Senior Social Worker (Restore Networker)

Location

Rochester, Kent | United Kingdom

Job description

Why did you become a social worker?

• Perhaps to change and improve the lives of children? To create systemic change?
• To fight against social injustice? To work directly with children and their families enabling them to achieve their potential?
• Are you ready to take on a new challenge and make history?
• Do you want to be part of leading on the transformational transition and resettlement planning for children?
• Are you passionate about revolutionising safeguarding in youth custody?
• Are you an experienced and qualified social worker, with experience of or interest in supervising student social workers?

If this sounds like you then Restore Networker at Oasis Restore is the job for you!

We are offering a hugely exciting opportunity for experienced social workers who have a passion for working with complex adolescents.

The role and what we are looking for:

Oasis Restore represents a revolution in youth justice: an opportunity for children within the criminal justice system to experience a restorative environment that creates the potential for them to thrive both now and for the future. You will hold a small caseload of children who live in Oasis Restore whilst on remand or serving their sentence and supporting their transition onwards from Oasis Restore.

Restore Networkers are the leads in safeguarding and transition planning for our children whilst they are living with us and during their transition on from Oasis Restore. You will be part of an integrated multi-agency team around each child and a key point of contact for children’s family and statutory professionals.

We are looking for social workers who believe in the potential of all children and who have a particular passion for working with adolescents. We are looking for experienced social workers who are ready to support in embedding safeguarding practice across Oasis Restore and champion the voices of the children with care for.

You will be the critical link between the child’s world in the community and in Restore, working with the child and their family and professional networks. You will work both in the school in Rochester as well as in the community with children following release and with their families. We welcome applications from staff with lived experience, including of those who have experience of the care system and the criminal justice system.

The Team

You will be part of a team of 6 practitioners from a range of professional backgrounds. You will be managed by the Head of Safeguarding and Transitions who is an experienced qualified social worker. Who is passionate about adolescent safeguarding, and tenacious in driving systemic change for children.

Head of Safeguarding and Transitions believes that we transform the lives of children through listening to their voice, persistence, hope, and bravery to be different, to push the boundaries of safeguarding and using creativity to enhance our practice.

The team will be new, and each team member will bring their professional and personal experiences into developing the team and shaping the roles of Restore Networker. There will be dedicated time together to build the team relationships and opportunities to create a culture of psychological safety in our development, learning and practice.

Oasis Restore Oasis Restore is the country’s first secure school that is a proof-of-concept policy initiative funded by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). Oasis Restore’s mission is to transform the life chances of children aged 12-18 years in the criminal justice system through delivering psychologically informed, integrated practice that centres on trusted, safe relationships between staff and children.

Oasis Restore is a learning community that embeds hope, stability, and opportunity for children beyond the secure school. Safeguarding is essential to ensuring the safety of our children whilst living with us but also in securing their safety when moving on from Restore. Children’s journey to their future starts as soon as they join us and the Restore Networker will sensitively alongside the child and core team begin planning for the child’s next steps.

To read more about us please visit our website

Our offer to you

As a newly established subsidiary of the Oasis Charitable Trust, you will enjoy the benefit of being part of a national organisation that aims to support all staff to reach their full potential and a once in a lifetime opportunity to create, develop and grow a new collaborative and innovative values-based organisation. As well as this you will also benefit from the following opportunities:

