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Job description

Part-time, permanent, non-residential position starting September 2023, or as soon as possible thereafter.

A committed and highly professional BACP/UKCP training accredited Counsellor, with previous experience of counselling children and young people, is sought to join our Pupil Counselling Service Team in the role of Therapeutic Counsellor. The skills and accreditation to address through counselling post-adoption support-needs will be considered a particular advantage. Our Counselling team are committed to offering a dedicated and ethical counselling service which contributes to the wider pastoral provision of the school.

Our staff are committed and inspirational, transforming the futures of pupils with literacy and language-related additional challenges, by empowering them.

www.morehouseschool.co.uk

Our School vision is:

To lead in transforming the futures of intelligent children who experience Specific Learning Difficulties, Developmental Language Disorder and associated conditions, by empowering them.

Our School Values are:

Kindness – Spirit - Responsibility

The School:

Nationally celebrated, More House School provides an exceptional, mainstream education for intelligent boys with Specific Learning Difficulties and weakness in their developmental language skills. Providing a transformative education repeatedly recognised as ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted over more than a decade, we offer a specialised learning environment for day and boarding boys from Year 4 to Year 13. Our pupils are taught to recognise their strengths and develop their self-belief so that they achieve independence and extraordinary results at GCSE, BTEC and A’ Level, above the national averages. A majority progress to university. Class-sizes are small, with a maximum of 15 pupils.

Delivering a mainstream independent-school experience, both academically and socially, the very broad curriculum affords all pupils the opportunity to discover their strengths, challenging them to fulfil their academic and extra-curricular potential. All boys who attend More House are individually timetabled, with many receiving support through the on-site Learning Development Centre and its qualified therapeutic staff. Judged ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted in its last five School inspections, our most recent inspection (March 2023) graded More House School ‘Outstanding’ overall, and ‘Outstanding’ in each of the six sub-sections of the report. The School’s provision for residential boarders was inspected at the same time, and likewise graded Outstanding in every respect. More House is CReSTeD approved, listed in their Specialist Schools category, and is a member of the Independent Schools Association and the Boarding Schools’ Association.

The School is set on a wooded hillside in nearly thirty acres on the Hampshire/Surrey border and within the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Attractive modern facilities lie above the playing fields.

About the department:

More House School has a comprehensive pastoral support capability in place, comprising dedicated form-tutors and residential houseparents, year-group pastoral leads (Heads of Year), the School surgery and its Registered Nurses, a Lay-Chaplain, the Safeguarding team, a Director of Pastoral Care, and senior leaders, including the Deputy Head (Pastoral). Vital within the School’s offer to pupils is the provision of one-to-one counselling for those pupils who are identified as benefitting from such specialist support. The School has provided such support for many years, and the service is well-established. We work to a flexible model of provision with an initial offer of 12 weeks, regularly reviewed, and with the option to work longer-term, aligning with clinically identified need. The Counselling Team has recently implemented a Sixth Form self-referral service and has plans to offer this to all 16-year-olds whilst also offering parents the ability to refer directly. We currently work out of dedicated counselling rooms and are anticipating a new counselling suite as part of the School’s next stage of building development.

About this post:

The Headmaster seeks to appoint an enthusiastic, resilient, open-minded and highly professional individual to work alongside our two current School Counsellors – Christine Sanderson (Lead Counsellor) and (Play Therapist) Simone Mark. The role is primarily to provide one-to-one counselling to pupils in accordance with the Service Level Agreement, ensuring continuity of care; to maintain appropriate records; to liaise with the counselling team, with parents and with other professionals as appropriate; to report any concerns of significant harm to a child to the Designated Safeguarding Lead; to consistently demonstrate the professional attributes and competencies associated with the post.

The capacity to provide specialist post-adoption support to clients is considered a particular advantage. Skills in brief therapy models such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Solution-Focused Brief Therapy are also viewed as valuable in this post.

As part the Counselling Team, responsible to the Headmaster and Deputy Head (Pastoral), the School Counsellor will report to, and be supported by, the Lead Counsellor, Christine Sanderson, in order to meet best the needs of his / her clients and the wider School community.

The above list of duties is not exhaustive, and the post-holder may be required to perform such other duties as may be, from time to time, deemed necessary by the Headmaster. This is a non-residential post.

The main duties of the role include:

· To provide an independent and confidential counselling service to pupils at More House School, through individual sessions, responding to their personal, social, emotional or educational concerns.

· To work within both time-limited and longer-term models of therapy.

· To promote a caring and supportive environment where such concerns may be explored, thereby promoting the mental and emotional health of the community.

· To maintain confidentiality (except in those circumstances, in line with BACP/UKCP Ethical Frameworks and the School’s Safeguarding policy) where this should be breached.

· To uphold good practice as described in the BACP/UKCP ethical frameworks.

· To be responsible for identifying and addressing own Professional Development maintenance, and updating knowledge and awareness through Continuing Professional Development (CPD) with the School’s support.

