West Berkshire Council: Keeping children at the centre 

Our Children and Family Services’ social care workforce is expanding. 

We have an exciting opportunuty for Social Workers to join our East and West Family Safeguarding Teams.

Who we are:

You will be joining an established safeguarding locality team, working in collaboration with other Social Workers and Family Support Workers, as well as specilialist workers who support adults around Domestic Abuse, Substance Misuse and Mental Health, to offer group-based interventions. 

We use the Family Safeguarding Model to provide the support families need to make sustained change, with different professionals working as one team, to keep more children safely at home with their families.  We have a strong emphasis on relationship-based practice and aim to work with children, young people and their parents and carers in a way which recognises and builds on their strengths and keeps families together. 

Our Family Safeguarding Service consists of two locality teams, one based in Calcot and the other in Newbury.  We are committed to getting it right for our children and young people.  We have great staff doing amazing work; we believe in investing in people to develop their skills and knowledge to achieve their full potential.

The benefits for you:

West Berkshire sits on the crossroads of two key roads; the M4 and the A34. These offer quick access across southern England, with London, Reading, Southampton, Portsmouth, Bristol, Oxford and Swindon all within an hour's drive. It is a diverse area incorporating the best features of town and attractive countryside living. Our staff are our greatest asset; you will have access to excellent training opportunities and the ability to develop your professional skills and interests. 

West Berkshire Council has developed a unique package of benefits to support social workers and managers:  We recognise that working in a frontline team is demanding and to be effective, teams need manageable caseloads, good supervision and a real break. You will receive regular monthly personal supervision as well as being part of a multi-disciplinary team holding monthly Group Case Supervision. 

At the conclusion of three years in post you will receive an additional £15 000 and 8 weeks leave.  You can add your existing leave to take up to three months off for your sabbatical.  

West Berkshire Council offer excellent employment benefits such as flexible working, access to a wide range of relevant training, Local Government Pension Scheme, family friendly policies, a range of local discounts and free car parking and Essential Car User allowance. You will also be entitled to a generous annual leave entitlement of 28 days per annum rising to a maximum of 33 days. 

Your experience:

You will have successfully completed your ASYE and will be a skilled, experienced and reflective social worker.  You will have a strong understanding of the application of social work theory, methods and interventions, as well as evidence-based assessment skills. You will have ethical qualities and will demonstrate commitment to influence, support and inspire anti-oppressive and creative practice. 

To find out more about the Family Safeguarding Model of working contact Steph Atalla (Service Manager) on 01635 519785. 

For more information on working for West Berkshire Council's Children and Family Services  a 'Good' authority, visit www.westberks.gov.uk/socialwork 

Equal Opportunities

The Council supports Equal Opportunity of employment, and positively encourages applications from people who fall within any of the nine protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010.