Social Worker - Children with Disabilities Team

Job Information

Achieving for Children is a Community Interest Company that has a public sector ethos, combined with the freedom to innovate enabling us to do things differently. As a not-for-profit social enterprise owned by three local authorities (Windsor & Maidenhead, Kingston and Richmond), we offer the freedoms of a social enterprise with the employment benefits of local government. To find out more about us

Social Worker - Children with Disabilities Team

We are offering a £3000 annual market supplement for this role!

We are currently recruiting for Social Workers within our Disabled Children's Team. As a Social Worker you will support children and young people with significant and profound, permanent disabilities. This is a specialist service who work alongside Child in Need, Child Protection and Children Looked After pathways.

Listen to one of our Social Workers talk about their experience at Achieving for Children...

Why work for the Children with Disabilities Team?

Free parking at your main place of work or a 5 minute walk from the nearest train station

Other office locations available in Richmond and Kingston if needed

We have a Family Support Team who we work closely with to support with work being undertaken with children and families

Access to Social Care Occupational Therapists and Emotional Health service to work with you as and when needed to support children

Regular reflective sessions as a service where scenarios can be brought and discussed using the Signs of Safety framework

About the role

As a Social Worker in the Children with Disabilities Team your main duties will include:

Assessing the needs of children and young people who have disabilities and understanding whether they require specialist intervention from the team or whether they are able to access mainstream activities

Assessing the needs of children with severe and profound disabilities in terms of short breaks support for them and their families

Care planning; Child in Need, Child Protection and Children Looked After, to ensure children and young people are having their needs met by all who care for and work with them

Undertaking visits to children and young people at home, school and within the community. These visits will include elements of direct working with the child or young person using suitable methods that they are able to communicate

Multi agency working with health, education and other colleagues to ensure that the needs of children and young people are being met.

For further information about this role, please contact Mark Hill by email for an informal discussion.

About you

The successful candidates will:

Hold a Social Work qualification and have undertaken your Assessed and Supported Year in Employment (ASYE)

Social Work England registration

Relevant experience to the role; ideally some experience in working directly in some capacity with children and young people with significant disabilities but if not then experience in safeguarding would be useful

Be happy to work across two London Boroughs; the team are based in Chessington however cover the entirety of Richmond and Kingston boroughs

Able to work in the office environment – we do offer a hybrid model of working

Be a team player and actively participate in the team duty system, be supportive of colleagues and other professionals and have a positive attitude towards the work you are undertaking

About our benefits

We are focused on creating a positive supportive environment, where you will have access to a really wide range of resources, as well as a competitive salary and all the perks to enable hybrid working. In AfC you will also have access to:

29 days annual leave, increasing to 33 days after 2 years and 35 days after 4 years with an additional day off in your birthday month(Or for term term workers, your leave entitlement consists of the non-working periods in your contract.)

Tailored induction sessions commencing on the date you start working for AfC

Local Government salary and pension scheme (LGPS or Teachers Pension)

Flexible working options - helping to keep a good work life balance

A comprehensive Employee Assistance Programme

A range of staff benefits and discounts

An excellent learning and development offer to support your career pathway

To find out about all of the breadth of benefits of working for Achieving for Children . For our social work offer .

Important Information

Start dates: Achieving for Children have meaning successful candidates join on a set date in each month. Candidates are advised to prepare for this should a job offer be accepted to ensure eligible continuous service is not affected.

Right to work: The UK has introduced a new points-based immigration system affecting EU and Non-EU workers and sponsorship requirements. We advise checking the for right to work guidance.

Equality: We particularly welcome applications from sections of the community who are currently underrepresented within our teams. Achieving for Children are committed to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible for everyone. We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and developing a culture that values differences, recognising that employees from a variety of backgrounds bring important and positive contributions and can improve the way we deliver services. We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer.

Safeguarding: We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. We expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. This post is exempted under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and as such appointment to this post will be conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory response to a check of police records via Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).

For more information about AfC:  Drop in and meet Regina on the first Wednesday of every month at Civic Centre, Twickenham.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received. Therefore, it is strongly advised that you complete and return your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.