Barking and Dagenham is a borough in East London, with a population of over 210,000; the borough is distinct, with a mix of cultures and backgrounds.
Barking and Dagenham is known for its rich history and heritage, including the ruins of Barking Abbey, which date back to the 7th century. The borough also has a number of parks and green spaces, including Barking Park, which is one of the oldest in the country, and the award-winning Parsloes Park.
There are many cultural attractions in the area, including Eastbury Manor House and the Broadway Theatre, which hosts a range of performances throughout the year. Transport links in Barking & Dagenham are strong, with the District Line running through the Borough, as well as a number of National Rail stations; the A13 road runs through the borough and provides access to the M25 motorway.
Our borough is vibrant and diverse, and this is something we are proud of. We value the diversity of people who live, work, and visit Barking and Dagenham and it is our vision to create a place where people understand, respect, and celebrate each other’s differences.
There has never been a more exciting time to join us at Barking and Dagenham Council – we have achieved Gold Investors in People accreditation and were shortlisted for PPMA Excellence in People Management Awards 2022, demonstrating our investment in and commitment to our staff. We are always on the lookout for Social Work applicants who are eager to achieve more.
We are putting the heart back into social work, and supported by our CARES Relational Practice Model, we ensure the child’s daily experiences take centre stage. We need committed individuals to support us in the delivery of these aims and to become part of our team to make a difference to our children and families.
The Council recognises the value of flexible and dispersed working in maximising the productivity of our workforce, and in enhancing the work/life balance for our staff. This covers flexibility in the way people work, in the workspaces we provide, and flexibility in working patterns. We provide the necessary IT and equipment so staff can work from any location that meets the needs of the vulnerable people we support.
We have a career progression framework, to assist Social Workers in developing their professional competence and pay grade giving a clear route for progression and how to reach career aspirations and goals.
Whatever your role with Barking and Dagenham, you can be sure that you will learn lots whilst growing and developing professionally.
We believe that having the right practice ethos will mean that all our relationships and the outcomes for those we work to serve, will be the best possible. Please look at our CARES Practice Framework.
New Town Culture is part of our offer to practitioners, children and young people to support direct work, the voice of the child, more understanding of cultural identity, intersectionality and professional curiosity. New Town Culture promotes an accredited ‘Creative Social Work’ approach through training, tools, group supervision and interventions that deploy culture and creativity in all areas of social work. In our Specialist Intervention Service our team of Play Therapists lead on therapeutic approaches to direct work and life journey work which can inform your practice.
This video will give you a taste of the Artistic work NTC have brought into the borough.
Career progression planning matrices and Personal Development plans for all social workers, YJS practitioners and other non-social work roles
A bespoke offer of mentoring/coaching for all Team Managers from Service Managers as part of their progression
A bespoke offer of coaching for staff by the Principal Social Worker
A corporate mentoring offer available to all staff
Shadowing and internal transfer opportunities for all staff so that a culture of internal movement between services can be promoted as part of retention
A robust ASYE programme as part of the NE London partnership with bespoke training schedule and plan
An Early Professional Development offer
New bespoke ways of training for time poor staff, including bitesize sessions and podcasts. Subjects such as Courageous Conversations and Professional Curiosity are covered.
New Trauma Informed training
Practice Educator, ASYE and other staff forums, to give a focus on development within your role.
A monthly management development forum called Children’s Leaders Improving Practice focusing on consistent oversight and improvement.
Action Learning sets for all managers to focus on reflective supervision as part of your development
A corporate leadership development course for all frontline managers and aspiring staff, including bespoke development for Global Majority managers.
A Child Practitioner Council for staff wanting to step up into representing their service to the Director of CS
Innovative links to Research in Practice and other service-related forums for e.g., CORAM and LASC.
Qualified Social Worker roles will also receive a recruitment and retention allowance of £2,500 with your first salary payment and an annual £2,500 retention payment (terms and conditions apply). We have a range of other there are a range of other benefits available to Barking & Dagenham employees, including:
flexible working (including “condensed hours”, flexi-time, part and term-time working)
up to 32 days annual leave
Local Government Pension Scheme
support for employees with caring responsibilities
support for employees who are members of the armed forces reserves or adult cadet volunteers
workplace adjustments for employees with a disability or long-term medical conditions
Mental health and wellbeing have never been discussed in so much depth as in recent years with some high-profile media contexts attracting attention, but how do we respond to this within the work we do?
Here at LBBD CSC we are partnering with our Occupational health colleagues to bring wide-ranging topics on how to develop coping strategies and resilience. Please do have a look at some of the subject areas below:
Building resilience
Burn-out
Handling pressure
Relationship management
Managing change
Stress awareness/grounding exercise
Grief and loss- vicarious trauma/triggering/separation
Perimenopause and menopause
Men’s mental health
EASE (Disability)
Graduates and trainees
LGBT+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual and Transgender)
Maternity
Menopause
STARE (Standing Against Racism and Exclusion​)
Womens’
Trade unions
We CARE that you feel heard in LBBD while with us on your practitioner journey. You bring uniqueness to your role which we value and part of that is the areas of your identity; this could be your gender, sexuality, race and ethnicity, religion, abilities etc.
We are leading the way with our Black Lives Matter Action Plan including new innovative advanced empathy "Yourself in My Shoes" sessions to imagine a day in the life of a Global Majority member of staff, where we address micro-aggressions and build allyship.
appraisals
learning and development opportunities
mentoring
credit union membership
cycle purchase scheme
discounted gym membership
retail, holiday and travel discounts with our Wider Wallet scheme
season ticket and travel loans
As part of our CARES framework, we have a CARES- Feel Good Friday where we have nominations for practitioners who demonstrate our CARES values and priorities. This helps us develop a community of practice, where praise is at the centre.
We are proud to say the below boxing club was started by our own Leaving Care Advisors, building participation for those young people leaving our care.
If you have any questions regarding children's social work in Barking & Dagenham, please contact us via email socialcarereruitment@lbbd.gov.uk