· To make referrals, where appropriate, and with the pupil's consent, to other agencies.

· To liaise, where appropriate, and with the pupil’s consent, with members of staff.

· To liaise, where appropriate, and with the pupil’s consent, with parents.

· To maintain appropriate records and to keep these secure.

· To liaise with School staff and other professionals, as appropriate, to ensure the effective operation of the service.

· To be alert to trends and patterns of problems, to identify causes and recommend corrective action.

· To play an active role in the Safeguarding of all pupils, and to adhere to School policies.

· To maintain a high level of knowledge and awareness of changes and developments in the fields of education and counselling, and their impact on the delivery of counselling.

· To ensure that as a Counsellor you are properly and regularly supervised, as required by the BACP/UKCP.

· To contribute in any other reasonable fashion to promote the safety and wellbeing of the boys.

· To attend in-service (INSET) training days and other School events as required.

· To attend regular clinical supervision as defined by the therapist’s professional body.

The list of duties above is not exhaustive, and the post-holder may be required to perform such other duties as may be, from time to time, deemed necessary by the Headmaster. This is a non-residential post.

Relationships:

· The post-holder is responsible to the Headmaster in all matters, is supported by and reports to the Lead Counsellor and the Deputy Head (Pastoral).

· The successful applicant must also interact effectively on a professional level with colleagues and seek to establish and maintain productive relationships with all.

Person specification:

Qualifications

Essential:

• Post-graduate Diploma or Degree Level in Counselling or Psychotherapy.
• BACP or UKCP Registration or Accreditation.

Desirable:

• Further therapeutic training or qualification in working with Children and Young People.

Skills and Experience:

Essential:

• Minimum of three years’ post-qualification experience.
• Minimum of two years’ experience of working with Children and Young people.

Desirable:

• Experience of delivering school-based therapeutic counselling.
• Experience of providing one-to-one counselling support to children with additional needs (such as Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia, Developmental Language Delay and Dyspraxia).
• Experience of working systemically in relation to the multidisciplinary liaisons. (i.e., parents, education, local council and NHS support services).
• Approval to address post-adoption counselling needs.
• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy or Solution Focussed Therapy training or qualification.

Personal Attributes:

Essential:

• Energy, enthusiasm, flexibility and determination to succeed.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills demonstrating an understanding of, and commitment to, professionalism and teamwork.
• Ability to work reflectively and reflexively.
• Excellent time-management and prioritisation skills, and ability to work under pressure and to deadlines.
• Empathy and patience, maintaining the highest standards of professionalism in the face of challenge.
• Dedication to the continuous improvement of the Counselling Service for its clients both individually and as part of the team.
• Strong, secure and personal commitment to the school’s ethos and aims in promoting the best possible outcomes for pupils.

Desirable:

• Demonstrate effective organisational and administration skills.
• Understanding of own strengths and areas for development.

*

Hours:

8.20 am until 4.00 pm Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday during term-time.

(Note: academic terms are typically shorter than those in the state-maintained sector, and School holidays are therefore significantly longer).

Attendance at school events outside these hours from time to time, as well as INSET days towards the beginning or end of school holidays.

Remuneration and support:

· Annual salary, paid in monthly instalments: extremely competitive and in accordance with qualifications, experience and recognised skills;

· Pension;

· Sick-pay;

· Employee Assistance Programme;

· Free on-site parking within the School’s beautiful grounds;

· Excellent lunchtime meals at no cost in the School’s refectory;

· Free use of the School’s recently-refurbished fitness and gym facilities.

Safeguarding:

This role is deemed to be one of working in regulated activity, meaning that the post-holder may expect to come into unsupervised contact with children and young people frequently in the discharge of their duties on-campus. As such, the expectations of conduct, required of all adults working at More House School, apply to this position, as does a full Safer-Recruitment vetting process of any appointee. A key responsibility of all adults working within the School is that of ensuring the effective safeguarding of all children and young people, through adherence to the School’s policies; full training is given.

To Apply:

Please visit our website www.morehouseschoo.co.uk, and complete the online application form.

More House School - Teaching and Therapeutic Staff Application Form

Closing date for applications: Sunday 4th June 2023

Interviews expected to be held on: Wednesday 14th June 2023

The School reserves the right to interview appropriate candidates in advance of the above-named dates, and to appoint. Interested candidates are therefore strongly urged to submit their application as soon as possible.

Interested candidates are welcome to make an appointment to visit the school for an informal visit.

This post is subject to an Enhanced DBS clearance and the receipt of satisfactory references before a formal job offer is confirmed.

More House School is firmly committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people.

Job Types: Part-time, Permanent

Benefits:

• Company pension
• Cycle to work scheme
• Discounted or free food
• On-site gym
• On-site parking
• Sick pay

Schedule:

• Monday to Friday

Ability to commute/relocate:

• Farnham: reliably commute or plan to relocate before starting work (required)

Work Location: In person

Application deadline: 04/06/2023
Expected start date: 01/09/2023