Grade/Salary ME12 - ME13 - £40,833 - £48,060 per annum inclusive

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We are delighted to announce the continuation of the Social Workers in Schools project within Merton Children's Social Care!

Following the success of the project over the past 4 years, Merton has committed to another academic year of social work support and intervention within 11 secondary schools across the borough.

Social Workers in Schools Project

Our social workers are each based between 1-2 schools in Merton, and are supported by the schools to embed within their organisational culture. Social workers have a reduced caseload of statutory work in order to provide space to deliver a more holistic preventative offer. Social worker intervention spans across 3 areas:

Team in and around the school - to support in signposting to and partnering with other agencies to enhance the preventative offer within each school setting. This includes the mapping of agencies offering support in and around each school, signposting schools to community and commissioned service, and partnering with agencies for the delivery of preventative activities in the school.
Team around the family - to champion the Early Help and Effective Support Strategy at Secondary School Level. Social workers will support and guide schools in using the ‘Getting Help’ guidance within the Effective Support Model to provide Early Help to children and families. Social workers will support Early Help coordinators in assessing child and family needs, guide the undertaking of Whole Family Assessments and support in the convening of Team around the Family (TAF) meetings. They will also support in developing family plans and identifying interventions and relevant support services.
Statutory intervention - to undertake Child and Family assessments, where a core presenting need is linked to education. Each social worker is allocated children who attend the school where they are based as well as the siblings of those children. Case allocations are overseen by the SWIS Team Manager, as is the statutory intervention during the assessment period, and the IT system Mosaic is used for case recording.

What are we looking for?

We’re looking for a social worker who:

has completed their systemic social work and/or signs of safety training
takes a ‘change agent’ position in their interventions with families
is skilled in using the relationship-based practice model and explaining it to others
can build strong relationships with children and their families
is committed to Merton
can navigate periods of challenge and uncertainty
has confidence in sharing their knowledge and skills with others
can operate autonomously within a school setting and as part of a multi-disciplinary network
is committed to developing themselves and new ways of practicing

We want our team to reflect the diversity of our borough, and would encourage applicants of all backgrounds and with a wide range of experiences to apply.

The position will be based in the Family Support and Safeguarding service and managed by the SWIS team manager.

How will the social worker move into the role?

If you already work in Merton, you will join the project via a secondment. For external candidates, whilst the project has only been extended to July 2025, the social work posts are permanent within Children's Social Care and Youth Inclusion. As such, in the event that the project concludes at the end of the next academic year, social workers will have the opportunity to remain in Merton and integrate into the wider service.

If you have any questions, please contact the SWIS Team Manager Dhivya Yogarajah on 020 4605 4213, or SWIS Service Manager Kay Dove on 020 8545 3374 for further information.

Interviews: to take place week commencing 8th July 2024.

Merton Council jobs

Social Worker - Social Workers in Schools Team