• We are offering a compressed working pattern meaning you will work 10 days hours in 9 days meaning you have an additional non-working day every fortnight.
• Access to the Local Government Pensions Scheme (a competitive, defined benefit pension scheme)
• 33 days annual leave including bank holidays, rising to 35 days after two years.
• Expenses and travel costs incurred as part of the working day (as appropriate, not including travel to work)
• Free car parking.
• We are in the process of setting up a new employee health care cash plan and employee discount scheme.
• Receive the same offer of sick leave pay (based broadly on the length of service framework in the national ‘Green Book’ framework) from Day 1 of employment.
• You will have access to a substantial supervision offer.
• Line management support (one to one with your manager)
• Reflective practice (group facilitated by a clinician)
• Case management supervision (one to one with your line manager)
• Supervision (one to one with a clinician)
• Blue Light Card (subject to meeting their eligibility criteria)
• Access to Discounts for Teachers
• Experience an appraisal policy that decouples pay and performance.
• An elected staff forum to listen to, and act on staff feedback (this will be set up in 2024).
• Subject to meeting basic eligibility criteria, be entitled to up to 8 weeks full-pay and 18 weeks halfpay paid maternity/adoption/shared parental leave (based broadly on the NHS Employers scheme).
• Access to an eye care vouchers scheme, season Ticket Loans, a cycle to work scheme.
• Subject to meeting basic eligibility criteria be entitled to up to 3 weeks fully paid paternity leave.
• Paid time off to attend antenatal appointments (those staff who are either pregnant or whose partner is pregnant)
• Have a structured and bespoke induction training plan plus a training offer bespoke to our context.
• You will be supported to complete a level 4 qualification in the therapeutic care of adolescents.
• Up to 5 days discretionary paid compassionate/emergency/general leave plus further discretionary unpaid leave
• Up to 4 weeks paid parental bereavement leave plus up to 5 days paid bereavement leave for the death of other specified close relatives.

What are you waiting for? Apply today!

Like what you see?

Make sure you download the Application Pack and fill out our application form along with the Equal opportunities form** and submit both documents before the below deadline. If you would like some more information or to have an informal conversation with someone, please contact us at [email protected].

• Closing Date: Friday, 22nd March 2024 9am
• Assessment Day: Wednesday ,3rd April 2024 ( in London)
• Final Interview ( Online): 4th April 2024

Safeguarding and Pre-Employment Checks We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. We expect all staff to share this commitment. All successful candidates will be subject to Disclosure and Barring Service checks along with other relevant employment checks including references and right to work checks.

It is an offence to apply for a role if you are barred from engaging in regulated activity relevant to children. This post is also covered by Part 7 of the Immigration Act (2016) and therefore the ability to speak fluent and spoken English is an essential requirement for this role. Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion At Oasis Restore we recognise that our team is strengthened by the knowledge, experience and insights people from a wide range of backgrounds can bring.

These beliefs and values are underpinned by decades of work and experience that Oasis has had in a wide range of sectors including education, housing and youth-work supported further by a wide range of independent research and studies elsewhere which evidence that creating teams with diverse experience and perspectives, and encouraging healthy debate, reduces the risk of ‘blind spots’ that often form barriers to success.

Oasis Restore aim is to attract and retain the very best diverse talent and role models to help create an innovative, caring and extraordinary working environment for our staff, that enables us to deliver exceptional, caring and psychologically informed learning experience for our students. We would therefore like to encourage applications from people with varied skillsets, life experiences, and from different backgrounds and sectors to help shape Oasis Restore.

If you can demonstrate some of the criteria and believe you have what it takes, then we’d love to hear from you. Given the nature of our work we also welcome applications from candidates with the following lived experience:

• Experience of working successfully with vulnerable children who sometimes have multiple and complex needs.
• Personal experience of the criminal justice system, or lived experience of the issues facing this client group (i.e. involved in gangs or knife crime).
• Knowledge of the issues facing this client group, such as gangs, knife crime, social exclusion and isolation, child criminal exploitation, adverse childhood experiences and trauma.
• Ability to actively listen and motivate young people.
• Personal experience of the Care system
• Ability to be a positive role model, demonstrating the virtues of a crime-free life to young people.

We’re also very happy to answer any questions you may have so please don’t hesitate to get in touch at [email protected].

*The Equal Opportunities Form will not be shared with anyone involved in processing your application. Please complete this as part of the application process though it is voluntary. Please note that if you have a disability and you require this form or submitting the information with regard to this form in another format, such as in larger print, please contact the People Services team

Job tags

Salary

£47.19k - £52.07k per annum