Rachel Watson
Great Bookham, Leatherhead,Surrey
Summary
Experienced Children's Centre Coordinator with a compassionate social work background. Passionate and reliable professional demonstrating strengths in working with people and partnership development. Committed to enhacing individuals and family life by responding to needs, developing innovative projects and support services. Adapts to changing needs through effective communication and collaboration with various stakeholders.
Overview
18
18
years of professional experience
Work History
Children's Centre Coordinator
Bookham Baptist Church
Great Bookham, Surrey
01.2016 - Current
- Coordination of an independent children's centre, ensuring effective service delivery and community engagement, including groups, events, family support work and courses for families.
- Manage teams of volunteers at weekly groups, and organise seasonal events fostering commmunity connections and enhancing family life.
- Delivering support groups and events for families of children with additional needs, and neurodiverse conditions.
- Provided regular line management and supervision for a family support worker, ensuring effective guidance and support.
- Managing the budget of the children's centre in liaison with the finance manager.
- Search out new partnerships with other individuals and organisations to work in partnership to run collaborative projects.
- Designated Safegaurding Lead for the Children's Centre. Carrying out annual reviews of the Safeguarding Policy and being the key point of contact in the organisation for safeguarding matters.
- Communicating with other professionals who are involved in supporting families and carry out Team Around the Family Meetings.
- Triage new referrals and allocate to appropriate organisations, ensuring timely access to support services.
- Carrying out assessments of the needs of families in collaboration with the families themselves to move towards and plan to support them. Regular reviews of family plans.
- Face to face work every week with people of different ages and stages of life. Supporting people with a range of difficulties such as mental health and wellbeing, social and relationships, emotional needs, and parenting challenges.
- Developing our own outcome measure tool and tracking progress using outcome measures
- Grant Applications, monitoring and end of grant feedback to ensure the work of the children's centre is adequately funded.
Early Intervention and Prevention Social Worker
London Borough of Sutton
09.2015 - 12.2015
- Carrying out family assessments of needs, including information gathering from a variety of sources, relevant and up-to-date research.
- Developed tailored support plans for families, ensuring they were SMART.
- Working with families to implement support plans. Reviewing plans to check for progress.
- Took steps to safeguard children and escalated cases to Child Protection as needed.
- Liaising and communicating with professionals in other agencies such as schools, health, and the voluntary sector.
- Analysed relevant information to inform effective decisions.
- Working in line with the Children Act legislation, keeping abreast of any changes.
- Compiled detailed reports and maintained accurate records of case progress.
Social worker - Domestic Violence Community Group
London Borough of Sutton
03.2013 - 09.2015
- Facilitated therapeutic group work sessions using a concurrent model, delivering separate sessions for women and children, to enhance recovery from domestic abuse.
- Co-ordinated Domestic Violence Community Group Programme, a recovery support programme for women and children affected by domestic abuse.
- Prepared resources for weekly group work sessions, ensuring materials were age-appropriate for children and mothers.
Social worker - Children and Families
London Borough of Sutton
09.2008 - 03.2013
- Supported families on Child in Need and Child Protection Plans as a social worker in a Family Centre team.
- Conducted initial and core assessments of children's needs to identify support requirements and inform interventions.
- Prepared reports and attended Child Protection Case Conferences and Court Care Proceedings to develop safety plans ensuring protection from abuse and harm.
- Liased with the Local Authority's legal team to seek legal advice and carry out pre-proceedings legal meetings.
- Carried out muti-agency safeguarding investigations jointly with police, health and education professionals. Worked as part of multidisciplinary team.
- Conducted statutory home visits within rewuired timescales an in accordance with lone working procedures and coordinated joint visits with police and health professionals.
Care Manager
Southampton City Council
Southampton
04.2008 - 07.2008
- Conducted care reviews for adults with learning disabilities, ensuring alignment with the Adults with Learning Disabilities Social Care Team objectives for Southampton City Council.
- Organising meetings with involved professionals and clients to carry out reviews of clients' care needs. Some clients were living independently in their own homes, some in supported living placements, some were in residential care homes, and some were living with family members.
- Facilitated communication for adults with learning disabilities during meetings to express their wants, needs, and future aspirations.
- Developed actionable plans to achieve agreed-upon goals.
- This was a temporary post after completion of undergraduate degree in social work.
Education
Upper Second Class Bachelor of Science - Social Work
University of Southampton
Southampton2008
A-Levels -
Coombe Sixth Form
New Malden, Kingston2004
GCSEs - 10 GCSEs A*-B
Combe Girls' School
New Malden, Kingston2002
Skills
- Empathy, compassion, and kindness
- Volunteer and team management
- Budget management
- Assessing and supporting the needs of individuals, and families
- Active listening
- Verbal and written communication skills
Timeline
Children's Centre Coordinator
Bookham Baptist Church
01.2016 - Current
Early Intervention and Prevention Social Worker
London Borough of Sutton
09.2015 - 12.2015
Social worker - Domestic Violence Community Group
London Borough of Sutton
03.2013 - 09.2015
Social worker - Children and Families
London Borough of Sutton
09.2008 - 03.2013
Care Manager
Southampton City Council
04.2008 - 07.2008
Upper Second Class Bachelor of Science - Social Work
University of Southampton
A-Levels -
Coombe Sixth Form
GCSEs - 10 GCSEs A*-B
Combe Girls' School