Social Worker in School
- Job title: Social Worker in School
- Job Type: Permanent, Part-Time (2 days per week)
- Salary: £16,000 per annum (FTE £50,000)
- Department: Safeguarding
- Reporting to: Director of Safeguarding
- Location: Highgate, London
- Start: ASAP
- Closing Date: 1 July 2024 at 5:00 pm
Highgate created the role of Director of Safeguarding, separate from the Deputy Head (Pastoral) at the start of 2022. This followed a period of unprecedented challenge for schools and young people following the ‘Everyone’s Invited’ movement, during which Highgate engaged with its many stakeholder groups, including statutory agencies. The Governors commissioned an Independent Review, led by The Rt Hon Dame Anne Rafferty DBE PC, a former Lady Justice of Appeal. One significant response to these challenges was the School’s commitment to increasing its provision in the area of safeguarding and child protection, leading to the creation of a new role, Director of Safeguarding. This role has recently been filled by the appointment of one of our pastoral managers, who has extensive background in pastoral care and teaching. The Director of Safeguarding reports to the Deputy Head (Pastoral) and, through them, to the Head and to Governors. We are now seeking to appoint a Social Worker on a part-time basis to support the Director of Safeguarding and bring social work expertise into the school setting.
THE ROLE
The successful candidate will be responsible for assisting in the management of safeguarding cases of all pupils in the School, including in the Junior School and Pre-Prep. The appointee will be required to continue to develop the strategy relating to safeguarding, managing its delivery to help create a safe environment for our pupils, and ensuring that all stakeholders are able to and feel comfortable to raise any concerns.
This is an excellent opportunity to join the Safeguarding and Pastoral team within an award-winning charity. If you are interested in being part of one of this country’s top independent schools, where kindness is at the heart of what we do, then this is an ideal opportunity for you.
We would be interested to receive applications from those with a background in relevant social, health or child protection services. No teaching would be expected within the role.
It is likely that we will be in touch soon after the deadline to invite a shortlist of candidates to interview towards the end of week beginning 24 June.
MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES
Main duties:
- To work with pupils and families who are in contact with children’s services, supporting them before, during and following referrals
- To support school staff with decision-making relating to safeguarding cases
- To act as a liaison with children’s services in each of the relevant boroughs (e.g. Haringey, Camden, Islington, Barnet, Hackney), including making referrals where appropriate, and fostering good relations
- To develop relationships with local police
- To maintain and monitor excellent records of safeguarding concerns and decisions using CPOMS
- To work with the wider pupil and family community to reduce stigma associated with children’s services
- To assist in overseeing relevant policy updates
- To undertake regular training, including attending meetings of the Haringey SWiS team, and share best practice with the Highgate community
- To deliver limited staff training on safeguarding matters
- To work with the Head of Pupil Health and Wellbeing to ensure the counselling and wellbeing services are aligned to contextual safeguarding issues and safeguarding best practice
- To contribute to the annual safeguarding audit and help ensure all suggestions are taken forward
- As needed, to assist in the process of sharing and gathering pupil information for leavers and joiners
- To help fulfil the obligations regarding the PREVENT Duty and be a point of contact for any queries; to help train staff to enable them to protect pupils from radicalization
- As needed, to assist the Director of Safeguarding in reviewing and improving any aspects of the PSHEE curriculum that pertain to safeguarding
These duties and responsibilities are intended as a guide. They are not exhaustive: the Social Worker in School will be expected to undertake any reasonable task or responsibility as required by the Director of Safeguarding or Deputy Head (Pastoral).
- Criteria
- How will these be tested or verified?
- Qualifications and Experience
- A minimum of three years’ (preferably five) experience as a Social Worker
- A qualification in Social Work or equivalent
- In-depth knowledge and understanding of Working Together to Safeguard Children and Keeping Children Safe in Education legislation
- Preferably, experience within a school setting
- Preferably, experience and training in the Triple P programme
- Skills and Abilities
- Experience of liaising with external Safeguarding partners, such as health professionals, social workers and Police
- Ability to work collaboratively and build teams, but also to work independently
- Transferable experience of, or an insightful empathy with, the particular demands on pupils and staff of a busy and ambitious school
- Very effective, clear communication skills, both written and spoken
- Ability to work swiftly and accurately at times or under pressure while retaining an overall ‘bigger picture’
- Knowledge and understanding of and/or an interest in the benefits information technology can bring to efficient working and good learning
- Evidence of a commitment to ongoing professional development
- Attitude and Behaviours
- A commitment to co-education in a selective and academically ambitious School
- A personality which inspires respect, affection and trust
- A critical sympathy with the aims and ethos of the School, which combine an inherent Christian tradition with a determination to be a tolerant, inclusive and diverse modern community
- A style of working and a professional intelligence which engender ambition, high standards and critical self-reflection in others
- Reserves of energy, stamina and patience which will allow the post-holder to deal with their portfolio reliably and efficiently
- The highest levels of integrity, emotional intelligence and personal resilience to deal with a range of challenging circumstances faced by pupils, families and staff
- Willingness to work flexibly (in terms of time and location) to meet the needs of the role
- Excellent judgement, particularly when facing challenging or pressurised situations
- The ability to make difficult decisions and to mobilise support for these
- Determination to ensure the safety and well-being of each individual child by expecting, and insisting upon, the highest standards of safeguarding and pastoral care
- Ability to model kindness to self and others
Benefits
Location | Highgate Village, adjacent to Hampstead Heath, with quaint shops and easy connections across London.
