Step up – to social work!

Have you ever considered a professional career as a social worker but not quite felt confident enough to take it further? If your answer is „Yes‟, then read on.

Social work with children and families is a challenging but extremely rewarding way to make a real difference to people‟s lives.

It‟s about building relationships and gaining the trust of vulnerable children and supporting adults to become better parents, which takes skill and a lot of patience

Being confronted with other people‟s problems isn‟t everyone‟s ideal start to the day and it takes a special kind of person and the right professional training to be a social worker.

But if you believe you‟ve got what it takes to make a difference to a child‟s life then social work with children, young people and families could be for you.

Southend-on-Sea Borough Council is actively looking for people with experience of working with children, young people and families to join its well-run social care team.

If you think you fit the bill we can train you to be a qualified social worker in as little as 18 months.

And while you‟re undergoing your professional training you‟ll benefit from around £15,000-a-year pro rata to support you through your studies.

The innovative Step Up to Social Work training programme provides a Masters in Social Work as well as intensive hands-on experience.

It‟s a demanding programme and successful candidates will need to be able to juggle their academic studies with „on-the-job‟ learning.

So what would you get in return for all this hard graft?

Well in addition to being immensely satisfying on a personal level a career in social work is also financially rewarding.

Newly-qualified social workers start on a salary of approximately £27,000, increasing to around £39,000 with frontline experience and responsibility or beyond into management.

Southend-on-Sea Borough Council‟s Executive Councillor for Children and Learning, Mark Flewitt, said: “Social work is a vocational occupation which calls for a special kind of person.

“It‟s a job where compassion, understanding, tolerance and empathy are called for every day, and I have the utmost respect for people who dedicate their careers to helping others.

“It‟s tough and challenging work which requires great resilience but also provides great job satisfaction.

“Our social care workers have a proven track record in protecting children and competition for a place on our team will be fierce.

“But I would urge anyone who has experience of working with children and families and feels they have skills which can assist others to find out more about Step Up to Social Work.”

You‟re eligible to join the Step Up to Social Work training programme if you can demonstrate:

A 1st or 2:1 degree in any discipline A grade C or above GSCE in English and Mathematics (or equivalent) experience in working with children, young people & families and emotional resilience and maturity.

If you are successful in being accepted onto the training programme you will receive:

a minimum of £15,000-a-year to support you a Masters degree in Social Work on successful completion an employment-based route into a social work career training which considers your previous experience and qualifications and can be completed in 18 months and structured training and development to support your early career.

Almost 200 people nationwide are already taking part in Step Up to Social Work and a second allocation of places has just been announced by the Children‟s Workforce Development Council.

For further information on the programme including a case study from a current Step Up student visit www.southend.gov.uk/stepup

If you decide social work is for you and want to get on the programme you can apply online at www.cwdcouncil.org.uk/step-up