Senior Social Worker - Family Safeguarding

• Senior_Practitioner_-_Family_Safeguarding_June25
• Candidate_Pack_-_People_Directorate_-_June_2025
• Welcome_payment_for_CSC_FS

Please apply online via the link provided.

Please include a personal statement with your CV specifying why you are applying for this vacancy.

We have an exciting opportunity for a Senior Social Worker in our Family Safeguarding team, on a full-time, permanent basis.

If you are passionate about supporting families in making positive changes and share our commitment to helping to keep more children safely at home with their families, then this could be the role for you.

To learn more about what it is like to work with us, take a look at our team's video.

About you…

You must have a current Social Work England registration and at least three years post qualifying experience within children’s social care that includes child protection, public law outline and care proceedings.

To succeed in this role, you will have an in-depth knowledge of relevant legislation, guidance, policies and thresholds. Strong experience of multi-agency working, working in partnership and co-producing needs led safety plans for children and young people. You will have excellent recording skills, and the ability to produce quality assessments, reports and statements for court.

You will role model and champion good social work practice, be able to evidence relevant continued professional development, will support others in sharing your knowledge and experience and contribute to inclusive culture.

About the team…

Bracknell Forest Council have a nationally recognised practice model – the ‘Family Safeguarding Model’

Working collaboratively with families to keep them together, where it is safe to do so, is at the heart of the embedded Family Safeguarding Model; an approach which is underpinned by Motivational Interviewing (MI). This ensures families, children and young people feel empowered, and enables parents to make the positive changes needed, to achieve improved outcomes for their children and their own wellbeing.

We are graded by Ofsted as “Outstanding”. In June 2022 Ofsted identified during our inspection that

“Children who need help and protection in Bracknell Forest receive a consistently high quality service”

Inspectors concluded that social workers and other frontline practitioners benefit from manageable caseloads, good training and powerful and highly reflective supervision that ensures children are at the heart of decision making.

In November 2023 our Ofsted monitoring visit highlighted:

• Social workers receive regular supervision from their managers.
• Caseloads are manageable and allow workers to have time to spend with children.
• Social workers are very positive about working in Bracknell Forest
• Staff feel valued and that they can progress in their social work career. They feel well supported by managers and leaders.

Everything we do in Children’s Social Care is about improving the life chances of Bracknell’s children, put simply, we change lives for the better.

Because we’re Bracknell Forest…….. a great place to learn and develop your practice.

Key responsibilities…

• To carry out needs led child focused assessments which include outcome focused plans.
• To work alongside other professionals and partner agencies in assessing children in need and undertaking child protection enquiries.
• To be the allocated Social Worker for duty caseload of single assessments under S17 and S47 investigations, with some short-term work.
• To take part in the duty system responding to child protection concerns.
• To develop and maintain accurate case records and comply with the department's policies, procedures and guidelines including data protection and GDPR.
• To participate in regular reflective supervision and be able to set clear goals and intervention strategies.

Our benefits…

• 28 days* increasing to 33 days* after 3 years’ continuous service.
• The opportunity to buy up to 10 additional days* annual leave per year and sell 5 days.
• Flexible working opportunities to support your wellbeing and work-life balance.
• Electric vehicle salary sacrifice scheme for an electric car at a fixed monthly cost (subject to eligibility).
• An inclusive and social working environment with a variety of staff networks.
• Local government pension scheme.
• Life insurance cover (linked to the pension scheme).
• Enhanced maternity, paternity, adoption and fostering leave.
• Recognition of continuous service attained within the NHS and UKHSA when calculating some benefits such as annual leave entitlements, occupational maternity/paternity leave, and more. (Terms and Conditions apply – please refer to candidate pack for more information.)
• Career development through internal and external training opportunities.
• A great office location next to travel links and Bracknell Forest’s thriving town centre.
• Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to support your health and wellbeing.
• Sports and Social Club.
• Staff dental and health plans.
• Discounted leisure centre and gym membership.
• Supermarket discount.

* pro rata for part-time

Our values...

At Bracknell Forest Council our values define who we are and what is important to us. Our core values are inclusive, ambitious, and always learning. These values influence the way we work with each other and the way we serve our residents and engage with our communities. We make our values real by demonstrating them in how we behave every day. If you are excited about joining a diverse team that celebrates learning and strives for excellence, we would love to hear from you.

Reasonable adjustments...

We are committed to ensuring an inclusive recruitment process for all applicants. If you require any reasonable adjustments to support your application or interview, please let us know by contacting recruitment@bracknell-forest.gov.uk. We will work with you to support you throughout the process.

Interview date

Interviews will be held on Monday 28th July 2025.

Interviews will be conducted in person, providing candidates with the chance to personally meet the team and experience our work environment.

We will be reviewing applications regularly and reserve the right to close the advert early if suitable candidates are identified. To avoid disappointment, you are advised to submit your application as soon as possible.

Please note AI is prohibited during the interview, any candidate using AI will be withdrawn from consideration.

Want to ask us a question?

For an informal discussion or to ask any questions about this role, please contact:

Cheryl Perry - Head Of Service - Family Safeguarding

Cheryl.Perry@bracknell-forest.gov.uk

Or:

Helen Gore - Principal Social Worker

Helen.gore@bracknell-forest.gov.uk

At Bracknell Forest we champion equality, diversity and inclusion. At Bracknell Forest Council, we are always learning, ambitious and inclusive. Please see our candidate pack for more details.

Bracknell Forest Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. We expect everyone employed with us to share this commitment. All successful candidates for this role will be subject to a DBS (Disclosure & Barring Service) check as part of our pre-employment checks process.

Candidates should be able to demonstrate experience of working within the current Social Care System and Framework.

Social Work England registration fees can be claimed back from the Council.

We can only accept applications from candidates currently residing in the UK.

Candidates currently residing in the UK who require sponsorship to work are encouraged to assess their eligibility for a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) based on the relevant criteria. Please be aware that sponsorship availability varies and is subject to eligibility requirements and budget limitations. As a result, we cannot guarantee sponsorship for all roles and will evaluate sponsorship requests on a case-by-case basis.

No agencies please.