Social Worker (Post ASYE) Short Breaks Team Disabled Children Service
Bristol City Council
Permanent, Full Time 37 hours per week.
Are you a qualified social worker with at least two years post qualifying experience? Do you have experience working with disabled children, young people, and their families, along with a passion for improving outcomes and championing their rights? If so, we are pleased to offer an exciting opportunity for a full‑time permanent Social Worker to join our new Review and Reassessment Short Break Team within the Disabled Children Service.
About the Service
The Disabled Children Service supports children and young people aged 0–18 with a wide range of disabilities. Our practice is child centred and strengths based, recognising each child as an individual with their own voice, rights, and aspirations.
Our Short Breaks Service benefits from consistent wrap‑around support from experienced managers committed to staff development and wellbeing. We work collaboratively with families and partner agencies to deliver high quality Child in Need plans for children accessing overnight short breaks, promoting inclusion, safety, and positive outcomes.
Our office in Hotwells provides a dedicated, accessible workspace. As an office based team, we value the connection, stability, and collaborative culture this brings enabling reflective practice, strong team relationships, and day today peer support.
About Bristol
Bristol is a diverse, vibrant city with strong communities and a long‑standing commitment to equality and social justice. Our Disabled Children Service is proud to reflect the diversity of the city we serve, working respectfully and inclusively with families from a wide range of backgrounds and identities.
You can learn more about our city by exploring our short film, “We Are Bristol Now.”
The Role
We are seeking an experienced Social Worker to join our Review and Reassessment Team. You will manage a caseload of children and young people with varied disabilities and support needs, who access an overnight short break. Your duties will include undertaking statutory social work in line with legislation and local procedures.
You will also provide monthly supervision and case support to two Child in Need Keyworkers within the team.
Key Responsibilities:
- Completing child and family assessments
- Working with children in need who are in receipt of overnight short breaks
- Undertaking child protection work if concerns arise for a child already open to the team
- Developing, reviewing, and evaluating care and support plans
- Working collaboratively with families, schools, health colleagues, and partner agencies
- Promoting inclusive, anti‑oppressive, rights‑based practice
- Contributing to a supportive, reflective team culture
- Supervising and supporting two Child in Need Keyworkers
- Ensuring statutory timescales for assessments, visits, and reviews are met
- Ensuring work with disabled children and families is meaningful, proportionate, and effective
About You
You will:
- Be a qualified Social Worker registered with Social Work England
- Have at least two years post qualifying experience
- Have experience working with children and families
- Have experience working with or supporting disabled children
- Be committed to strengths‑based, inclusive practice
- Communicate respectfully and effectively with children, young people, and families
- Be organised, reflective, and able to manage competing priorities
What We Offer
- Generous Rewards: Enjoy a competitive rewards package, featuring competitive pay, an exceptional Local Government Pension scheme, and a generous annual leave allowance. Explore more about our benefits on our social work microsite here
- Unrivalled Career Development: Join an innovative and forward-looking organisation with an excellent training and progression program tailored for social workers.
- Regular supervision and strong management support
- A supportive team environment that values reflective practice
Practice Frameworks and Approaches
Our work in Bristol is underpinned by a range of recognised, evidence informed approaches:
- Signs of Safety – our framework for assessing and responding to harm
- Systemic Practice – supporting understanding of complexity in children’s and families’ lives
- Relationship Based Practice – strengthening relationships and social connectedness
- Contextual Safeguarding – assessing and responding to harm outside the family context
Salary: Social Worker (BG12): £42,839 – £46,142, Senior Social Worker (BG13): £47,181 – £50,269.
Please note: this role is subject to an Enhanced DBS Check.
Please note at this time we are not offering sponsorship for this position.
How do I apply?
If you share our values and are ready to be part of our exciting journey please select the apply button below.
We're a Disability Confident employer which means we value recruiting and retaining disabled people. Any job applicants who consider themselves to be disabled and meet the essential criteria in the Person Specification are guaranteed an interview. We'll make reasonable adjustments throughout the interview process and provide continued workplace support throughout your career.
Applications close on: Tuesday 5th May 2026.
Shortlisting: Wednesday 6th May 2026.
Interviews: Thursday 14th and Friday 15th May 2026. Interviews will be in person and you must be available to attend on these dates.
For further details, please refer to the Job Description and Person Specification, or contact: Hannah.Dancey@bristol.gov.uk
Bristol City Council strives to have a workforce that reflects the communities it serves, we are therefore committed to ensuring diversity in our hiring process. We welcome, develop and promote people from all sections of the community. Appointments will be made on merit.
The personal information section (including your name) you’ll complete as part of the application form will not be visible to hiring managers, but is used confidentially to make sure that everyone is treated fairly.