About Us

North Somerset Council is committed to providing high-quality services to our community. We are committed to creating a fair, green, and more inclusive environment for all our residents. Join us and contribute to making a positive impact on our community.

The Role

Supervising Social Worker (Liaison Officer – Mockingbird Programme)

We are seeking a dedicated and experienced Supervising Social Worker to join our Fostering Team. The team is responsible for the support and supervision of North Somerset foster carers to ensure they are equipped to meet the needs of our children in care. This role will predominantly focus on supporting and developing the Mockingbird Hubs within our service.

We currently have three established Mockingbird Hubs, with a fourth hub going live in March 2026 and plans to establish a fifth by May 202, subject to the recruitment of a Hub Carer. The continued expansion of the Mockingbird programme represents a significant achievement for the Local Authority and will positively impact placement stability, carer resilience and peer support networks.

In this role, you will play a central part in ensuring foster carers meet the National Minimum Standards and provide a consistently high standard of care to our most vulnerable children. The ability to balance appropriate professional challenge with meaningful support is essential.

Core Responsibilities – Supervising Social Worker

• Provide regular, reflective supervision to allocated foster carers and maintain consistent contact with carers, children, and children’s social workers.
• Undertake regular home visits, including a minimum of two unannounced visits per year, alongside ongoing communication with professionals and significant individuals in the child or young person’s life.
• Support foster carers to attend and contribute to professional meetings, assist with report writing, and ensure accurate and appropriate record keeping.
• Work collaboratively with foster carers and children’s social workers to manage and, where appropriate, maintain contact arrangements between children and their birth families.
• Identify and coordinate training and development opportunities to support carers in meeting National Minimum Standards and achieving their individual learning goals.
• Complete balanced annual foster carer reviews, present reviews at fostering panel, and contribute to Standards of Care or allegation reports where required.
• Undertake fostering duty tasks, including family finding for children requiring Local Authority care.
• Provide practical and emotional support to foster carers and colleagues to reduce the risk of placement breakdown and promote stability.

Mockingbird Liaison Responsibilities

In addition to a caseload that is reflective of the tasks undertaken, this role will have a dedicated focus on the Mockingbird programme.

Each constellation consists of 6–10 fostering households who are supported by a Hub Carer. The Supervising Social Worker will:

• Provide formal supervision to Hub Carers at least every four weeks, offering reflective, strengths-based and solution-focused support. These sessions may be extended in response to complex constellation dynamics.
• Offer enhanced support to newly established constellations, including additional visits, attendance at hub meetings and coffee mornings, and increased availability during implementation phases.
• Respond promptly to queries and concerns raised by Hub Carers and constellation members as they develop confidence within the model.
• Support the inclusion of kinship carers within constellations, offering guidance to sensitively manage complex or confidential issues.
• Promote relationship-building across fostering households, encouraging engagement from foster carers, fostered children, birth children, and children subject to Special Guardianship Orders.
• Ensure fidelity to the Mockingbird Model and compliance with standards set by The Fostering Network and the Department for Education.
• Contribute to the sustainability, quality assurance and strategic development of the programme as it expands to five constellations.

Impact of the Role

The early formation of a constellation requires intensive support to establish trust, shared responsibility and strong peer relationships between fostering households. The Supervising Social Worker will play a critical role in scaffolding this development and ensuring that hubs remain stable, compliant and effective.

By supporting both individual foster carers and the wider Mockingbird constellations, this role will directly contribute to improved placement stability, enhanced carer confidence and better outcomes for children in care.

This position requires excellent supervisory and assessment skills, strong relationship-building capabilities, resilience in managing complexity, and a commitment to delivering high standards of fostering practice within an innovative and evolving service.

This position is exempt under the provisions of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions) Order 1975 and is subject to an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check.

Valid driving licence and own transport, or be able to provide alternative, suitable method of travel is an essential condition for this role.

 

Work Style

At North Somerset Council, we offer a hybrid working environment based on four distinct work styles. Depending on the role and personal circumstances, you will fall into one of these categories. However, please note that during the induction period, it may be necessary to spend more time in the office to support your learning and development. We are flexible and open to discussions about your preferred working style, and if you wish to be in the office more frequently, this can be negotiated.

This role falls into the category of Flexible Worker which means you can expect to work in the following way:

• 2 days in the office
• Works both from home and the office, depending on the task at hand.
• Training is provided to help balance work-life and manage time effectively, with an emphasis on communication for team touchpoints and planning in-office days for collaboration.

 

About You

We are looking for an individual who is passionate about fostering and who possesses the following skills and experience:

Essential Criteria:

• Has a Social Work Degree and is registered with Social Work England
• Work experience within a fostering team, service users and social care professionals
• Experience of writing balanced reports and in-depth foster carer reviews
• Confident in preparing and present reports to foster panel
• Excellent ICT, communication and organisational skills
• Experience and knowledge of the Fostering National Minimum Standards
• Knowledge and experience of using strengths-based approaches, restorative practice and knowledge of Mockingbird Model
• Ability to recognise when support is needed and respond proportionally to crisis

Desirable Criteria:

• Has worked in a Local Authority who adopts the Mockingbird Model
• Experience of working with the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO)
• Experience of attending a foster panel
• Experience of writing a safeguarding report e.g. standards of care/allegation report
• Worked within a child protection/safeguarding team

 

What We Offer

At North Somerset Council, we value our employees and provide a supportive and inclusive work environment.

We offer:

• Competitive salary and benefits
• Flexible working arrangements
• Local Government Pension
• Opportunities for professional development
• Inclusive Staff groups including Carers, Disabled, LGBTQ+, REACH (Race, Ethnicity, and Cultural Heritage), and Young Staff Forums
• Opportunity to purchase up to an additional 10 days annual leave each year
• Dedicated in house Wellbeing Team
• Salary sacrifice Cycle to Work and Electric Vehicle schemes

Further details of our excellent rewards package can be found in our Benefits booklet.

How to Apply

If you share our vision and values and are ready to make an impact to North Somerset, please select the apply online button below. If you are interested in this exciting opportunity, please submit your application by 11.59pm on the application closing date. When completing our online application form, please detail how you meet the essential criteria for the role.

Contact Information

For further information about the role, please contact the Fostering Team Manager Louisa Loveridge at louisa.loveridge@n-somerset.gov.uk or 07385373086

Important Information

As a Disability Confident Leader, we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the job role.

Interview Date: Thursday 27 March 2025. This will be in person at the Town Hall in Weston Super Mare. However, please get in touch if you would prefer an alternative date or need this to be on Microsoft Teams in order to attend online.

Please note: We are currently only able to accept applications from candidates who have full permission to work in the UK.

Equal Opportunities

At North Somerset Council we want all our employees to feel valued and appreciated.  We aim to ensure equality of opportunity and prevent discrimination irrespective of your sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion or belief, race, age, disability, including neurodiversity, if you are married or in a civil partnership or are pregnant or currently on maternity leave.  We strive to create a workplace that reflects the communities we serve and where everyone feels empowered to bring their full, authentic selves to work. 

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expect all our staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

We reserve the right to close this advertisement early or extend the closing date depending on the number of applications received.