Wigan Life Centre South
College Avenue
Wigan
WN1 1NJ
Salary: Grade 10, £42,403 - £46,464 per annum.
37 hours per week
Your role:
Wigan Childrens Social Care have an exciting opportunity for an Advanced Practitioner to join one of our fabulous Family Safeguarding teams. The teams work with children and families to help and support them in change. The teams work with Children in Need, Children subject to Child Protection Plans, Children subject to care proceedings and Children who are Looked After under Section 20 on a short-term basis. The teams use a partnership approach to support parents, families and carers experiencing the challenges of domestic abuse, mental health, and substance misuse.
We are looking for an experienced, creative, and innovative Advanced Practitioner to work alongside the Team Manager within the team offering mentoring, coaching, support, and practice expertise to other less experienced team members. You will be key in developing colleagues, fostering a culture of continued learning, encouraging reflection and through leading by example. You will help enable learning circles, group discussions and reflective supervision and have great analytical and decision-making skills. You will also deputise for the Team Manager in their absence.
The Family Safeguarding Teams use a Motivational Interviewing model of practice in their work and employs a multidisciplinary approach. Their aim is to work collaboratively with the right families, at the right time, respecting families’ rights, following guidance and law. They take a whole family approach to child protection to keep more children safely at home with their families.
You will be part of a team where our Team Wigan behaviours are embedded in practice; where you are valued as a member of the workforce and where your views and ideas are listened to and where creativity and innovation is encouraged.
About you:
You will have a relevant social worker qualification and experience. You will have experience of working within a Locality setting and working with children and families whereby children are subject to Child in Need or Child Protection plans along with experience of proceedings work.
Our children and young people have told us that they want their social workers to be kind, thoughtful, responsible and flexible; to prioritise them, spend time with them, and strive to help them be happy and safe. So, this is what we want too!
We are seeking an Advanced Practitioner who is innovative, confident and an energetic practitioner, with a real desire to support families to achieve positive changes. 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, and you will be able to motivate and empower children and families to reach and achieve their own solutions, by being kind and helping them make long-term sustainable family plans.
We will provide Motivational Interview training to enable you to fulfil your role as a Family Safeguarding Social Worker. You will be working collaboratively with families providing the right support at the right time and in the right way for the family.
About us:
Wigan Council has been voted ‘Overall Council of the Year’ at the APSE (Association for Public Service Excellence) Awards and has 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.
What we can offer you:
- Flexible working for a healthier work/life balance - including a blend of working from home/remotely
- Free parking
- Competitive salary
- A friendly work environment with caring managers and colleagues, appreciation of our staff through Staff Awards, career development opportunities, encouragement to do things differently and the opportunity to make your ideas a reality!
- Staff rewards and benefits, including Vivup, discounted gym membership, a generous pension scheme, great annual leave entitlement and continuous service as per the Greater Manchester Continuous Service Commitment.
We want Wigan Council to be a place where we all belong; a place where we feel listened to, valued for our talents and contributions, and celebrated for being the brilliant and unique individuals we are. We are invested in supporting career development and providing a stable workforce. It is an exciting time to join #Team Wigan, with what we can offer.
We want you to start with us and stay with us!
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, or an informal discussion then please contact , Claire Mason, Team Manager on 07876 845 979 or email Claire.mason@wigan.gov.uk
To view the details relating to this position, please click the links below:
Interview date: Week Commencing Monday 10th June 2024
This position is subject to Enhanced Disclosure Procedures plus child barred list check
The employer is committed to safeguarding