How do we sum up Barnsley Council?
We have an Ofsted rated ‘Good’ Children's Services and a double award-winning, high-performing council with a growing economy, a thriving town centre and some truly impressive outcomes in our communities. We have been awarded Council of the Year for 2023 by the Local Government Chronicle (LGC) and The Municipal Journal (MJ). Our excellent Children's Services has been a key part of our win; we’re so proud of what we’ve achieved not just for the council but for our partners and Barnsley.
We’re impressed. Are you? It’s the perfect time to join our excellent team.
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About the Post:
Working Arrangements: To be agreed in line with rota requirements, Agile – Minimum 3 days office based (pro rata for part time)
Hours per week: 3 x 37, 3 x 18.5
Contract type: Permanent
We are an ambitious Local Authority who are committed to continued improvement activity in driving strength based, relational and collaborative practice in our work with children, young people, and their family networks. We want to make sure that we make a positive difference to the lives of children and young people.
Creativity, ambition and a focus on people. That’s what matters at Barnsley Council. Our award-winning council is on an exciting journey of change. It’s all about putting local people at the heart of everything, listening to and doing good for our communities. We’re now more innovative, more efficient and provide better value for money. The changes are clear to see - from new businesses and jobs, to improving school results and to museums being recognised for their community engagement.
Your role in our journey
It is an exciting time join Barnsley Childrens Social Care. We have recently restructured our out of hours service from being a generic response and have established a separate Children and Families Emergency Duty Team. The team operate outside of normal office hours covering all urgent Social Work needs for Children and families in Barnsley over evenings, weekends, and bank holidays.
The team are operational from 16:30 pm to 8.30am Monday, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays and from 4.30pm on Friday through to Monday at 8.30am. EDT advanced practitioners work until 01:00am each evening and then the service reverts to one member of the team being on call between 01:00-08:30am.
We are looking to recruit experienced, qualified Social Work Practitioners with evidence of continued professional development, at least five years Childrens Social Work experience and can demonstrate enhanced theoretical, legislative and research knowledge.
You will have the confidence and skills to manage complex and high-risk children’s safeguarding situations that come to the attention of the Emergency Duty Team. You must feel comfortable deciding whether matters considered by the service, require a safeguarding response, and therefore, you will need a good understanding of safeguarding procedures and be experienced in holding strategy discussions and progressing S47 investigations.
You will have responsibility for managing resources out of hours and will assist in overseeing, providing advice and guidance and challenge to colleagues, both from within children’s social care and those working in partner agencies who share our safeguarding responsibilities to children, young people and families across Barnsley. You should be adept at working closely with other agencies and take a lead role in decision making where appropriate.
We require social workers who are able to work autonomously, manage competing demands, and work under pressure without the on-site support of their line manager.
Shape a better future with us
Join our double award-winning council of the year 2023 on our journey to a brighter future. By working together, with each other and with our communities, we can take pride in improving lives. Let’s make a better Barnsley for everyone.
A lot to look forward to
Here at Barnsley, we live and work by four important values: honesty, teamwork, excellent service, and taking pride in what we do. As part of our team, you can be sure we’ll do all we can to support you in being truly excellent. Our dedicated Practice Development Hub will support you to prioritise learning and enabling you to achieve your potential. We’ve created a development process that lets you grow in the way that suits you - whether that’s training to be a leader or learning flexibly online. If you feel that you have the skills, knowledge and experience which will help us to achieve positive outcomes for our children, young people and families in Barnsley then we would like to hear from you.
If you would like to know more, please contact our Practice Development Hub on practicedevelopmentteam@barnsley.gov.uk