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Trainee Education Mental Health Practitioners

Job introduction

This is an exciting opportunity to be part of a developing team within Brighton and Hove, where the mental health needs of children and young people are at the centre of our service.

Brighton and Hove (BHCC) is recruiting 4 Trainee Education Mental Health Practitioners (EMHP) to join our existing Mental Health Support Team (MHST) working with primary and secondary schools within Brighton and Hove. This role includes a funded place on the Education Mental Health Practice PGDip with Sussex University.

Applicants must have an undergraduate honours degree or equivalent. Full information can be found on the Sussex University website.

Fixed term for: This will be a fixed term post of 12 months during training. This will then move to a Qualified EMHP post on successful completion of course

Interview date: 2nd May

For an informal discussion, please contact [email protected] or [email protected].

About the role

The Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) are funded by NHS England, Health Education England and partners with the aim of improving the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people in the community in response to the government’s Green Paper for Young People’s Mental Health.

MHSTs will serve clusters of schools, providing high quality and responsive mental health services to children and young people and their parents/carers, in accordance with Children and Young People’s Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (CYP-IAPT) principles. They will also provide training and support to school staff, helping to embed whole-school approaches to mental health.

Brighton and Hove (BHCC) is recruiting 4 Trainee Education Mental Health Practitioners (EMHP) to join our existing Mental Health Support Team (MHST) working with primary and secondary schools within Brighton and Hove. This role includes a funded place on the Education Mental Health Practice PGDip with Sussex University.

Applicants must have an undergraduate honours degree or equivalent. Full information can be found on the Sussex University website.

The MHS teams deliver evidence-based interventions based on the Cognitive Behavioural Therapeutic (CBT) approach in schools. We work directly with children and young people aged 7-17 with mild to moderate mental health issues, and their parents and carers. We also work with schools to develop or enhance their whole school approach to emotional health and wellbeing and mental health.

As an EMHP you will be working 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. You will receive clinical supervision to support your interventions and have the opportunity to develop your practice.

The Education Mental Health Practitioner role will:

• Work closely alongside a team of mental health professionals delivering a wide range of evidence informed interventions. This will include working one to one and delivering groupwork interventions.

• Use evidence-based skills to work directly with children, young people and families.

• Carry out holistic and child-centred mental health assessments, including risk assessments.

• Work within designated schools, developing relationships with the Mental Health lead in the school. Offer consultation on possible referrals to the service.

• Work within the safeguarding protocols of the schools.

For this role you will need:

• Passion and commitment for working with children and young people

• Understanding of children and young people’s mental health

• Knowledge of school systems

• Commitment to undertaking study at postgraduate level

• Strong organisational skills

The training programme for this post is 12 months in duration and will consist of academic and supervised practice learning across mental health services and educational settings, such as primary and secondary schools, and further education colleges. Delivery of the programme will be provided through a combination of taught days with Sussex University, independent self-guided study days and experience gained in education settings.

Upon successful completion of the course and moderation panel, EMHPs will progress to a permanent contract. If you have any questions around these posts please contact Jaki Watkins at [email protected] or Linsey McGill (SWS Team Lead) on [email protected]. If you are successfully shortlisted, interviews will be held on 2nd May 2023.

Please read our Apply for a job at the council (brighton-hove.gov.uk) pages carefully. They give you all the guidance you need to complete your application as well as information on what will happen after you’ve submitted your application and at interview.

As part of your application, you will need to complete your education and work history and upload a supporting statement. Your supporting statement is the most important part of your application as it will be used in the shortlisting process to assess whether you meet the essential requirements for the role that are set out in the person specification and to decide whether you should be offered an interview. Before you start your application, please read our guidance here (Supporting statement guidance (brighton-hove.gov.uk) as this gives important advice which will increase your chance of success in the shortlisting process.

Additional information

Your starting salary will be pro rata if the above position is less than 37 hours or term-time only.

Work Permits: This role does not meet the requirement for UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) Points-based Immigration System. Successful candidates will need to evidence that they have the Right to Work in the UK.

For more information about our values and the benefits of working at the council, visit Why work for us (brighton-hove.gov.uk)

Company information

Encouraging a diverse workforce

Our city is known and loved for its diversity. Not only is the mixture of people, culture and skills vital to the economic and social development of the city, it's what makes Brighton & Hove such a great place to live, work and visit. We are committed to developing and retaining a workforce that is representative of the diverse communities we serve so we welcome applications from individuals from all backgrounds. In order to achieve our aims of proportionate representation, we particularly encourage applicants from a BME or White Other background as well as those who identify as disabled, male or trans.

Find out more about our commitment to being a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone can achieve their potential by reading about our fair and inclusive actions, our anti-racism strategy and the work we are doing to encourage a diverse workforce (brighton-hove.gov.uk).

Please note that this post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, and is subject to a Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) Check.