Children's Social Work Offer
Why Cheshire West and Chester?
At Cheshire West and Chester, Children's Social Care we want to invest in you, support and develop you in a successful career in social work. We want you to be part of a workforce that is committed and motivated to making a difference, safeguarding and improving the outcomes for our most vulnerable children and young people.
Cheshire West and Chester Council is an award winning authority and is the winner of the Management Journal best achieving Council award. In December 2015, Ofsted judged that we were 'Good' with outstanding in Leadership and Management and Adoption. Our Winsford and Northwich Children in Need Team won Team of the Year at the Annual National Social Worker of the Year Awards in 2016. Our recent Joint Targeted Area Inspection also highlights our "stable and skilled workforce" with recognised "clear planning for career progression and a wider range of development opportunities." In 2018 we were approved as a Partner in Practice with the Department of Education and have won "Overall council of the Year" and "Best Innovation" awards in 2018. In 2022 the focussed visit from Ofsted recognised we had continued to strengthen quality of practice. Social workers say they feel safe and enjoy working with us.
Who are we?
Children’s Social Care Children’s Social Care is segmented across three different districts; Ellesmere Port, Northwich and Winsford, and Chester. There are Children in Need and Children in Care Teams in each of these districts and further teams detailed below which cover all three districts. All teams are supported by effective and innovative Business Support.
We have an effective multi-agency Integrated Access and Referral Team (i-ART ) located in Winsford where all contact and referrals are collated, processed, before referrals are transferred to the appropriate team across Early Help & Prevention and Children’s Social Care.
Child in Need teams operate on what is referred to as a POD system, where each team in each district is separated into smaller teams each of which has a Team Manager, Senior Practice Lead and six Social Workers.
The Child Protection and Court Teams are in each locality and consist of a Team Manger, Senior Practice Lead and Social Workers. They work with children who are subject to Child Protection Plans, Pre-Proceedings and those who are subject to Care Proceedings.
Permanence Teams operate in Ellesmere Port and Winsford, they work with children who are in long term care. Each of these teams has a Team Manager, Senior Practice Lead and eight Social Workers. Supervised contact is managed and facilitated by an internal contact service.
This team provides support, enables and promotes independent living for young people, who are or have been looked after. The team consists of a Team Manager, Senior Social Worker, four social workers and Personal Assistants.
These are dedicated teams comprised of social workers and family case workers, working closely together to deliver appropriate services and to improve outcomes for children and young people who have complex health and disability needs.
Provider Services
A range of teams and service areas are situated within Provider Services:
- Access to Resources Team (ART): coordinate and process placement requests.
- Mainstream Fostering Team: responsible for recruiting, assessing, supporting and supervising foster carers.
- Connected People’s Team: responsible for assessments and supervision of family and friend carers.
- Together for Adoption: regional adoption service plays a key role in enabling permanence through adoption.
- Intervention Hub: The Intervention Hub provides a range of support and intervention services to children in need, at risk of harm or where there is the potential for family or placement breakdown.
The Intervention Hub consists of a number of services, they are, Child in Need Intervention, Targeted Family Support, Edge of Care, Court and Child Protection, Placement Stability, Family Group Conference and the Contact Service. - Residential care provision: We have a number of different provisions to provide short term, long term and respite placements for children and young people. The Local Authority has an extensive and ambitious plan to expand and provide high quality accommodation for our young people within borough.
Your rewards and benefits
We offer a competitive salary based on your qualifications and experience:
- Newly Qualified Social Worker: starting at £30,151
- Social Worker: £33,820 - £37,261
- Experienced Social Worker: £37,261 - £43,366
- Senior Practice Lead: £43,366 - £50,045
- Senior Social Worker: £43,366 - £50,045
- Team Manager: £50,045 - £57,130
We will pay your SWE fees and support you to achieve your HCPC regulatory compliance through continuous professional development opportunities.
We have a variety of schemes available to employees which include; Salary Sacrifice additional Annual Leave, Salary Sacrifice car and cycle scheme, WorkFit Membership, Salary Sacrifice Home and Electronics scheme, in addition to discounts in a wide range of high street and online retailers.
The Framework has been developed in collaboration with the workforce. It aims to reward staff close to the point of great performance, it also recognises team efforts, the rewards are flexible
Flexible and mobile working is an intrinsic part of how we work, so that you benefit from a greater work-life balance wherever possible. We offer a number of different approaches to working in a flexible way.
- Working patterns: Full-time, part-time
- Working place/location : You can work from any of the three district Council Offices where you will have access to the leading software system Liquid Logic which enables you to maintain records effectively whilst improving the experiences and outcomes of individuals and families
- Working from home
- Flexi system: The Council recognises that flexi working hours bring benefits to both employees and the Council. The flexi policy provides arrangements for a flexi system of attendance, to help employees manage their daily hours
You will receive 25 days annual leave per annum rising to 30 days after 5 years continuous Local Government Service.
- Local Government Pension Scheme – A career average pension scheme with employee contributions of between 5.5 per cent and 8.5 per cent and employer contributions currently of 23.8 per cent.
- Ill health and death in service benefits (after 2 years membership)
You will be provided with a free parking space at any of our Council Offices you visit. You can also claim up to 45 pence per mile travelled for business purposes.
24 hour, 7 day a week lifestyle support for when you or your family members need a ‘listening ear’ from qualified advisor on a wide range of personal and work issues.
Your support and development
Supervision
In addition to monthly supervision with your Team Manager, every social worker engages with monthly reflective practice group sessions which take place across the teams and districts, led by Senior Practice Leads.
These roles reflect the principles and ethos of Professor Eileen Munro. Their role focuses on growing and developing Social Work expertise, championing best practice, drawing on research evidence and encouraging a reflective approach to Social Work. Every Newly Qualified Social Worker will be assigned a SPL to support them through ASYE.
As a learning organisation we promote a culture of learning and your line manager will ensure a coordinated approach on research topics across your team to maximise learning opportunities and resources.
These are development days are held bi-yearly across the Service. These are opportunities to promote best practice and provide a forum for collective learning and development to further strengthen practice in key identified areas.
Forums are held three times a year in each district led by the Director of Children’s Services. They provide an opportunity for all Social Workers to share their thoughts on any aspect of the service; to provide feedback on key issues affecting them; and to keep informed of any local and/or national developments regarding Social Work practice.
Your career
We have a Career Progression structure denoting three levels of progression programmes to support your professional development.
- ASYE - Newly Qualified Social Workers are supported and developed through their first year of practice on the Assessed and Support Year in Employment Programme. You will have additional support through reflective Practice, Peer Group Sessions, Protected study time (up to six days), protected case load, tailored learning and development programme for ASYE, shadowing and co- working. An additional increment within the Grade 8 pay structure will be awarded on successful completion of the ASYE programme.
- Grade 8-9 Programme - This is a 12 month programme supporting you through your second year of practice in order to develop your practice as a Grade 9 Social Worker.
- Grade 9-10 Programme – This 12 month programme is research-based. On completion you will be graded as an Experienced Social Worker.
Carer Progression Framework
A career progression framework is in place which also includes:
- Practice Educator Programme
- Aspiring Senior Practice Lead and Aspiring Team Manager programmes
- We are an active member of the teaching parent-ship continuing professional development programme, accessing a wide range of opportunities and specialisms. Including the Child Sexual Abuse Programme.
- We are ambitious in our learning and development programme and take part in numerous initiatives, Safer Together training being one example of this.