Early Help Social Worker

at  Bristol City Council

PART TIME 18.5 HOURS PER WEEK, FIXED TERM UNTIL 8TH AUGUST 2025.

An exciting opportunity for a qualified Social Worker has become available within the Families in Focus Service. We have a part-time vacancy in the South Team, Fixed term until 8th August 2025 and are looking for you to start with us as soon as possible.
The role of the Social Worker is unique, you have the fantastic opportunity to use your social work training and skills to creatively engage with and empower families to make meaningful changes.
The social work role is varied with a mix of statutory assessments, building positive relationships with schools and supporting them through Team Around the School as well as contributing to a multiagency team of specialists and family support workers within FIF.
You will be responsible for supporting the delivery of our Team around the School offer- this involves Social Workers holding regular meetings with schools to discuss the children and young people they are worried about who are not open to any part of Children’s Services.
The Social Worker will use Signs of Safety in these meetings and assist the school both in mappings and making plans for children and families. Social Workers also convene surgeries for schools outside of these meetings. This has had the benefit of engaging schools, improving relationships and helping to manage professional anxiety. This offer has also meant that referrals into the First Assessment Service from schools, which may be deemed as no further action, have reduced.
You will also undertake some areas of statutory social work such as Section 7 reporting to court, Section 85 assessments (where a child may have been in hospital for twelve or more weeks) and families with children deemed to be intentionally homeless who require a Social Work assessment. Within Families in Focus, we use practice approaches consistent with other areas of social work, outlined in Bristol’s Practice Framework such as Signs of Safety and Network Building where families are supported to find strength and safety within their networks.
You will have a manageable workload and regular supervision, in which you will receive both support and challenge. We have a strong emphasis on supporting staff wellbeing and there are opportunities for career development and further training.
We are a close-knit team who work collaboratively in the best interests of the children, families and the communities we serve. We work within the locality and have strong, positive relationships with our colleagues in Social Care, Police, the Youth sector and other partner agencies. We also have a team of specialists, located within our teams, who support and strengthen the work we do.