TRAINEE EDUCATION MENTAL HEALTH PRACTITIONER East Preston, England
Job description
Working as part of Education & Skills, Thought-Full, The Mental Health Support Teams (MHST) are an exciting new initiative and an important strand of the Government’s 2017 Green Paper ‘Transforming Children and Young People’s Mental Health Provision’.
We fulfil 3 core functions:
- Supporting the senior mental health lead in each education setting to introduce or develop their whole school approach.
- Delivering evidence-based interventions in schools for mild to moderate mental health issues.
- Giving timely advice to school and college staff, and liaising with external specialist services, to help children and young people to get the right support andstay in education.
TheTrainee Education Mental Health Practitioner (EMHP) is a new professional role which delivers CBT-informed, evidence-based early interventions for children and young people and parents / carers in educational settings in England such as schools and colleges.
About The Job
Salary: NJC Grade 7 £25,409 to £27,852
The role will be promoted to NJC Grade 8 upon successful completion of the EMHP Training Course
Working Pattern: Full time (37 hours per week)
Contract Length: Permanent
Closing: Wednesday 21st June 2023
Interviews: Thursday 29th June 2023
Location: Littlehampton
Successful candidates would need to be available to start in mid-September 2023
Here at West Sussex County Council, what we do changes lives. As a Trainee Education Mental Health Practitioner (EMHP) you will be offered a full-time training position. Training towards the Post Graduate Diploma in EMHP will be undertaken at a local Higher Education Institute (Sussex University) and your placement work will be in education settings in West Sussex.
You will be expected to work under supervision as part of a dynamic integrated mental health team. This approach requires creativity, flexibility, and adaptability, and above all a passion for working with Children and Young People in educational settings.
To succeed at this role, you will need to demonstrate the ability to study as a self-motivated learner at post-graduate degree level and learn in a variety of settings. Alongside this, you will have a great passion and enthusiasm for CBT-informed, evidence-based early interventions for mental health problems. You will be self-motivated and a team player with integrity, openness, and an awareness of others. You will need to have excellent time management, organisational, and communication and interpersonal skills.
The Trainee Education Mental Health Practitioner role will:
- Work closely alongside a team of mental health professionals delivering a wide range of evidence informed interventions, under supervision.
- Develop and practice evidence-based skills under supervision to work directly with Children, Young People, and families.
- Develop and practice evidence-based skills under supervision to carry out holistic and child-centred mental health assessments, including risk assessments.
Experience and Skills
Key Skills:
- Ability to learn and acquire new skills around:
- Low-intensity, CBT-informed 1:1 therapeutic mental health assessments and interventions with children and young people and/or their families in line with EMHP training.
- Assessing risk and recording and communicating it appropriately and taking necessary actions.
- Ability to develop strong relationships with others and draw on support when needed.
- Ability to adapt to different methodologies of working depending on who you are working with (this could be teachers, parents / carers, social workers, and other mental health professionals in the best interests of the child).
- Good organisational skills in order to effectively manage an allocated caseload, as well as good administrative skills.
- Resilience as some cases may be sensitive, traumatic, or potentially emotionally distressing.
- Good written communication skills.
Qualifications and/or experience:
- Minimum Bachelor's degree (2:1 or 2:2), or an overseas qualification of an equivalent standard (in any academic subject).
- Evidence of prior experience working with children and young people – Desirable
Rewards and Benefits
As an employer we recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive and dynamic working environment where employees can achieve their full potential, achieve a healthy work-life balance, and are rewarded for the work they do.
In addition to working within a great team and a competitive salary you will have access to:
- Access to a generous, defined benefit pension scheme
- A range of flexible working options
- Maternity, paternity, dependency, and adoption leave
- Training and development opportunities, including coaching and mentoring
- A range of discounts giving our staff access to hundreds of offers with the opportunity to save over £1,000 a year through our West Sussex Choices benefits platform
- Discounted membership at selected local sports and fitness centres
- A range of commuting and business travel discount and initiatives
For a full list of the benefits offered to you as a West Sussex County Council employee, you can find this at our Rewards and Benefits page.
Further Information
The reference number for this role is CAFHE04363.
For an informal conversation or for further information regarding the role, please contact Rachel Cooper (Team Manager Thought-Full: Mental Health Support Teams in Schools) at [email protected]
To apply, upload your CV and complete the application explaining the skills and experience you can bring to the role ensuring that any gaps in employment are covered in your CV. Please ensure you have saved the job description attached to the main advert on our website as, once the job has closed, you may not have the opportunity to download again.
We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. This post is subject to an enhanced DBS check, 5 years referencing and a health check.
West Sussex County Council is an equal opportunities employer committed to promoting an environment that is inclusive and free from all forms of unlawful or unfair discrimination and values the diversity of its people. We actively welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and take every possible step to ensure that no individual will be disadvantaged.
For information regarding your eligibility to apply for this role under our Disability or Veteran’s Guaranteed Interview Scheme, this can be found on our application help page.
Note for Recruitment Agencies: We prefer to hire people directly, but we do have a supplier list for when we need a helping hand. We'll be in touch directly if we need you!
Job Reference: CAFHE04363
