Social Worker Children with Disability

Priority Candidates will be considered in the first instance

Wigan Life Centre South

College Avenue

Wigan

WN1 1NJ

Salary: Grade 9, £37,336 - £42,403 per annum.

37 hours per week

Permanent

Why would you want to work in the Children’s with Disabilities team?

Here at Wigan Council, we believe our workforce is our greatest asset and we will ensure you have the right support and a positive working environment to deliver outstanding support to children, young people and families.  It’s our view that children and families benefit from a strong consistent professional relationships and workforce.  Our key values and culture along with the support you will receive have enabled us to have a stable and supportive workforce.

The Children with Disabilities Advanced Practitioner in the team said:

“I have been a Social Worker in Wigan for over two years and am now the Advanced Practitioner on the Children with Disabilities team. I can truly say it is one of the best places to work. I have the most amazing team around me that have given me the confidence and support to be creative within my practice. My manager is approachable, warm, and supportive, they have given me opportunities to develop my practice and skills through training and supervision. I would highly recommend working for Wigan.” 

The feedback from families who the Children with Disabilities team have worked alongside and have supported have said:

“Charlotte has helped my children immensely and helped me too. We as a family have been listened to, Charlotte has taken on-board everything we have asked and said. Charlotte has gone above and beyond and we have felt supported every second of the way. “

“Ruth, you are just a genuinely lovely lady and we as a family are so happy you have come along to experience our son’s journey with us. I mean all the words from our hearts as a family these words are genuine you really are a great person and I'm looking forward to what the future brings in regards to supporting our son with you as our Social Worker.”

“I just wanted you to know what a massive help our Social Worker is to our family.  I was a bit nervous about having a Social Worker & the implications, but she has ended all those fears. She regularly takes the weight off our shoulders by contacting agencies, and she get things done.”

What will your role as a Social Worker on this team will look like?

You will be a passionate and motivated Social Worker who appreciates the importance of supporting some of our most vulnerable children and their families. You will manage a caseload of children with disabilities who are in need in of support, help, protection or who are cared for by the Local Authority. 

You will support children who are being worked with under Child in need, Child protection and those within pre proceedings or within the Court arena. Additionally, you will also complete Care Package Reviews for children who access Direct Payments and other supports, but do not have an allocated Social Worker.

You will be committed to learning, developing and delivering consistently good social work practice. Your highly developed interpersonal and caring skills will help you to meet the needs of children, young people and their families.

In Children’s Social Care, we want to support all children in Wigan to be happy, healthy and safe; to feel listened to and to have the maximum opportunities to be ambitious. We recognise that social workers have one of the most challenging but rewarding roles. We value our social workers; the fantastic work they do and the resilience they show by overcoming challenges every day.

We believe that looking out for our young people and supporting families is a key priority for the future. Our children and young people have told us how important it is for them to feel safe, to have access to things that interest them and be proud of their local area. We want our young people to thrive, be proud to call the borough of Wigan home and see it as a safe and vibrant place to grow up in. We want them to be happy and to continue to feel connected with the borough as they grow into adults, with opportunities to live, work and raise their own families here. We want you to help us to achieve our goals.

What we need from you:

•           A caring and friendly nature and you put children, young people and their families at the heart of all you do

•           Social work qualification with up-to-date registration with Social Work England

·        At least 2 year post qualifying experience

•           Significant knowledge and fundamental understanding of research, innovation and good practice

•           In depth knowledge of statutory and legislative frameworks which underpin effective care planning

•           Experience of a broad spectrum of services within the field of social work with children and families either through social work experience or through training

•           The ability to work as part of a team and alongside colleagues from other areas of Children’s services

•           Good time management skills with the ability to work to deadlines and reorganise the workload to meet conflicting demands

What we can offer you:

• Flexible working – including a blend of working from home/remotely and utilising our re-designed, shared office space.
• A generous pension scheme.
• To work in a dedicated team of social work practitioners with manageable caseloads.
• Fantastic career development opportunities you can access through our ‘one stop shop’ supported by regular supervision with your manager and reflective supervision with peers.
• Regular social work forums to share your views with the ability to get involved in service development to improve our support to children and families, being creative and doing things differently.
• New challenges and experiences.
• A culture where everyone is treated with respect and ensure our behaviours of Be Positive, Be Accountable, Be Courageous and Be Kind are embedded in everything we do.
• Continuous service across other GM Authorities and partner organisations.
• Free parking.

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About us:

Wigan Council has been voted ‘Overall Council of the Year’ at the APSE (Association for Public Service Excellence) Awards and have recently published The Deal 2030, our ambitious plan for our borough. We are signed up to the Greater Manchester Continuous Service Commitment ensuring that your service will be continuous or 'unbroken' between the supporting organisations.

Here at Wigan, we are proud to support flexible working patterns, when the service can accommodate this. We also take a blended approach to where we work, depending on the work we do. This may include working from home (My Place), the office (Our Place) or the community (Your Place). We like to thank our employees for their hard work and commitment by giving them the opportunity to access a range of exclusive rewards and benefits click here to find out more about working for #TeamWigan.

Wigan Council prides itself on equality, inclusion and promoting diversity within the borough and aims to recruit a workforce that reflects our diverse communities. We invest in training and developing our staff, in a positive learning environment, and aim to be a consciously inclusive employer. We welcome applications from everybody in the community and would particularly encourage applicants from our underrepresented groups to apply. At Wigan, it is really important to us that applicants demonstrate our Team Wigan behaviours, and we do all we can to make sure that everyone feels like they belong. We have guidance in place to ensure that all applicants are treated fairly and consistently at every stage of the recruitment process.

To be appointable in this role you must be able to prove you have the right to work in the UK. If you are unsure, please visit the below link to check you qualify to apply. Please note, at present we are not a licenced sponsor. Prove your right to work to an employer: Overview - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

For further information, please contact Claire Cashmore on c.cashmore@wigan.gov.uk or Ellie Wilson on E.Wilson3@wigan.gov.uk

To view the details relating to this position, please click the links below:

Job Specification

DBS Applicant Information

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Interview date: 17^th May 2024

This position is subject to Enhanced Disclosure Procedures plus child barred list check.

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