Overview
We are looking for a qualified Educational Mental Health Practitioner (EMHP) or Children’s Wellbeing Practitioner (CWP) to join an existing school‑based Mental Health Support Team (MHST) in Broxbourne. The post‑holder will work in the Broxbourne team, a fully established MHST that supports 20 educational settings across the borough. The team provides early interventions to children and young people experiencing mild to moderate mental health concerns in an educational setting and operates year‑round, including during school holidays.
Responsibilities
* Develop and maintain professional relationships with education staff
* Be on site at allocated educational settings each day of the week
* Provide 1‑1 interventions such as low‑intensity CBT (guided self‑help) for children, young people, parents/carers and school staff
* Conduct group interventions and workshops for children, young people, parents/carers and school staff
* Run drop‑in surgeries for children, young people and school staff
* Facilitate co‑production to support service development
* Support the team in resource development
* Perform any other duties commensurate with the grade that enable effective and efficient running of the service
* Occasional facilitation of group work/workshops outside core hours (Monday‑Friday 9‑5)
Objectives
* Reduce stigma around mental health
* Enhance emotional wellbeing by promoting and building resilience in children and young people through educational workshops, assemblies and PSHE lessons
* Deliver psycho‑education and support to parents/carers and teachers to improve their understanding of children’s and young people’s needs
* Support children and young people at the early stages of emotional wellbeing challenges to prevent the need for further mental health intervention later in life
Qualifications and Eligibility
* Successful completion of the HEE‑commissioned 1‑year 'Education Mental Health Practitioner' or the 'Child and Young Persons Psychology Wellbeing Practice' course
* A further relevant degree qualification
* All applicants must be registered with a relevant governing body, e.g., BPS or BABCP
* Ability to carry out 1‑1 therapeutic mental health interventions with children/families
* Ability to conduct group parenting programmes
* Ability to work within educational settings to increase mental health awareness among staff
* Ability to conduct mental health assessments of children and young people
* Ability to make risk assessments and record and communicate them appropriately
* Ability to take appropriate actions to mitigate or manage risk
* Ability to teach others about mental health issues
* Ability to conduct group therapeutic interventions with children and their families
* Excellent written and verbal communication skills
* Ability to write clear reports and letters
* Ability to work within a team and foster good working relationships
* Ability to use clinical supervision positively and effectively
* Ability to facilitate psycho‑education sessions to professionals (e.g., teachers)
* Ability to deliver interventions to groups (young people and parent groups)
* Skills in delivering Guided Self‑Help interventions
* Ability to develop good therapeutic relationships with young people
* Ability to be self‑reflective while working with service users, in one's own personal and professional development and in supervision
* Appropriate UK professional registration and understanding of risk assessment importance
Desirable Criteria
* Teaching qualification
* Youth Mental Health First Aid training
* Experience of working with children and young people, their families and others
* Experience of working and liaising with a wide variety of agencies and stakeholders
* Experience working in a service with agreed targets demonstrating clinical outcomes
* Experience in using electronic clinical records and data collection systems
* Experience working with children and young people who have social, emotional and/or behavioural difficulties, and those who have experienced a mental health problem
* Experience working with anxiety disorders, affective (mood) disorders
* Experience delivering specific therapeutic interventions to children, young people or their families (e.g., CBT, solution‑focused brief therapy)
* Experience working with children and families in a healthcare and education setting
* Experience monitoring and recording outcome measures for children's emotional wellbeing
* Experience navigating complex social systems and environments with conflicting priorities or agendas
* Experience working with looked‑after children
* Experience working with other vulnerable groups
* Understanding of anxiety, depression and challenging behaviour and how they may present in universal services
* Understanding of the need to use evidence‑based psychological models and their relevance to this post
* Knowledge of capacity and consent issues including Gillick competence
* Knowledge of educational environments
* Knowledge of safeguarding issues
* Knowledge of the functional operation of specialist CAMHS teams
* Knowledge of the school's safeguarding procedures and the designated safeguarding lead (DSL) in each establishment
* Knowledge of factors affecting acceptability and accessibility of mental health care
* Knowledge of the stressors young people may encounter in an educational setting and their impact on mental health
* Excellent written and verbal communication skills
* Ability to conduct other group therapeutic interventions with children and their families
* Ability to deliver interventions to groups (young people and parent groups)
* Skills in delivering Guided Self‑Help interventions
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