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About Us:

THE EXTRAORDINARY STORY OF KAKOLI’S PASSION AND DRIVE

 

Children’s Services in Westminster City Council is a world of extraordinary stories. Where inspirational people like Kakoli are dedicated to encouraging everyone they work with to be the very best they can be.

 

Ever since she was a child, Kakoli has believed that children are the ones who’ll change the world for the better. Who’ll create the future we all wish for. And she always knew her calling was to get on the front line and help those who might not be as fortunate as herself.

 

Driven and passionate about making a difference, she first joined Westminster as a Social Work Assistant, and her managers immediately saw she had huge potential, so they encouraged her to apply to study for a degree in social work. She passed with flying colours, and over the next fourteen years worked as a frontline Social Worker, a Senior Social Worker, a Deputy Service Manager and is now one of our Service Managers.

 

Kakoli’s vision is as clear now as it was all those years ago – to encourage and support children, and help them grow in safe, vibrant communities. Her achievements are many, but she’s most proud of the fact that these days Westminster doesn’t ‘do things for families’ but ‘does things with families’. And she believes this huge but subtle difference to the way we work has allowed thousands of children in Westminster to fulfil their potential and live their dreams.

The Role:

As a Best Start Parenting Practitioner with our children’s Services Parenting Team, you can make your own powerful contribution to the lives of young children and their families.  Joining a sector-leading Early Help Service that’s rated Outstanding, you’ll be responsible for the delivery, organisation and coordination of parenting programmes, updating case notes on our database and occasionally writing reports. Making an important contribution to team meetings and the recording of parental engagement, you’ll have a strong focus on improving the lives of some of the most vulnerable children in our communities by enabling their families to look after them successfully as they grow into adulthood.

 

Our aim is to develop strength and resilience in parents, and providing high quality support to parents and children from pregnancy to age 5. We achieve this by promoting and contributing to equiping families to care safely for their children. We maintain small caseloads, an approach that allows practitioners to build and develop positive, effective relationships with families that enable them to build on their strengths.

 

To support this ambition, we keep children and families at the heart of everything we do, promote a culture of respect, discussion, openness and challenge, and maintain a system in which we remain curious and open to different possibilities. To help us achieve this vision we’ll expect you to develop your career as you participate in relevant training, ensure our equal opportunities policy is fully implemented in your professional practice, keep up-to-speed with government legislation and departmental policies, and treat people with respect and dignity in a non-discriminatory manner.

 

Please refer to the Job Description for more information.

About You:

To be a success in this important role you will have proven experience of delivering parenting programmes to families, as well as working individually with vulnerable families. In your career to date, you’ve worked with families subject to Child Protection and Children in Need Plans.

 

You understand how to identify risk and need to children when parents’ capacity is impaired by factors such as substance misuse, domestic violence and mental health difficulties. And you’re used to working across linguistic and cultural barriers.

 

Experience of providing and presenting reports, in person and in writing, to case conferences and in court proceedings is vital.

 

With the ability to work across cultural and linguistic barriers, you should have the skills to identify risks to children stemming from parenting capacity impaired by substance misuse, domestic violence, conflict or mental health issues. We’ll also look for the confidence to report and provide evidence in formal settings such as Family Proceedings courts and Child Protection case conferences.

 

Westminster City Council is committed to supporting Care Leavers into the workplace. Care Leavers seeking their first job and who wish to be considered under our scheme, will automatically be invited to interview should they meet the essential criteria for the role.

What We Offer: