Newly Qualified Social Worker - Childrens Services - WMF1316e

Come and start your social work career at an Ofsted rated 'good' Children and Families Service. We are recruiting newly qualified social workers looking to take their first steps into a career in social work. Our teams are area based, meaning you work within local communities so will be able to build links with families and partner agencies. It is really important to us that Westmorland and Furness is a great place to be a child and grow up; a place of opportunity where young people are able to live happy and productive lives and a place where young people will want to live and work in the future. We firmly believe that all children in Westmorland and Furness deserve the best start in life, and we're looking for the right people to help make that happen. The role: Current ASYE opportunities are available in our Support and Protect and Cared For children's teams across the council. Support and Protect: working with children and families on a short- longer term basis, completing assessments and working across the thresholds of Child in Need and Child Protection. Also, for some children where concerns escalate, working in the legal framework of pre-proceedings or within the court arena. Cared for: supporting children and young people who are cared for by the local authority on a longer-term basis, helping them to achieve their ambitions. About Westmorland and Furness: Westmorland and Furness Council was officially formed in April 2023, which means this is an extremely exciting time to join us, we have made great progress in our journey to deliver innovative and impactful services. In July 2024, our Children and Families Service received a rating of "Good" overall following their first routine Ofsted inspection since replacing the former Cumbria County Council. Despite the positive inspection result, we are determined to continue our improvement journey in children's services and achieve our ambitions and objectives for every child in Westmorland and Furness. At Westmorland and Furness, we recognise that a permanent and stable workforce is an essential part of improving outcomes for children and young people. So, we make it our priority to ensure all our workers have the guidance, support, culture, environment, and tools to be able to do this work well. We are proud of the culture that we have created, our staff tell us they enjoy working for the organisation, it is important for us that staff continue to feel valued and want to work for us. Our workforce are highly skilled, compassionate and committed to making a difference to our children and their families. At Westmorland and Furness, we are committed to providing a robust package of support to guide you through the initial stages of your social work career, to develop your confidence, skills and expertise at a pace that is right for you. As part of our Childrens Social Work Academy, you will receive: One to one reflective supervision each week for the first six weeks by your practice educator, fortnightly for the next 6 months and then monthly until the completion of your ASYE. Alongside this you will receive monthly personal and professional supervision from your team manager. A reduced caseload that will gradually increase as your experience does, at a pace that is right for you. Shadowing opportunities in other teams to understand how the service works together for our children and families. Extended training opportunities by our dedicated Practice Improvement Lead, on top of our already robust training programme for social workers. Monthly Group Supervision with the ASYE cohort. Time to learn; 2 days each month of protected time for you to study, research, or access any work experience activities that will support you in your ASYE year.

• Free parking
• Genuine flexible working: family-friendly patterns such as flexible start/finish times and state of the art technology support, so you can spend some time working from home.
• Encouragement to take your TOIL back - we mean it!
• Our annual leave allowance isn't bad either… 25 days per year, rising to 30 after four years' service, alongside your yearly bank holiday leave, there should be plenty of time for rest and recuperation
• Manageable and Protected caseloads; We pride ourselves on giving our social workers the time and space they need to create meaningful relationships with families to get the best outcomes for children and young people we are working alongside.
• Supervision; Our strengthened supervision policy supports you to build a trusting relationship with your team manager.
• We have a permanent and stable management team. You will have easy and regular access to the Senior Leadership Team.
• We pay your Social Work England registration fee
• Career development; get your ASYE year under your belt and automatically move to the next pay grade.
• The Local Government Pension Scheme provides you with a secure future income, independent of share prices and stock market fluctuations. The council pays, on average, twice as much into your pension as you do and regular cost of living increases
• Child Care vouchers, Cycle to work scheme, free eye tests, car loans, car lease and so much more.
There to give you a helping hand - Specialist Inhouse Support We have some unique teams that can offer specialist support to you in your role or create a great range of career paths and opportunities. The Complex Safeguarding team; a team of child exploitation practitioners who support the child and young people on a one to one basis in our area who are at risk of exploitation and those children and young people who frequently go missing. Family Resilience Team; a team of family resilience practitioners providing intensive support day, evening and weekend wrap around to families we are working with who may be experiencing really difficult times. Family and Assessment Team; a team of child and family workers who ensure family time is supported for those children unable to live with their parents, targeted direct work is completed with parents as well as undertaking PAMS assessments. Emotional Health and Wellbeing Team; delivering therapeutic life story work to the children and young people who require it and supporting social workers in their work with children who have experienced trauma.