Return to Practice Social Worker

We value diverse perspectives and experiences and are striving to create a workplace culture that is inclusive, is accepting of all and is free from discrimination and bias.

In Coventry, we are working hard to build something special. Children and families are at the heart of everything we do, and we believe they deserve the best help to achieve their best outcomes. Children’s Services provides a wide range of statutory and non-statutory duties, from Early Help and Child Protection, through to children who are looked after.

The service reflects and responds to the changing needs of children and their families. It works to enable a reflective and flexible approach, with a strong Early Help offer and a real focus on Relationship Based Practice and Signs of Safety, which focuses on intervention and keeping families together.

Coventry Children’s Services values a working culture that is relational and restorative in nature. The launch of the Coventry Family Valued Programme in April 2021 enables us to re-think practice in the best interests of children.

Practice is centred around

• A Child Friendly City
• Family Led Decision Making
• The Coventry Way

Coventry City Council Children’s Services will provide you with an environment where social work can flourish, with high support, high challenge and manageable caseloads.

Thank you for your interest in our Return to Practice Programme. Coventry is rated good by OFSTED and is committed to attracting quality practitioners to our workforce.

We have an award-winning Social Work Academy which offers an intensive supportive learning environment to newly qualified social workers stepping into professional practice. The Academy supports a range of initiatives, for example Frontline, Step-Up and a new Apprenticeship Model that have broadened to support local experienced children and families’ workers to progress their social work career.

The Return to Practice Programme will complement this portfolio reaching out to those who have qualified and practiced as a social worker in the United Kingdom, but that have been out of practice for some time and are now looking to reignite their passion for social work as a career. The Return to Practice Programme will enable you to gain the learning and practice experiences needed to start you back into a social work role, as well as enable you to meet the requirements for registration with Social Work England. If you are currently registered with Social Work England, you are not eligible for this programme.

Upon a successful placement and gaining your Social Work England registration, you will continue your employment within Coventry’s Help and Protection service. The city is divided into four areas Central, East, West and South. These teams undertake statutory social work tasks with families who require an assessment, child in need and child protection services, public law outline and court involvement as well as children looked after who have a return home plan.

On this programme you will receive:

• A paid full-time supervised practice placement- including shadowing and learning opportunities within Help and Protection.
• Supervision with an experienced Social Work team manager
• Reflective 1:1 and group supervision with a Professional Practice Educator
• Opportunities for protected private and formal study each week, which will be built into your weekly schedule during the time of your practice placement
• A hybrid weekly timetable of learning and practice
• Our Academy will support your placement to review your progress and ensure you have met all requirements in order to gain your registration with Social Work England.
• Initially, the salary is £24496-£30151 (paid as a child and family worker), increasing to a social worker salary of £28226 - £35411 once successfully registered.
• Reimbursement of Social Work England registration fee (excludes restoration/scrutiny fee).

Through the Social Work Academy there is plenty of support available. Your paid supervised practice opportunity in a children’s services team will be complemented by support from the Professional Practice Educators based in the Academy offering the opportunity to access a learning and development offer, to renew and enhance your existing skills. You will then continue with your employment as a registered social worker in Coventry. Coventry is highly committed to improving outcomes for children and their families and attracting enthusiastic and experienced practitioners with the right kind of support and encouragement to come back into this challenging and interesting profession.

This post is exempted under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and as such appointment to this post will be conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory response to a check of police records via Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).

Who are we looking for?

• You will need to have a recognised professional Social Work qualification (MA/BA/BSc in Social Work, Diploma in Social Work or CQSW). If your qualification is from outside of the UK, you will first need to check re-registration requirements with Social Work England as you may need to complete additional learning / activities and pay an additional fee prior to registration.
• Social Workers that have been out of practice between 2-10 years.
• Must have held registration with Social Work England or HCPC.

Webinars:

If you are interested in finding out more about returning to practice. Please contact Louise Shorthouse via email at Louise.shorthouse@coventry.gov.uk to be sent a link to one of our webinars.

In your email please confirm which date you would like to attend from the following:

• Tuesday 20th June 1- 1.45
• Thursday 29th June 6.45 – 7.30pm

For full details on the application process please read the attached document labelled 'Coventry City Council Application Process'

Interviews: 26th July 2023 and 28th July 2023

Coventry has a proud, innovative and creative spirit that throughout its history has seen communities come together to tackle problems and bring about real social change.

We are cutting-edge, challenging, youthful, vibrant and diverse.

At Coventry we are committed to excellence in everything we do. With around 4800 staff from a range of different backgrounds, our aim is to recruit and develop talented people who will focus on our customers, take responsibility, work together and find better ways of doing things.

To deliver the best services to our residents, we need the best people working for us to make a difference to our communities.

If you join us, we will provide a fantastic rewards and benefits package - to find out more please visit https://www.coventry.gov.uk/council-vacancies

It’s great to know that you are interested in working with us at Coventry City Council. As a prospective employee, it is important that everyone who works for us is committed to our One Coventry values and shares our commitment to becoming a more diverse and inclusive organisation.

Our Values are: