Advanced Practitioner

We have an exciting opportunity to join our Practice Excellence Team as an Advanced Practitioner. This role is a key part of our offer to support and develop the practice of colleagues working within Targeted Family Help. You be working within a team including the Principal Social Worker, Learning and Improvement Managers and other Advanced Practitioners. Leicestershire values creating an environment where good practice can flourish and a vital part of that is having a responsive and supportive team such as Practice Excellence to support practitioners and managers across the service in their everyday practice. Some of the key activities as part of your role:

• Providing 1:1 support to practitioners across teams in targeted family help and family help - this could include reflective discussions, helping to develop safety plans, supporting on challenging visits or supporting in chairing network meetings.
• Supporting PODs using the group supervision process to reflect and explore ways of working with children and families promoting an environment of curiosity alongside providing other learning opportunities.
• Supporting the wellbeing and retention of a skilled and dedicated workforce.
• To take part in the delivery and organisation of our Signs of Safety training offer - this includes the 2 day core training, and also half-day workshops.
• To take part in the delivery and organisation of our trauma informed practice training offer - including the 1 day foundation training and then specific workshops.
• To take part in other key activities such as annual conferences, virtual practice forum events, recruitment activity and quality assurance activity.
This role would be focused on providing support to Targeted Family Help and Family Help. A DBS enhanced check for a regulated activity is required for this post.,
• We have a team dedicated to supporting practice excellence who work alongside practitioners offering monthly training and learning, coaching and mentoring to build practitioner confidence, 1:1 or group reflective case discussions, and other support to staff and teams that can be requested.
• We have a Critical Incident Response service for staff which provides independent therapeutic support within 48 hours if you experience a significant traumatic experience within work.
• We have a well-respected Wellbeing Service who provide specific support to staff when needed, but also offers events throughout the year.
We are currently operating a hybrid model of working, which includes office working and working from home. You will be provided with equipment including a laptop and smart phone to enable you to complete your role. We utilise smarter and flexible working policies to support staff to fulfil their roles within flexible circumstances. For more about working in Leicestershire go to: https://www.leicestershire.gov.uk/children-social-worker For further information about our services areas: https://www.leicestershire.gov.uk/education-and-children/social-care-and-supporting-families By the Way A Few More Benefits of working In Leicestershire….
• Well regarded employee counselling services
• Free car parking
• Cycle to work scheme
• Paid SW registration
• Lease car scheme
• Option to purchase of additional leave
• Discounts at high-street stores and supermarket shopping
• Special offers on leisure activities and gym memberships
You must also have an understanding of, and commitment to, equality, diversity and inclusion. In addition, we also expect you to share our commitment to our values and will ask you to evidence when you have demonstrated them as part of the selection process. Reasonable adjustments will be considered for applicants with a disability. Interested in Flexible Working? We are keen to support employees to balance their working life with other commitments. Therefore, wherever possible, we will consider working arrangements that suit an individual's personal circumstances whilst still meeting the needs of the Council. If you would like to discuss the possible flexible working options that might be applicable to this role, please contact the person named below. This may include requests for term-time working, part-time hours, compressed hours, flexible start and finish times, home/remote working, etc.


• Hold a level 4 qualification or above in a relevant subject - eg. NVQ4 childcare, youth justice, social work qualification, teaching qualification or other relevant qualification; or significant and demonstrable and relevant knowledge and experience as described below including significant experience of managing and developing staff within children and family services in a multi-agency environment.
• You will have a high level of experience working with children and families within early help services and/or children's social care, with substantial breadth of practice and depth of experience across a range of areas.
• Demonstrable skilled application of knowledge and understanding of the Signs of Safety methodology with being able to describe how practical application of the tools and disciplines were used to affect change.
• Demonstrable knowledge of a trauma informed approach and what this means for working with children and families and what this means for the workforce.
• Evidence of coaching/mentoring and supporting workers to develop their practice and confidence and experience of training others.
• Experience of challenging inadequate practice to support improvement.
• Extensive knowledge of key areas of practice including whole family working in targeted early help, safeguarding children and managing risk.
As an organisation, we are committed to a strong and skilled workforce providing high quality services to the children and families of Leicestershire following our relationship-based Signs of Safety practice approach. If you are interested in a post with us read on………, Disability Confident About Disability Confident A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to Disability Confident.

Our recent Ofsted inspection praised Leicestershire's work to build "strong and long-lasting relationships" with children and families which lead to many families achieving "positive changes" in their lives. They highlighted an "ambitious and child-focused senior leadership that has successfully created a culture where the experiences and progress of children at the heart of social work practice". You can read more about our Ofsted Outstanding rating here At Leicestershire County Council we are committed to doing our very best for vulnerable children and families; working to make a positive impact on their lives so they can achieve their potential and flourish. We are proud of our Achieving Excellence Plan through Purposeful Practice which sets out our key values, behaviours and ambitions. We have embedded the Signs of Safety approach throughout our services and this approach mirrors our values of Aspiration, Being Curious and Collaboration. We are focused on working with families and the networks of family, friends and professionals around children, to work in collaboration to achieve shared goals. As Children and Family department we are committed to our vision of becoming a trauma informed responsive department where we believe we are "stronger together" our culture is one of partnership where we look for solutions and recognise the potential impact of trauma on the children and families we work with and on our staff . We will strive to create a safe, compassionate, healing environment demonstrated through relationships based on trust, respect, hope and empathy. We will achieve this through a spirit of curiosity, by nurturing connections through relationships, making a deliberate effort to know and understand people, and by providing hope for growth and recovery. We are committed to supporting and empowering our staff to be the best workers that they can be. We will give you the support ad resources that you need to work in collaboration with children and families. We are focused on being an inclusive department where a culture to celebrate equality, diversity and inclusion is imbedded and discrimination challenged at every level together as a department and as Council. We warmly welcome applicants from black, minority, ethnic (BME) communities, disabled people and lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) communities, as they are currently under represented within our workforce - this diversity is vital to our journey and is fundamental to our values and enriches the service we offer our Children and Families. We want all our staff to be inspired to go the extra mile. We are doing our best to create the sort of culture where practice excellence can flourish. We want to learn from what works, as much, if not more, than from when things go badly - we are ambitious to create a true 'learning organisation. So… Every year we run three annual conferences for staff to come together and reflect and learn.
• Every month each team sets aside time for team learning.
• You will receive consistent, regular and reflective supervision
• You will receive group supervision support
• Twice a year our senior leaders take a week out spending time with social workers observing practice and talking to young people and parents and carers about their experience of services
• All Social Work England registered workers have three extra Continuous Professional Development days over the year.
• Our training offer is refreshed each year and is highly valued by our staff
• We provide course and training to support workforce career progression including Practice Educator Awards, Aspiring Managers Program, and Social Work Apprenticeship Program.