At Swindon Borough Council, we want our town to be the best it can be. Our ambitious vision is supported by realistic transformation programmes, with the people of Swindon at their heart. Because that’s who we’re doing it for – the communities and businesses that make our town great. As part of the Council, you’ll support a friendly local authority making decisions with real impact. It’s all for better public services. Better processes. And a better quality of life, for everyone. Join us, and Swindon will be better with you.
Children's Social care is about changing lives. It has the ability not just to improve the circumstances of vulnerable children, but also to transform them completely. We want every child in the Borough, whatever their background, whatever their age, whatever their ethnicity or gender, to have the opportunity to fulfil their potential. This is also an exciting time to join the Borough as Swindon Children’s Services has since May 2022 implemented the Family Safeguarding Model.
We want to deliver truly excellent services to children and families, through One Children Service, that is Consistently Good Every Day. A crucial ingredient is a highly skilled and expert children's social care workforce. This task draws on skills from a range of professions both within social care and from other services. We have already taken great steps forward in our development and our children's social care service is fully integrated with children’s health services, and works alongside other specialist professionals. Additionally, Swindon has a clear workload guidance for NQSWs to further support learning and development with capped and gradual increase in caseloads throughout the stages of the ASYE programme.
Your next role
Our Social Work & Leadership Academy has been created to celebrate the best in professional practice in Social Work and Social Care Leadership. The Academy represents an opportunity for Swindon Borough Council to demonstrate how we support, develop and value the professional disciplines in Social Work and Social Care through a targeted framework of career development and learning opportunities.
We want to bring the best and brightest into social work and give them the training and development that they need to succeed in this highly complex work. We want to make sure that children's social care services are places where excellent social workers are nurtured and talents of social workers are harnessed to the full.
To this end, we are seeking newly qualified social workers who, over the period of their ASYE, will work closely with an experienced Social Worker who will provide them with dedicated development, mentoring and support in relation to the cases assigned to them by their host social work team. In addition, you will have support from a dedicated Team Manager for the ASYE programme and our Practice and Development Team. On successful completion of your ASYE, your status will become Qualified Social Worker and your salary increased to £34,721 p.a.
Successful candidates can join us pending registration and qualification as a Social Care Worker in the first instance. The NQSW post will commence once registration and qualifications are received.
The exciting opportunity has arisen for an ASYE Social Worker to come and join the Youth Justice Service. The Youth Justice Service is a multi-disciplinary team who works with Children and Young People aged 10-17 years who have committed a criminal offence and are subject to a range of community and custodial disposals. As an ASYE within the Team you will be supported in holding a caseload of children who have been made subject to statutory Court Orders and require standard, enhanced or intensive delivery of intervention, some of whom will be involved with Social Care.
In this role you will assess, plan, deliver, review and enforce statutory interventions with children and young people to help develop a positive self identity and reduce their likelihood of further reoffending, risk of serious harm and safety and well-being concerns. You will work with children both in the community and the custodial setting, being committed to ensuring positive and sustainable outcomes for them through multi-agency working. You will undertake office and Court duties alongside case management responsibilities to support the team, safeguard children and the wider community and promote positive outcomes.
On successful completion of your ASYE year, a Qualified Social Worker Post will not be available in the Youth Justice Service. You will be offered a Qualified Social Worker Post in a different social care team within Swindon Borough Council.
If you believe you have the skills and potential to be a part of our journey, then we want to hear from you. You should be registered or be in a position to register with the Social Work England before commencing. Having undertaken placements in a children's social work statutory setting and/or have experience of working with children and families in other sectors. This is an essential requirement to commence in the role.
You must be fluent in the English language (as a requirement of Part 7 of the Immigration Act “for the effective performance of a customer-facing role”).
Your next package
- A bespoke ASYE handbook and welcome pack (which includes some academic books) as well as a direct work tool bag/ rucksack.
- £3000 “golden hello” payment after 1 years’ service
- Retention payments of £2000 after completing 2 years’ service and a further £2000 after 3 years’ service
- Relocation allowance of up to £8,000 (eligibility criteria)
- Free car parking at our central Swindon campus
- A career average revalued earnings (CARE) pension scheme
- 25 days holiday (plus bank holidays) rising to 31 days after 10 years’ service
- Leisure and Legal Services discounts
- Eating Out, Shopping and Entertainment discounts
- “Happy to talk Flexible working”
Please see our Rewards and Benefits offer for more details.
For Swindon to thrive in the future, we need to lay the foundations now. It’s why our regeneration and transformation programmes are already underway. So, you’ll be joining us at an exciting time on our journey. We’ll look to you to share your knowledge, influence decisions and drive real, positive change. With your contributions, we’ll achieve our vision of a prosperous, re-vitalised Swindon by 2030 together. And you’ll be proud to say it was made better with you.
Your next steps
Read the role profile and select the Apply button to start an application.
Potential applicants are sometimes put off if they don’t meet 100% of the requirements. We think individual experience, skills and passion make all the difference, so if you meet the majority of the criteria, we’d love to hear from you.
For further information about the role, please contact Maria Kinga Olah, ASYE Team Manager, at MKingaolah@swindon.gov.uk.
Early applications for this post are encouraged.
If you are experiencing technical issues submitting your application please email resourcing@swindon.gov.uk