Newly Qualified Social Worker

Last year, we launched our Social Care Academy to provide meaningful support to newly qualified social workers in their first year of practice. Our first cohort of newly qualified social workers have told us that they feel really well supported and that the learning offered to them in our Academy has enabled them to learn and grow.

We would love to support you to be the best social worker you can be, to build relationships with children, young people, and families, and make a positive impact on our community.

The Role

We are seeking newly qualified social workers to join our Social Care Academy. In our Academy, you will undertake your assessed and supported year in employment in a supported and scaffolded learning environment, and develop the skills you need to join a social work team when you are ready. We know that individuals learn in different ways, and that's why your development plan will be individualised to your unique learning needs. You will be supported by the Academy Manager, and a dedicated Practice Educator to support your ongoing assessment, and you will be assigned a destination team that you will work in, alongside the Academy, to join fully when the time is right for you. There are opportunities in all our teams across Children's Services, and we will ask your preferences before you join us, to do our very best to match you to the team you want.

In the Academy, we will equip you with a working knowledge of our "Building Connections" practice approach, based on relational, restorative, trauma-informed practice. We will offer you regular learning & development sessions on key areas of practice, an experienced buddy in your destination team to shadow who will support you, and lots of opportunities to spend time with all our teams, to understand all stages of a child's journey with us.

If you are committed to relationship-based, family led practice, and would like to undertake your first year of practice in a supportive, reflective learning environment, we'd love to hear from you!

We are particularly keen to recruit from Black and racially minoritised newly qualified social workers as we want our workforce to better represent our community. Academy staff have experience of providing individualised support and are fully committed to allow the staff we support to bring their full authentic selves to work.

If you are shortlisted for our Assessment Day, we will contact you on Friday 15th May to let you know.

We will be holding our NQSW Assessment Day on Thursday 21st May, at the Town Hall in Weston-Super-Mare, so keep this date free!

Social Work Qualification, or pending completion of qualification.
Registration with Social Work England, or eligible for registration after graduating
Effective written and verbal communication skills
Be able to create effective working relationships with families and professionals
Commitment to relational, trauma-informed practice.

Desirable Criteria:

Have had a social work placement in a statutory setting
Experience of working in a multi-agency environment, Disability Confident
About Disability Confident
A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to .

North Somerset Council is committed to providing high-quality services to our community. We are committed to creating a fair, green, and more inclusive environment for all our residents.