Designated Social Care Officer (FTC to 30/04/2026)

We have an exciting opportunity to work across Children’s Social Care as a Designated Social Care officer for SEND.

(This is a fixed term role for maternity cover until 30th April 2026)

We are seeking a qualified Social Worker with considerable experience of working with children with SEND and their families, who can engage with children and their parents, work effectively with partners, be reliable, and provide ambition for children with SEND.

Key to success will be your ability to negotiate with and influence others and to build and nurture effective partnerships, working collaboratively with a wide range of stakeholders across the Local Authority and maximising opportunities for co-production with parents/carers and partners in education and health. You will represent Bracknell Forest Council’s Children’s Services at key regional and national events and will be a source of expert professional advice on SEND reforms relating to social care within the borough and will seek to learn nationally from the evidence base of best practice.

If you are looking to work in a team that is inclusive, ambitious, and always learning, we would welcome your application to join us.

About the team...

We are a small and friendly local authority.  The leaders and managers know that it is essential for social care workers to have a secure physical and psychological base from which to be the best workers they can be.  Working collaboratively with families to keep them together, where it is safe to do so, is at the heart of our embedded Family Safeguarding Model and our approach is underpinned by Motivational Interviewing (MI) across all of our social care teams.

The Children’s Specialist Support Team (CSST) is a highly skilled team working with children who have disabilities and/or complex health needs. We are an experienced, friendly and supportive team who focus on ensuring that children are at the centre of all we do.

Our workforce tells us:

• There is a supportive and approachable leadership and management team.
• All teams offer each other good peer support; there is a strong focus on shared problem solving.
• They feel appreciated and their development is prioritised.
• Supervision is of high quality, reflective and routinely provided.

Key responsibilities...

This role will strategically lead in framing and developing social care elements of the SEND strategy across the local authority, and strengthen collaborative working between Education, Health and Social Care, ensuring compliance with legislative requirements of the SEND Code of Practice (2015), and that statutory responsibilities under the Children and Family Act (2014) and Care Act (2014) are met.

The role will directly inform and influence the direction of wider SEND services through intelligence and insight. The DSCO will have in-depth knowledge and understanding of both social care processes and the SEND reforms agenda and will look to strengthen practice and generate solutions.

The DSCO will report to the Head of Children’s Specialist Support but work across all of Children’s Social Care to ensure that the outcomes for children and young people with SEND, are maximised by working to improve quality of life, school attendance, social care provision, personal autonomy and involvement in further education and employment, independent living and community inclusion. The DSCO will also work closely with and support colleagues in Adult Social Care, supporting them to meet their statutory duties for young people with SEND aged 18-25.

Our benefits...

• 28 days* annual leave increasing to 33 days* after 3 years’ continuous service.
• The opportunity to buy up to 10 additional days* annual leave per year and sell 5 days.
• Hybrid working opportunities to support your wellbeing and work-life balance. 
• An inclusive and social working environment with a variety of staff networks. 
• Local government pension scheme.
• Life insurance cover (linked to the pension scheme)
• Sports and social club. 
• Enhanced maternity, paternity, adoption and fostering leave. 
• Career development through internal and external training opportunities. 
• A great office location next to travel links and Bracknell Forest’s thriving town centre. 
• Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to support your health and wellbeing. 
• Staff dental and health plans. 
• Discounted leisure centre and gym membership. 
• Supermarket discount. 

Our Values...

At Bracknell Forest Council our values define who we are and what is important to us.  Our core values are inclusive, ambitious, and always learning. These values influence the way we work with each other and the way we serve our residents and engage with our communities. We make our values real by demonstrating them in how we behave every day. If you’re excited about joining a diverse team that celebrates learning and strives for excellence, we’d love to hear from you. 

We are committed to ensuring an inclusive recruitment process for all applicants. If you require any reasonable adjustments to support your application or interview, please let us know by contacting recruitment@bracknell-forest.gov.uk.  We will work with you to support you throughout the process.  

Interview date

Interviews will be held on Friday 31st January 2025.

Interviews will be conducted in person, providing candidates with the chance to personally meet the team and experience our work environment.

We will be reviewing applications regularly and reserve the right to close the advert early if suitable candidates are identified. To avoid disappointment, you are advised to submit your application as soon as possible.

Please note AI is prohibited during the interview, any candidate using AI will be withdrawn from consideration.

Want to ask us a question?

For an informal discussion or to ask any questions about this role, please contact:

Lou Richer, Head of Children’s Specialist Family Safeguarding

Tel.:  01344 353112

Email: Lou.Richer@bracknell-forest.gov.uk

 

At Bracknell Forest we champion equality, diversity and inclusion. At Bracknell Forest Council, we are always learning, ambition and inclusive. Please see our candidate pack for more details.

Bracknell Forest Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. We expect everyone employed with us to share this commitment. All successful candidates for this role will be subject to a DBS (Disclosure & Barring Service) check as part of our pre-employment checks process.

Any successful internal candidate will be offered the position as a secondment and, in line with Section 8.1 of the Secondment Policy, must consult with their manager before applying.

 Candidates should be able to demonstrate experience of working within the current Social Care System and Framework.

Social Work England registration fees can be claimed back from the Council. 

We can only accept applications from candidates currently residing in the UK.

Candidates currently residing in the UK who require sponsorship to work are encouraged to assess their eligibility for a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) based on the relevant criteria. Please be aware that sponsorship availability varies and is subject to eligibility requirements and budget limitations. As a result, we cannot guarantee sponsorship for all roles and will evaluate sponsorship requests on a case-by-case basis.

No agencies please.