Life Story Practitioner - Children’s Social Care

Children Looked After (x1 Post) & 16+ Independence Service (x1 Post)

PO1: starting salary, £40,389 per annum incl. London Weighting

Permanent, Full Time

Hybrid Working - 2 days

We are looking for two talented and experienced Life Story Practitioners to join the Corporate Parenting Service in Lambeth.

You will work across the journey of the child, supporting them to understand their story and supporting social workers to understand and develop their direct and life story work skills.

Across our children’s social care service, we have adopted the practice model ‘Signs of Safety’ to support our work with children, families and communities from the front door and early help right through to our 16+ independence service.

Our approach is driven by a focus on relationships, enabling and supporting change for families openly and collaboratively, and promoting children’s development and wellbeing.

About You:

We are looking for experienced practitioners who are committed to this approach and Life Story Work and who possess the skills to help our children in care and care leavers to thrive and flourish.

In this role, you will be responsible for building relationships with children and young people, their social worker and carers, and other relevant agencies to effectively work in partnership. You will coordinate and review Life Story Work in a targeted and systematic way to ensure that all our young people understand their history and so can make better sense of their future.

You will focus on key aspects of the child’s life including their physical, emotional and social welfare. You will promote their individuality including sexuality, religious persuasion, racial origin, gender, and cultural background. This in turn will help them to become more confident in their understanding of their background preparing them for adolescence and into adulthood.

You will have experience in putting together Later in Life letters and Life Appreciation Days and lead in implementing these for our children and young people.

You will possess a recognised qualification in an associated field and have experience of leading group work, working with parents and carers and working with other agencies to support young people.

If you have any queries in relation to this vacancy, please contact Maya Unnikrishnan (Service Manager, 16+ Independence Service) Tel. 020 7926 3915 or Email: munnikrishnan@lambeth.gov.uk or Logan Pillay (Service Manager, Children Looked After) Tel. 0207 926 9432 or Email: Lpillay@lambeth.gov.uk

Why Lambeth:-

• Fantastic, modern working environment in the award-winning Lambeth Town Hall and Civic Centre buildings
• Competitive Salaries
• Up to 35 days annual leave, dependent upon continuous service
• 5 Minutes from London Underground and excellent transport links into the centre of London
• Hybrid/Flexible working
• Cycle to Work Scheme (including City Bike Hire scheme)
• Attractive Local Government Pension Scheme

We are a Stonewall diversity champion; a Living Wage Employer and we guarantee to interview all disabled candidates who meet the minimum criteria of the role. Please click here for a full list of our accreditations.

Successful candidates will be asked to apply for an Enhanced Certificate from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). Further information about the DBS can be found at www.homeoffice.gov.uk/agencies-public-bodies/dbs

In addition, you will also be required to undertake a Cifas check from the Fraud Prevention organisation. Further information can be found here Cifas

Please note we operate an anonymised application process. If you are uploading your CV, please remove your personal details and replace these with your unique candidate application number.

You must upload a Supporting Statement for your application to be considered.

Interested, click on the apply button and complete an on-line application and upload your Supporting Statement, explicitly evidencing how you meet the shortlist criteria marked with an ‘A’ on the job specification.

We actively support applications from Lambeth Care Leavers

Job Description and Specification

Closing Date: Sunday 30th June 2024 at midnight

Lambeth aims for quality services and equal opportunities for all and is committed to safer recruitment