Social Work Practice Educator

Social Work Practice Educator

Social Work in Cornwall

Make a difference - Children's Social Work in Cornwall

'Cornwall's ambitious, outward-facing senior leadership team promotes a strong culture of learning and development. It has made excellent use of learning from research, best practice and peer reviews.'

'Social workers have a very good understanding of the children they work with; they visit them regularly and ensure that their needs are holistically well considered'

'Staff development is delivered through an effective and well-targeted workforce development framework. Staff morale is high.'

OFSTED 2019 - OUTSTANDING GRADING

The Service & Team:

Social workers make a real difference to the lives of children in Cornwall. Cornwall Council achieved Outstanding status in 2019 through raising the status and expertise of its social workers and wider social care practitioners. This must be sustained through an ongoing commitment to practice development and access to a core curriculum of evidence based practice, including an on line library of the latest research, procedures and practice guidance.

The high morale of children's social workers in Cornwall has been achieved through a coherent and robust Career and Qualification Pathway from training, through the assessed and supported year in employment for newly qualified social workers up to advanced practitioner status. Progression is based on undertaking professional development, demonstrating learning in practice and consistent performance in improving outcomes for children.

The Role:

We are looking for a Practice Educator to join our established team of Practice Educators as part of our Foundation for Practice. Practice Educators are professional social work educators with expert knowledge in the area of professional practice education.

• They lead on developing practice in line with the latest research, policy and legislation.
• They take the lead in a specified service area working with Advanced Practitioners to develop a service based learning culture.
• They undertake direct practice with children and young people to demonstrate their professional capabilities and to model how practice learning is applied in practice.
• They facilitate and assess the learning and development of others (for example managing a number of students on qualifying programmes, NQSWs undertaking ASYE, undertaking direct research or supporting professionals undertaking CPD) to develop their knowledge, skills, values and practice.
• They facilitate work place learning by positively managing the day to day interface between providers of education and training and workplace situations, by contributing to arrangements for selection, curriculum delivery, assessment and evaluation.
• They draw on and contribute to contemporary research and educational practice.
• They contribute to workforce development strategies in the agency and/or in a university setting.
• They provide advice and consultation on the Career and Qualification Pathway for Social Workers, Trainees and Students.
• They contribute to the recruitment and selection of the workforce and to the evaluation of local and national strategy.

You will need to hold a Social Work Degree, Social Work Qualification Dip.SW or equivalent and be SWE Registered. Additionally, you should hold or be working towards the Practice Teaching Award or equivalent in line with PEPS Stage 2 and have experience of supporting Social Work students/trainees and/or newly qualified social workers.

This is a public/customer-facing role, where the statutory English language requirement for public sector workers applies.

This position will be subject to an enhanced criminal record disclosure check.

What you'll need to succeed:

You will be a social worker registered with Social Work England who will have:

• Extensive experience working within a social care environment
• Professional capability in line with an experienced practitioner under the terms of the PCF and a proven track record in Social Work practice.
• High-level written and verbal communication skills to build effective professional relationships with families and other professionals
• Knowledge and understanding of the legislation, models and theories relevant to children's social work, and the ability to evidence how you have applied your learning to your practice
• Experience in providing practice education and working within the Practice Education Professional Standards
• Hold or be working towards the Practice Teaching Award or equivalent in line with PEPS Stage 2.
• Experience of supporting Social Work students/trainees and/or newly qualified Social Workers.

If your experience as a social worker is within another sector (such as Adult Social Care or the Voluntary sector), we provide additional support to transition into children and families social work through a supported induction period.

ABOUT US
Cornwall Council's ambition is to be an employer of choice, a high performing Council and a learning organisation. We commit to providing a reward and benefits package to attract, motivate and reward our employees. We offer a range of flexible working options to our staff. This helps provide our employees with a greater work/life balance. Whilst still ensuring that service needs are met.

Our core employee rewards and benefits include:

• a competitive salary.
• a defined benefit pension scheme, based on your career average earnings. This includes the option for extra voluntary contributions
• 26 days annual leave per year (pro-rata), rising to 29 days after five years continuous service, with the potential to purchase additional leave.
• A national award winning employee health and wellbeing programme
• Employee benefits scheme giving employees access to a wide range of discounts to local and national goods and services.

Cornwall Council deliver services to more than half a million local people and over five million visitors a year. Find out more about working and volunteering for us .

We are happy to talk about flexible working options such as part-time or compressed hours. More examples of our flexible working opportunities can be found here - flexible working options .

Fairness and inclusion are at the heart of our vision for Cornwall. In order to best serve our communities, we are striving to achieve a diverse workforce that is inclusive of all backgrounds, cultures and identities; e.g., race, disability, sex, gender, age, religion and sexual orientation. We are an equal opportunities and Disability Confident employer, and we will assess applicants on their merits.

Cornwall Council is committed to safeguarding and following safer recruitment principles to help make sure our staff and volunteers are suitable to work with children, young people and adults at risk. It's a vital part of creating a safe and positive environment and making a commitment to keeping all service users safe from harm.