Children's Social Work
Making a real difference
There has never been a greater focus on Children’s Services in Oldham than right now, making it an exciting place to take the next step in your career.
We put the needs of children and young people in Oldham at the heart of everything we do and that takes amazing professionals who share our determination to make a real difference to their lives.
If you come to work for us you can expect:
One of the most effective inductions in the industry
Competitive rates of pay and reward.
A commitment to ensuring you have access to the best support, development and training opportunities to continually improve your practice and progression.
Access to Reflective Supervision and relationship–based therapeutic group supervision.
Clearly defined Practice Standards and Manager’s Standards.
Effective and supportive line management
Manageable caseloads
The right technology to do the job.
If you’re thinking of applying for a job in children's social work, read the following guide to the extensive support package we offer.
A spotlight on Children's Social Care
"As a social worker, you will be part of an inspirational and professional team that is working and supporting people facing issues and adversity on a daily basis. Social work not only allows you to support others, but, if you let it, it will take you on your own journey and one day you will inspire others. At Oldham you’ll receive support from colleagues and senior managers so you can do your best, meaning families get the support they need."
Stephanie Dixon, Head of the council’s social work academy and the council’s principal social worker
Our staff feel supported
“I joined the Oldham family for a permanent position because I felt that Oldham held all the values that are close to my own heart. It goes without saying that we follow the values of social work practice and advocating for children and families, but what I liked about Oldham was the support, family vibe I got from my own team as well as others and the value in staff welfare.”
Kelly, former ASYE Social Worker
Induction
We understand the importance of a thorough induction. All our new social workers are warmly welcomed and provided with a structured and carefully planned introduction to the job. The process will take place over 10 weeks and includes an intensive look at Oldham’s practice standards, time to build relationships and a look at what support you might need as you adapt to the role.
Learning, Development and Progression
Learning and development is also important to us and, working in partnership with local universities, we provide a range of accredited professional development support.
Our experienced workers are supported to develop and take on new responsibilities and be accountable for the practice of others and mentoring newly qualified social workers.
For those who are newly qualified, we provide intensive support and guidance with Practice Learning Mentors, working with the Principal Social Worker, helping to guide you through your first year.
We want your career in Oldham to be a lasting one so we will support you in your career and skills development – as an active partner with the local universities we engage in programme development for Best Interest Assessor and Approved Mental Health Professional. We have also supported consolidation and master’s programmes identified via the appraisal process.Supervision
We understand that regular, planned and competent supervision is a right and a requirement for all of our social work team.
We believe Critically Reflective Skills (CRS) is an excellent way of ensuring continued professional development in line with our standards, Social Work England expectations and the overall regulation of professional practice. To ensure this remains a key part of our work at all times we’ve invested in CRS training for all managers and senior practitioners to ensure they have the skills they need.
This, in turn, helps our frontline social care staff to understand why it is important to review their own work and gives all our team an opportunity to enhance their skills and develop better ways of working.
Practice Standards
Our ambition is not just to be the best borough for adults with health and social care needs but to be the best borough for the staff and services that work with them.
As a result, we’ve produced a comprehensive set of practice standards.
Adherence to those standards will play a vital role in ensuring staff are working to high standards and to drive up the quality. The practice standards incorporate key guidance and expectations for staff and managers in line with legislation, policy and procedures.Caseloads
We know that having a manageable caseload is one of the top priorities for team members. Newly qualified social workers and ASYE’s will have protected caseloads and additional support with the most complex cases. More experienced staff have larger but manageable caseloads to ensure they also have time to also focus on their professional development.
Social Worker Forum
Our Principal Social Workers and senior practitioners have created a Social Worker Forum at which team members meet up to raise issues that impact on how we deliver services.
The issues being raised are then raised with senior management to help drive improvements
Effective Management
Managers are encouraged to take up a range of development opportunities and put that learning into practice and share their knowledge to improve our teams.
Our rota system, meanwhile, is organised so that learning and development doesn’t take managers away from their teams for too long and someone is always on hand to support junior staff.
Technology
As with any job, it’s hard to perform at a high level without the right tools.
We’ll ensure you have modern, up-to-date mobile working solutions along with the appropriate software and training to ensure technology is a help and not a hinderance.
