Croydon is London’s largest borough, with 390,000 residents.
Croydon has a vibrant, urban town centre at its heart and a network of district centres each with their own unique identity, stretching from Crystal Palace to Coulsdon. Located on the southern edge of the capital, the borough benefits from excellent transport links to the coast, the city and Gatwick airport, making Croydon a place of opportunity for business, earning and learning.
Known for its iconic skyline and brutalist 1960s architecture, Croydon is also one of London’s greenest boroughs, with 127 stunning parks and open spaces. It has a rich heritage and in Old Town a historic street market, Croydon Minster and medieval place nestle between the skyscrapers. The borough has a thriving arts and music scene; it is renowned as the birthplace of genres from punk to grime, and the home of headliners from Samuel Coleridge-Taylor to Stormzy. Croydon’s year as London Borough of Culture 2023 will see a programme of flagship cultural events as well as hundreds of grassroots activities, celebrating our communities in every corner of the borough.
Croydon’s greatest strength is its people. Our residents are caring, compassionate and principled; we have a committed voluntary sector and strong partnerships. Above all, we’re incredibly proud that we’re home to more under 18s than anywhere else in London and privileged to look after more young people than most other authorities in the UK. Ofsted has rated 92% of Croydon’s schools are rated ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’, and outcomes for children are higher than the national average at the end of Key Stage 1 and 2.
Home to 94,000 children, Croydon is a truly unique place to practice social work. We are a borough with big ambition, grit, and determination. Children's social care was judged ‘good’ in our last Ofsted inspection.
Our systemic practice framework places emphasis on relationships as key to supporting change for families. We make sense of the world through relationships, focusing on the whole family system and thinking about our own part in that too – what we bring, our own family stories and beliefs, how we use ourselves in the work that we do. Our practice model is all about collaboration - with our families, networks and partners; being open to challenge and ensuring our practitioners are highly trained in a variety of intervention approaches.
Our established clinical service will support you to grow your own systemic practice within the service, providing accredited training, co-working and direct work with families.
What makes Croydon special is our people – both within the council and throughout the borough.
Choosing to practice social work in Croydon will give you opportunity to develop, grow, thrive, and strive; it is not just a job but a career. Here are some of the reasons our colleagues like working at Croydon:
Our teams consist of both new and established practitioners, and together they have wide experience that serves the needs of the community and colleagues.
Social worker caseloads are manageable, and access to supervision is a priority; experienced managers will be there to support you in navigating complex issues.
Group supervision takes place in all teams, supported by our clinical service.
Our career progression pathway enables you to progress from newly qualified to advanced social worker, with dedicated support from our Social Care Academy.
Training and development opportunities are plentiful, including our Family Therapy Academy which teaches Year 1 and Year 2 of Systemic Therapy in-house. We offer externally commissioned training in Graded Care Profile 2, motivational interviewing, and extra-familial harm as specialisms.
Senior practitioner roles enable you to earn up to £51,900K. Welcome payments up to £5k for new recruits demonstrate our commitment to permanent staff, plus a retention payment of up to £5k per year.
The opportunity to work from home and work flexibly allows for more work-life balance. Parking permits are provided for home visiting.
For an informal chat about working in Croydon, contact Agata Stolowska: agata.stolowska@croydon.gov.uk