Slough Children First are seeking a skilled and motivated social work qualified professional to lead the delivery of our social work development programmes, including Assessed and Supported Year in Employment (ASYE), Step Up to Social Work, student placements, Frontline, and Social Work Apprenticeships. You will ensure these pathways are delivered to a consistently high standard, supporting the development of confident, capable practitioners.
Working in partnership with Human Resources, you will play a key role in recruitment, retention, and workforce sustainability, helping to attract and retain high-quality social workers in line with the Slough Children First (SCF) workforce strategy. As an ambassador for the Academy, you will promote its values and vision, embedding them across all learning and development activity.
You will maintain high professional standards, ensuring staff wellbeing, manageable caseloads, effective supervision, and access to learning opportunities. You will also lead on induction, embedding SCF’s practice model and expectations from the outset, whilst taking timely action where standards fall short.
As our Practice Lead, you will support and develop managers and Practice Educators, overseeing a strong pool of practice educators and ensuring high-quality supervision, assessment, and learning planning. You will also manage performance and participant progression, working with HR to address any capability or learning concerns through reviews, coaching, and targeted interventions.
You will monitor and evaluate programme effectiveness, providing insight and recommendations to drive continuous improvement, as well as build strong partnerships with universities and professional networks, promote a positive learning culture, and deliver workshops and training that strengthen practice and workforce capability.
We work on a hybrid basis, with a minimum of 3 days per week based in the office.
If you’re looking for a new challenge and want to be part of an exciting journey to turn children’s services around in Slough, then come and join us. In return, we can offer you:
Slough is one of the UK’s most diverse and well‑connected towns, offering a vibrant place to live and work just outside London. Ongoing regeneration and investment have enhanced local amenities, public spaces and employment opportunities, while the cost of living remains more affordable than central London. With direct trains to Central London in under 20 minutes and excellent road links via the M4, M25 and M40, Slough is an accessible and welcoming location to build your career.
Our Values and Commitment
We are driven by our vision to ensure Happy, Safe & Loved, Thriving children and young people. Our work is guided by strong values — being child focused, honest and respectful, improving constantly, looking ahead, and delivering together.
We are looking for people who share these values and are passionate about making a positive difference. In return, we offer a supportive, inclusive environment where collaboration, learning and care truly matter.
If this reflects who you are, we would love to hear from you!
Observatory House, 25 Windsor Road, Slough, Berkshire, United Kingdom
SL1 2EL