Sylvia
Head of Service
It’s a wonderful borough to work in. It’s very vibrant. It’s very multicultural. It’s obviously got a lot of the problems that inner cities have, but there is also a lot of resources here. It’s been a very happy time for me and it’s been a borough where I’ve been supported and where I have worked with a lot of very good colleagues that are committed to child care work.
I think the most important thing is that we see ourselves as one borough. That we are looking to care for children and are supported right through from the beginning of their journey with local authority, right through to wherever the end may be. And that we see ourselves as an integrated service. Obviously what we want primarily is for children is to be safe and to be cared for, and if at all possible, for that care to be within their families. For families to be supported and have the skills to care for their children.
I’ve been in social work now for 26 years, through from being an unqualified worker through to my position now. Social work is a profession that allows you to be very creative. It allows you to work with families to find solutions, and it is not a prescripted profession. I think that is very important, so if you are a creative person, then I think there is a lot of scope for you.
There is certainly scope for social workers to move on to a senior practitioner position and then team manager position when they are ready. Haringey has a very strong leadership programme, which is actually encouraging employees of the borough to actually go on and go into management positions.
