Social Worker - Fostering Recruitment and Assessment

37 hours per week

Please note: To apply for this position, you must be a Qualified Social Worker and be registered with Social Work England

Join Us in Making a Difference!

Are you passionate about ensuring the safety and well-being of children? An exciting opportunity has arisen for a dynamic individual to step into the role of Social Worker.

About the Role: As Social Worker in the Fostering Recruitment and Assessment Team, you will work collaboratively with community partners to ensure that those working and volunteering within the children's workforce are doing so safely. This is a site-based role at County Hall, Newport, Isle of Wight, with agile and flexible work practices.

Position Details:

• Location: County Hall, Newport, Isle of Wight
• Salary: Career Grade 10, £37,955 to £40,787 per annum with a market supplement of between £1500-£4000
• Hours: 37 hours per week

Requirements: To apply for this position, you must be an experienced Qualified Social Worker and registered with Social Work England.

Why Join Us? On the Isle of Wight, our new Children’s Social Care leadership team understands that our social workers and staff need the right environment to thrive in this challenging, rewarding, and important field. Our vision is ‘creating change together’, which drives our values and behaviours to create positive change in partnership with our children and families, dedicated children’s social care staff, partners, and community services.

We value and respect the work you do and ensure our social work teams are equipped with the right tools, conditions, support, and guidance needed to make real change happen.

A Unique Opportunity: This is a unique and exciting time to join Isle of Wight Children’s Social Care. Following the successful completion of our 10-year partnership with Hampshire County Council on January 31, 2024, we have welcomed a brand-new senior leadership team determined to build our new Children's Service. Together, we are already working to create one connected directorate, where Children’s Social Care and our Education, Inclusion, and Access services are 100% focused on improving the lives of children and families on the Isle of Wight.

This is an exciting opportunity for qualified social workers to join a dynamic, forward thinking and enthusiastic social work team.  The Fostering and Adoption Team encompasses the Fostering and Adoption services for the Isle of Wight. This is structured into three hubs with an Assistant Team Manager heading each hub. The Fostering Recruitment and Assessment Hub, The Fostering Support Hub and the Adoption Hub. The Hubs have defined activities although the team work together when needed to support each other.

Isle of Wight Children’s Services has an OFSTED rating of ‘Good’ and here in the Fostering Service we are reviewing and redesigning our support offer to Foster Carers with the aim of increasing the recruitment and retention of Foster Carers, improving the quality of reflective supervision and creating the right conditions for social workers to focus on supporting their carers to promote positive outcomes for them and the children they care for.

The post holders will be required to support the fostering service by undertaking the following:

• Recruit, train and assess potential foster carers
• Provide robust supervision and support to foster carers
• Manage a case load and deliver on targets set by Legislation and Council requirements.
• To deliver or co present comprehensive training, Skills to Foster, to prospective foster carers in line with respective legislation and regulation requirements
• To contribute to data monitoring including collating and analysing feedback to inform service development

We are seeking dedicated, skilled, and ambitious social workers who share our vision to grow the Island’s community of Foster Carers and get things right for our carers and children, at the right time, in the right place, with the right support and intervention.

Do you...

• Have skills in completing robust and analytical assessments
• Want a new challenge?
• Want to work in a dynamic environment?
• Want to focus on improvement and continual learning?
• Share our vision and ambition to increase the recruitment and retention of foster carers?

If the answer is yes, we would love to hear from you!

Our practice model is: 

• relational
• strengths based
• solution focussed
• restorative

We embody this model in all our relationships. We embrace an inclusive culture and will support you in your role and challenge you to be your best.

Contact Us: For further information or an informal discussion, please contact: Ashley Schofield at [email protected] or call 01983 8233434 ext: 6941

Join us in making a real difference in the lives of children on the Isle of Wight!

Join #TeamIWC and you'll receive our staff benefits package, including:

• Annual leave entitlement of 32 days p/a PLUS public holidays!
• Local Government pension scheme
• Discounted Solent ferry travel
• Island bus network discount
• Cycle to work scheme
• Staff parking permit scheme
• Discounted island sports & leisure gym membership
• National and local discounts & benefits schemes
• Relocation scheme of up to £8,000 may be available for some roles (subject to criteria)
• Travel allowance may be available if commuting from the mainland (subject to criteria)

Find out more about working for the Isle of Wight Council and living on the Island.

The Isle of Wight Council currently does not have a license to sponsor overseas workers.

We actively promote the diversity of our workforce, and provide flexible working options (where appropriate) to support the different needs of our employees. We are an equal opportunities employer, proud to encourage applications from all cultures, backgrounds and abilities to better reflect the diversity within our local community.

We are a Disability Confident employer. Along with a number of commitments, this means, providing you meet the basic essential requirements of the advertised role and have declared yourself as disabled, you will be offered an opportunity for an interview within the council.

The Isle of Wight Council protects its employees from discrimination, and this is supported by;

unacceptable behaviour policy

employee code of conduct 

our values, culture and inclusivity 

The Isle of Wight Council’s Terms & Conditions of employment are available upon request. Please contact our recruitment team via [email protected] if you would like to receive a copy.

The Isle of Wight Council reserve the right to close vacancies earlier than stated, if required. To ensure your application is considered, it is recommended to submit your application promptly.

This council and its schools recruit according to the council’s Recruitment, Policy and Procedure and are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expect all staff and volunteers to share in this commitment.

The Isle of Wight Council is committed to supporting all newly qualified social workers (NQSWs) via a robust post-graduate competency framework, the ‘Assessed and Supported Year of Employment’ (ASYE). The ASYE is intended to be the first stage of continuing professional development for Registered Social Workers. The framework will be closely allied to the Professional Capabilities Framework (PCF).  You will be therefore, be required to satisfactorily complete the ASYE programme within a 12-month period (or 18 months if part-time).

For support completing your online application or for further information on how to apply, phone 01983 823134 or email [email protected]  Only applications submitted online by the closing date will be accepted.

We often receive a high volume of applicants for our vacancies. If you do not hear from the recruiting manager within three weeks of the closing date, we regret that your application will not have been successful on this occasion. Please revisit our job page for alternate posts that may be suitable.

Please read the Application Guidance Notes before applying. If you are unable to complete this application, email us at [email protected] or telephone us on 01983 823113