Social Worker - Children in Care/ LAC

Social Worker – Children in Care/ LAC

£46,133- £57,194 (includes market supplement)
Newham Dockside E16 2QU – Hybrid role
Ongoing Recruitment

Job Description

JOIN US AND HELP BUILD A FAIRER NEWHAM

We’re a vibrant, dynamic, culturally rich London Borough with a young population and limitless potential. We’re a challenging yet rewarding place for social work practice to flourish and we are steadfastly committed to our workforce being representative of the families that we work with. We are taking coordinated, meaningful and focused action to develop an inclusive culture because we believe this is at the heart of enabling diversity in all respects, including diversity of thought. We are taking positive actions to challenge all forms of discrimination and injustice to help make Newham a fairer and more equitable place for children and families to live, learn and thrive.

We’re building a fairer Newham through investment, co-production and by continuously developing our Circles of Support practice model; centring on systemic and restorative practice and a specialist support offer for our practitioners. Ofsted described Newham as having a positive culture of learning and development and we always try to develop talent in-house. We have promoted 37+ internal colleagues so far this year and have put more than 50 practitioners through further education since 2020. We value your development and at Newham career progression is a reality for many of our colleagues.

We understand that social work can be a challenging yet ultimately very rewarding profession that makes demands of you personally and professionally. In Newham we value your wellbeing and we aim to ensure that you have a better work/life balance through a remote working offer when you are not visiting children and families, a modern office space for when you’re on site, a flexible working policy where all requests are considered, and a clinical offer to support you to do your best work.

ABOUT THE JOB

Social Work in Newham is underpinned by a culture of Systemic and Restorative practice with high quality relationships at the heart of our approach. Our Children in Care teams provide statutory services to children who are in our care and their families and support networks.

Social Workers in Children in Care provide Circles of Support around children to ensure their happiness and safety when Council is acting in its role as a corporate parent – working restoratively and using systemic tools and ideas and drive the development of a team culture where good practice can flourish to the benefit of all.

Working as a Children in Care Social Worker at Newham provides a unique development opportunity as the service handles the majority of court work relating to care proceedings. You will be fully supported in this by senior colleagues, an Assistant Team Manager and Team Manager in each team, Practice Development Social Workers, a comprehensive CP Chair service and our Clinical Team of experienced qualified Family Therapists.

We understand that social work can be a challenging yet ultimately very rewarding profession that makes demands of you personally and professionally. In Newham we value your wellbeing and we aim to ensure that you have a better work/life balance through a remote working offer when you are not visiting children and families, a modern office space for when you’re on site, a flexible working policy where all requests are considered, and a clinical offer to support you to do your best work.

ABOUT YOU

We welcome applications from qualified social workers of varying experience levels; though we do expect applicants to have completed their ASYE and have gained some experience within a service focused on supporting children in care (this must be clear on applicants’ CVs). A firm understanding of working with children in care and their families and support networks is essential and will need to be demonstrated at interview. Applicants must have a valid registration with Social Work England and experience of practice within the UK.

We’re looking for social workers who have a genuine interest in a restorative, relationship based practice model drawing on systemic thinking to inform your approach to building effective relationships with children, young people and their families.

We want to meet energetic, empathetic social workers that are keen to reach positive outcomes for children and families whilst taking full advantage of the learning, support and personal development that Newham offers. We’re big on career development and our focus on developing internal talent has made internal progression a realistic possibility for many – we promoted 30 qualified social work professionals in 2023 alone.

WHY WORK WITH US?

We’ve been working hard to make Newham a great place to practise social work.

• A commitment to addressing disproportionality wherever we find it.
• We’re a good local authority focused on reaching excellence.
• We offer genuinely flexible/hybrid working as long as children and families are supported.
• Stability: 100% of our Senior Managers and 71% of Team Managers are permanent.
• Our firmly established practice model, Circles of Support, was recently nominated for the MJ Award for Innovation in Children’s Services and allows systemic, restorative practice to flourish.
• Career progression is possible with Newham; we promoted 30 internal colleagues in 2023 and have already promoted 37 colleagues to date in 2024.
• Social Care Academy – 50+ social workers have studied for systemic higher education with us since 2020. Our Academy offer received significant praise from Ofsted.
• A competitive salary package for social workers of up to £55,574 that rivals capped agency pay (including market supplement).
• Oyster card/parking permit for business use.
• Wellbeing service, leisure and discount benefits
• Travel season ticket loan, cycle scheme, Local Authority pension.

TO APPLY

To apply please submit your CV through our online recruitment portal. Our main-grade social worker require a CV only application – so please ensure your CV has the relevant detail requested in this advert and on the person specification.

Shortlisting decisions will be based on candidates\\\’ relevant experience and on candidates\\\’ suitability for the role in line with the person specification, as listed in their CV. We’re currently looking for social workers who have completed their ASYE year (or have equivalent practice experience).

Closing date 31/10/25

Additional Information

We are committed to creating an inclusive, anti-racist environment for all. When you apply for a job at Newham, your application is considered on its merits regardless of your age, disability, ethnicity, faith, gender identity or sexual orientation. If you share our vision and values, and you bring the experience and skills we need, that’s all that matters to us.

The London Borough of Newham has important responsibilities for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. If you are appointed to a job that involves working with these groups, you may be subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.

Please attach your supporting statement, explaining in no more than two A4 sides why and how you meet the criteria for this role.

We practice anonymised recruitment. Please ensure that you remove all personal information from any documents that you upload.

The personal information we have collected from you will be shared with Cifas who will use it to prevent fraud, other unlawful or dishonest conduct, malpractice, and other seriously improper conduct. If any of these are detected you could be refused certain services or employment. Your personal information will also be used to verify your identity. Further details of how your information will be used by us and Cifas, and your data protection rights, can be found by visiting the CIFAS website.