Pension | AVIVA workplace pension scheme offered with a generous 26% employer contribution, with the ability to flex up to 16% of this as additional non-pensionable salary, employees contribute a minimum of 5%.
Personal development | Comprehensive induction support for new staff. Focus on continued professional development for all employees.
Leisure facilities | Free access, at stipulated times, to our sports facilities, including a fitness suite and swimming pool (recently refurbished).
Lunch | A complimentary lunch.
Help with sustainable travel | Access to the Cycle to Work Scheme and a Season Ticket Loan scheme for public transport.
Family-friendly policies | Highgate appreciates that employees sometimes have family commitments so we try to be as supportive as possible, for example with enhanced maternity pay (8 weeks’ full pay, then 10 weeks’ half pay) and paid dependant leave.
Working at Highgate
A culture of community, kindness and belonging
Highgate is a caring, open-minded community, where we promote kindness, empathy and friendship. Everyone who works and studies with us deserves to feel they are part of a welcoming environment that enables them to be themselves and to thrive as individuals.
Our community extends beyond the school, through partnerships, charity work and our commitment to equality, inclusion and sustainability. All members of our school community are encouraged to look outwards and play an active role.
In a recent ISI inspection (Dec 2021), it was noted that “Pupils show exceptional respect for, and appreciate diversity within the school and wider community, and their own and other cultures, demonstrating sensitivity and tolerance to those from different backgrounds and traditions.”
Staff wellbeing
Highgate is committed to staff wellbeing, which we promote by encouraging a strong work-life balance; trying our best to support flexible working requests; providing a nutritious complimentary lunch in the dining hall; and offering access to sporting facilities including our recently renovated swimming pool.
The Staff Wellbeing Committee, with representatives across the School, meets regularly to drive forward initiatives, and a selection of staff have been trained as Mental-Health First Aiders.
We encourage an open culture throughout our school, with regular staff surveys, action committees and opportunities to feedback. We strive for continual learning and improvement, and staff training and development is paramount. There are opportunities to participate in the wider life of our school, such as taking part in trips or societies and getting involved in partnership projects.
More details about working at Highgate can be found here:
Charitable work and sustainability
As an independent school, we want to use our position as a charity effectively: to make high-quality education accessible to as many children as possible – through our bursary programme at Highgate and through our work with local state schools. We have partnerships with over 60 state schools across 7 London boroughs, and we are the principal educational sponsor for London Academy of Excellence, Tottenham – an academically-selective state sixth form in a community where such opportunities are lacking.
Alongside this, our staff and pupils undertake charitable activities throughout the year. These range from staff giving up their time to neighbourhood schools and charitable organisations, focused fundraising campaigns, to pupils undertaking community work in the local area or further afield.
As a school, we have a central role to play in educating our pupils, staff and parents about the importance of environmental sustainability. We are taking positive action to adapt our operational performance to tackle the negative effects of climate change. We encourage all our staff to reflect upon their personal and professional practices, to support our environmental agenda and to make positive changes wherever possible.
Application procedure
- Closing Date: 1st July 2024
- Timing of interviews: June 28th 2024
Contact: Please contact the Recruitment Team
Early Application: Applications will be considered ‘as and when’ received and we may close the vacancy if we appoint before the closing date.
Apply hereInclusion
We know that more diverse teams are stronger teams, and that the more inclusive we are, the more our staff and pupils will feel a sense of belonging and will thrive. To enable us to make reasonable adjustments, please let us know of any disabilities (including neuro-divergence) when you submit your application.
Safeguarding
As this role will have regular unsupervised contact with children you must, if appointed, comply with Highgate’s Safeguarding Policy and Staff Code of Conduct. If in the course of carrying out the duties of the post the post holder becomes aware of any actual or potential risks to the safety and welfare of our pupils, these concerns must be reported immediately in accordance with the Safeguarding Policy. If whilst in the post, Highgate becomes aware of any safeguarding concerns to staff, pupils or the community; these will need to be followed up in line with the safeguarding policy and code of conduct which is underpinned by KCSE and other legislation. These concerns may need to be shared with other agencies. A copy of these policies will accompany all offers of employment. Training will also be provided to all staff to support Safeguarding practice.
Please read before you apply
Highgate is committed to the safeguarding and welfare of children and applicants must be willing to undergo child protection screening appropriate to this post, including checks with past employers, the Disclosure and Barring Service and overseas police check if necessary. Candidates from overseas must provide information about their past conduct, for example, by providing documents issued by overseas teaching authorities. DBS Privacy Policies
Please note that this role is ‘exempt’ from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore, you are required to declare any convictions, cautions, reprimands and final warnings that are not ‘protected’ (i.e. filtered out) as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2013). Shortlisted candidates will be asked to provide details of all unspent convictions and those that would not be filtered, prior to the date of the interview. DBS Code of Practice
In accordance with the latest guidance from KCSIE, we shall be conducting online searches on any candidates who are shortlisted.