Supervising Social Worker - Fostering Support Team

Supervising Social Worker - Fostering Support Team

Bexley's Fostering Service is determined to provide an outstanding service to all children in foster care, recognising the key importance of foster care in transforming children's lives. The Fostering Support Team is looking for a passionate and committed Supervising Social Worker to provide supervision and support to foster carers, working as part of a stable, experienced team that genuinely cares about achieving permanence for children and young people.

The team is based within the Fostering and Adoption Service and works very closely with the Children's Looked After Service. Bexley has an active Signs of Safety Implementation group and supports practitioners to work creatively in order to secure positive outcomes for children and young people. Here in Bexley, the greatest asset is the workforce — if you want excellent support and supervision and care as much as they do about making a difference, this is the service for you. Key responsibilities include:

• Providing supervision and support to foster carers
• Supporting Connected Carers who have looked after children in their care
• Delivering training and group supervision to foster carers
• Co-ordinating annual reviews and completing relevant paperwork
• Attending Fostering Panel and supporting foster carers at panel

Bexley offers a comprehensive range of training and professional development opportunities, including access to research, group and e-learning and coaching. Staff well-being is taken seriously, with weekly well-being drop-in sessions, an Employee Assistance Programme, and a corporate offer of emotional and physical well-being sessions.

About you

Bexley is always looking for practitioners who want to practise confidently as part of a team and make a real difference for children, young people, and families. We invest in our staff so they can invest in the children, young people, and families we support — whatever stage of their career they are at.

The ideal candidate will:

• Be a qualified Social Worker registered with Social Work England
• Have experience of working within a fostering service or with looked after children
• Have knowledge of relevant legislation, including the Fostering Services Regulations and the National Minimum Standards
• Be able to provide high-quality supervision and support to foster carers
• Have experience of chairing or contributing to professionals' meetings and statutory reviews
• Demonstrate a commitment to working in partnership with children, young people, foster carers, and other professionals
• Share Bexley's commitment to listening to children's and young people's views and wishes

As a disability confident employer, Bexley welcomes applications from people with all disabilities, including hidden disabilities and mental health conditions, and will interview any disabled applicant who meets the minimum criteria. This authority is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people, and vulnerable adults, and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Appointment to this post is subject to an Enhanced Disclosure obtained through the Disclosure and Barring Service.

About Bexley

Bexley is well connected, there are good transport links to central London, the Kent countryside and the Coast! It is the best of both worlds. Our residents and workers can benefit from the new high-speed Elizabeth Line which goes from Abbey Wood, here in Bexley and all the way to Reading, Southeast England.

We are a diverse and growing borough. By 2030 our population will be over 260,000 and almost 300,000 by 2050. Almost 25% of our population is Black and Asian Multi-Ethnic. Bexley is one of London’s greenest boroughs and has recently been awarded Public Sector Campaign of the year by Sustainable City’s prestigious annual awards.

Our Approach to Children’s Social Carein Bexley

We believe that everyone in Bexley Children’s Social Care should have the opportunity to grow and develop, in every role and at every stage of their career and offer a wide variety of social work roles, both for qualified and unqualified practitioners. Bexley Children’s Social Care offers the opportunity to develop skills and knowledge in different areas of Children’s Services: we offer a comprehensive range of professional development opportunities and are committed to ensuring that Bexley is a welcoming and enjoyable place to work.

The children and families we work with, are always kept at the centre of our practice. We believe:

children should stay with their families whenever it’s in their best interests and safeto do so

where it’s not, we mustact quicklythrough the courts to help children find a safe space

success depends onpositive, respectful relationshipswith families and with each other

working with families is unpredictable, so we have tocreate a supportive environmentfor our teams

the most effective practice is based on‘showing your working out’– so that even when things don’t go to plan, the thinking behind decisions is clear and defensible

Working in social care in Bexley is endlessly rewarding. As well as helping some of the most vulnerable people in our borough, we invest in looking after you and your career.

We offer excellent benefits, from competitive salaries and generous leave to flexible working and a wealth of health and wellness programmes.

Our offer:

flexible working - including opportunities for hybrid working, job sharing, compressed hours, and career breaks

training and professional development opportunities including access to research, group and e-learning, coaching and group supervision for colleagues in all roles and at every stage of their career

career progression pathways, within a nurturing environment, which allows social work to flourish. From opportunities to undertake social work qualification; our dedicated ASYE Academy; to our Leadership Academy offering bespoke development for our aspiring and existing leaders. There are also opportunities for practitioners to be involved in university research & academic delivery with our partner universities and students.

family leave - includes maternity, paternity, adoption and parental leave

mental health and physical wellbeing - including access to our Employee Assistance Programme, help to quit smoking, access to private healthcare, free eye tests and discounted leisure offers

financial wellbeing - excellent pension scheme, charitable giving options

generous annual leave - 25 to 33 days, with the option to purchase extra leave plus an extra bank holiday at Christmas

competitive pay - performance assessments with the opportunity for salary increments and transparent salary scales

transport offers - cycle to work scheme, carpooling, subsidised parking and interest-free season ticket loans

recognition - Thank you messaging to celebrate staff success and sharing of compliments received

professional and personal development - training and workshops to help you thrive and a discount on most Learning and Enterprise College Bexley courses

staff support networks - our networks support and encourage networking between staff with various events throughout the year

employee volunteering - get out of the office and help a local project blossom

MyChoice benefit scheme - your pick of perks from vouchers to car leasing

local authority discount scheme - attraction and theme park discounts and local offers in partnership with KAARP.

modern, well-equipped, energising environment that supports team working and collaboration across the service and with partners

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