as well as clear development pathways for every stage of your social work career
• Opportunities to develop your practice, with a clear framework for career development/leadership programme
• Opportunities for agile/flexible working 
• Discounted gym membership, access to free eye test, Cycle to work scheme, Rent deposit scheme and & You at Work discounts and many other benefits

How to Apply:

Compete full application online on Alvius and upload your CV.

Closing date: 26th May 2024

Interview: 12th June 2024 Please keep these dates free

For further information regarding the role, please contact Priti Soni at Priti.Soni@towerhamlets.gov.uk

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