Vacancy details

Fixed-term contract until 31 March 2025

We found Sam a foster family. Now he’s finding his feet.

We have exciting opportunities in our Family Placement Team, for individuals who will share our commitment to improving outcomes for those children in our care on a 12 month basis.

We provide children, young people and families with the right service at the right time. Put simply, we change lives for the better.

Bracknell Forest Council have a nationally recognised practice model – the ‘Family Safeguarding Model’. In a recent Focused Inspection Ofsted stated “Implementation of the chosen social work model provides a collegiate, holistic and dynamic practice environment, allowing social workers to make quick inroads into addressing long-standing parental issues which impact on the experiences and progress of children”.

Overall, Inspectors found that social workers and other frontline practitioners benefit from manageable caseloads, good training and powerful and highly reflective supervision that ensures children are at the heart of decision making.

Favouring a relational approach in all that we do, over 80% of our workforce are permanent employees, caseloads are manageable and caring for ‘you and your family’ is a priority for the Council. 

We promote relationship based practice and more time with children and families so if you have chosen social work as a profession and are passionate about improving outcomes for children and young people then join us to contribute to a service that works with families to enable lasting change for children.

This is an opportunity to join a Local Authority who were assessed by OFSTED as ‘Good’ with ‘Outstanding’ features in the last Inspection of services for children in need of help and protection, children looked after and care leavers which stated;

‘Children looked after, adopted children and young people leaving care in Bracknell Forest receive outstanding care and support. They all benefit from teams of highly committed, ambitious and determined professionals who work extremely well together, helping children to remain safe and achieve in life.’  

Our teams of qualified social workers and family workers are supported by specialist officers in domestic abuse, mental health and substance misuse, meaning no lengthy waits for much needed services for our families. It is all here, accessible and underpinning the planning and work being delivered to mitigate against risks, build resilience in families and enable families to meet their own children’s needs more effectively.  Access to family group conferences and mediation work with families is additionally available and supports all involved, to secure decisions and outcomes in children’s best interests.

We have a good early help offer and work in collaboration with statutory partners and voluntary agencies in the community. Supporting families to access these services and support is also part of our daily morale purpose to enable families to secure safety and confidence in their own abilities to look after their children.

Bracknell Forest has a friendly, creative, and dynamic working culture that enables social work professionals to make a real difference for the most vulnerable.

Because we’re Bracknell Forest…

What it’s like working in our team…

We know that social work, whilst rewarding, is not always easy.  To support high quality consistent social work, we have a comprehensive learning and development offer, driven by our passionate Principal Social Worker.  We have resilience groups, well-being days and events, group supervision as well as peer support.  Each team has dedicated admin support.

The Family Placement Team is a small but very supportive team. The work we do can be challenging and we understand the importance of peer support and advice.

We work closely together and alongside the children’s social workers to ensure that we are providing the best support to our vulnerable children.

Our social workers have the time to get to know everyone they work with, excellent support from managers and colleagues across the department and expert guidance whenever they need it.

Our main priority is to provide our workers with a secure physical and psychological base from which to work safely and effectively.

Our workforce tells us:

• There is a supportive and approachable leadership and management team.
• All teams offer each other good peer support; there is a strong focus on shared problem solving.
• They feel appreciated and their development is prioritised.
• Supervision is of high quality, reflective and routinely provided.

You will be supported to carry out the following duties, responsibilities and training…

• To work as a member of the Family Placement team supervising and supporting Foster Carers to ensure that foster placements continue to meet children's needs.
• To support the recruitment and assessment process of Foster Carers to enable more of our vulnerable children to be placed in local placements, near to their family and friends.
• To work with the child’s social worker to achieve permanence for the children, whether this be through long term fostering or special guardianship

The role will enable you to continually develop your skills and knowledge, as well as contribute to the ongoing improvement of the services and support we deliver.

The benefits you will experience are…

• A comprehensive induction and excellent ongoing training programme
• Regular, reflective one to one and group supervisions
• An inclusive and social working environment.
• Flexible working opportunities including a flexi-time scheme.
• Generous annual leave commencing at 28 days increasing after 3 years’ service to 33 days (pro rata for part time). With additional annual leave purchase policy.
• Regular opportunities for development with internal and external training courses.
• A great office location next to travel links and the regenerated town centre.
• Internal sports and social club opportunities.
• Discounted leisure centre and gym membership.
• Supermarket discount.
• An interest free loan for a rail season ticket.

What we’re looking for…

The children and young people we work with have told us they want social workers to:

• Be friendly, fun and energetic;
• Listen respectfully, take action and stick to deadlines;
• Keep promises, be accessible and on time

We are looking for experienced practitioners who are talented, passionate and reliable.  You will have current registration with Social Work England and have experience of working within the legal frameworks that support our work; with good assessment and analytical skills, and experience in completing Form F, Special Guardianship and Connected Person Assessments.

You will have a sound knowledge of relevant child care legislation, good report writing and oral communication skills and the ability to work to court and Fostering Panel timescales.

As a team we would like practitioners who share our commitment to better outcomes for children, people who are organised and skilled in effective engagement of families.

If you have the skills, knowledge, experience and enthusiasm we are looking for, and if you want to work for a local authority that values and invests in staff, we would love to hear from you. 

Interview date

Interviews will be held on 14th May 2024.

Want to ask us a question?

For an informal discussion or to ask any questions about this role.  Please contact:

Name: Sam Howard

Job Title: Team Manager, Family Placement Team

Phone Number: 01344 351658

At Bracknell Forest we champion equality, diversity and inclusion and welcome applications from candidates from all backgrounds, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or age. As a Disability Confident Employer, please let us know if you need any adjustments at any point during the recruitment process by contacting our friendly recruitment team on recruitment@bracknell-forest.gov.uk

We will be reviewing applications regularly and reserve the right to close the advert early if suitable candidates are identified. To avoid disappointment, you are advised to submit your application as soon as possible.

Bracknell Forest Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults. We expect everyone employed with us to share this commitment. All successful candidates for this role will be subject to a DBS (Disclosure & Barring Service) check as part of our pre-employment checks process.

Any successful internal candidate will be offered the position as a secondment and, in line with Section 8.1 of the Secondment Policy, must consult with their manager before applying. 

Candidates should be able to demonstrate experience of working within the current Social Care System and Framework.

Social Work England registration fees can be claimed back from the Council.  

We can only accept applications from candidates currently residing in the UK.

Any candidates that are currently residing in the UK and wishing to apply who would require sponsorship can determine the likelihood of obtaining a Certificate of Sponsorship for the role by assessing their circumstances against the relevant criteria.

No agencies please. 

Equal Opportunities

Bracknell Forest Council – Working for Equality. We welcome applications from all sections of the community.

How to apply

Please apply online via the link provided.

Please note, we do not accept CVs submitted without a fully completed online application form.