Return to Social Work - Childrens

Returning to Social Work - Join Norfolk Institute for Practice Excellence (NIPE) for a supported return

Starting salary £36,124, rising to £38,626 on progression to Level 2 plus a relocation package up to £8,000 for those eligible

Full and part time

Permanent

Are you considering a return to social work? We can offer tailored support to help you re-register and get back into practice.

In Norfolk we’ve invested millions to completely change our operating model and create the professional and emotional support around you that you need to do the job you trained for, to get the best outcomes for children and families, and to achieve a work-life balance that suits you. We’re realistic about the challenges, but we’re passionate about how we can support you to meet them, so you can enjoy the rewards social work has to offer.

There couldn’t be a better time to join Children’s Services at Norfolk County Council. Ofsted inspected our children services in November 2022 and published their report in January 2023. We are rated Good in all areas, following significant improvements, and the report recognised that we have transformed our children’s services.

Key Highlights From The Latest Report

• Personal advisers and social workers have caseloads which ‘enable them to build enduring and effective relationships with their young people and support them into adulthood’.
• Working in Norfolk you will be empowered to be tenacious and creative in using a range of tools and theoretical frameworks to help children through significant and traumatic experiences.
• Relationship-based partnership working is one of our strengths in Norfolk with an innovative system-wide approach to the delivery of services and a diverse range of multi-agency support services focused on building resilience and ensuring that needs are met quickly and at the lowest level.
• Our executive director of children’s services (DCS) Sara Tough is an exemplary leader who champions the needs of children and young people with a strong senior management team who together provide continuity of management and strategic direction.

Our New Operating Model Supports Practitioners, With

• Streamlined paperwork - so you can spend less time filling in forms and writing reports
• Two members of support staff for every social work team to reduce your admin
• Dedicated court work facilitators to support you
• Continuous development of the professionals that you as a case-holding social worker can call in to help you, including domestic abuse specialists, home-based support workers, substance misuse workers
• A Children's Advice and Duty Service (CADS) team to triage cases to the right teams, so you can focus on where you can make the biggest difference
• We're working towards aligning mental health practitioners more closely to our teams.

We are interested in people with a range of social work backgrounds who are keen to get back into practice and we can support your return whenever you are ready.

• If you need to re-register with Social Work England (SWE), we will employ you as a Social Work Assistant to gain the hours of experience you need and will help you to re-register.
• Once re-registered, or if you already have SWE registration, you will have the dedicated support of a Practice Consultant - a senior Social Worker whose specific role is to support you with your learning and development.
• You will receive regular supportive and reflective supervision on both an individual and group supervision basis and will have a protected caseload that will develop as you do, allowing time for you to learn and develop your practice confidence.
• When you are ready, you will progress to a Level 2 Social Worker and receive a significant pay increment.
• Norfolk takes a restorative approach to working with children and families, based on Signs of Safety.

If you are committed to providing children and families with a first-class service and want your return to social work to be well supported, we would love to hear from you!

Please note: You will be required to travel as part of your role, so it is essential you have a current UK driving licence and a vehicle before you start. If you hold a provisional licence but have not yet passed your test you are welcome to apply and will be interviewed if shortlisted. If successful at interview you will be offered a conditional place with a delayed start date to allow you to pass your driving test.

Here are some of the benefits of working at Norfolk County Council:

• A supportive team who cares about your wellbeing and professional development
• We offer flexible working arrangements including condensed four-day week working, nine-day fortnights and other options
• We offer a generous annual leave entitlement - plus the opportunity to purchase up to two weeks of additional annual leave through our salary sacrifice scheme
• We offer maternity, paternity and adoption pay and time off to support you as your family grows.
• We are committed to promoting the health, safety and wellbeing of our social workers.

WHO CARES? WE DO. Join us. We're recruiting social workers now at Norfolk County Council.

For an informal discussion about returning to Social Work please email Ruth Pilch (Team Manager- Norfolk Institute for Practice Excellence) ruth.pilch@norfolk.gov.uk.

Before you apply, we recommend reading the full Job Description and Person Specification to help you demonstrate you meet the criteria.