We are looking for a qualified Educational Mental Health Practitioner (EMHP) or Childrens Wellbeing Practitioner (CWP) who wishes to join an existing school‑based Mental Health Support Team (MHST). The post‑holder will work in the Stevenage team, which is a fully established MHST and one of the first trailblazer sites nationally. The Stevenage team is a caring, supportive environment with good leadership providing clear objectives and direction, and regular supervision. The team supports 20 educational settings across the borough and has built solid working relationships with each setting. All applicants must be registered with a relevant governing body (BPS or BABCP).
Responsibilities
* Work alongside qualified and trainee EMHPs/CWPs, Senior Practitioners and a Team Leader.
* Provide early interventions to children and young people experiencing mild to moderate mental health concerns in an educational setting.
* Provide 1‑1 interventions such as low‑intensity CBT (guided self‑help) for children, young people, parent/carers and school staff.
* Lead group interventions, workshops for children, young people, parent/carers and school staff, and drop‑in surgeries for children, young people and school staff.
* Facilitate co‑production activities to support service development.
* Support the team in resource development.
* Be on site at allocated educational settings each day of the week.
* Any other duties commensurate with the grade which may be required to enable effective and efficient running of the service.
* 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 parent/carers and teachers to improve their understanding of children and young people’s needs.
* Support children and young people at the early stages of emotional wellbeing challenges to prevent further Mental Health intervention later in life.
* Work year‑round, providing support to young people during school holidays in addition to term time.
* Core hours: Monday‑Friday 9am‑5pm, with occasional work outside of these times when required.
Essential Skills and Qualifications
* Demonstrates an understanding of anxiety, depression and challenging behaviour and how it may present in universal services.
* Demonstrates understanding of the need to use evidence‑based psychological models and how it relates to this post.
* Knowledge of capacity and consent issues including Gillick competence.
* Knowledge of educational environments and safeguarding issues.
* 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 within the staff group.
* Ability to conduct mental health assessments of children and young people.
* Ability to make an assessment of risk, record and communicate it appropriately.
* Ability to take appropriate action to mitigate or manage risk.
* Successful completion of the HEE commissioned 1‑year Education Mental Health Practitioner or the Child and Young Persons Psychological Wellbeing Practice course.
* A further relevant degree qualification.
* You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
Desirable Skills and Experience
* Knowledge of factors affecting acceptability and accessibility of mental health care.
* Understanding of the stressors young people may encounter in an educational setting and the impact that these can have on mental health.
* Knowledge of the functional operation of specialist CAMHS teams.
* Knowledge of the schools safeguarding procedures and of the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) in each establishment.
* Ability to teach others about mental health issues.
* Ability to conduct other group therapeutic interventions with children and their families.
* 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 of working in a service which has agreed targets in place demonstrating clinical outcomes.
* Experience in using an electronic clinical records and data collection system.
* Experience of working with children and young people who have social, emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.
* Experience of working with anxiety disorders, affective (mood) disorders.
* Experience of delivering specific therapeutic interventions to children, young people or their families (e.g. CBT, solution‑focused brief therapy).
* Experience of working with children and their families in a healthcare and education setting.
* Experience of monitoring and recording outcome measures for children’s emotional wellbeing.
* Experience of navigating complex social systems and environments with conflicting priorities.
* Experience of working with looked‑after children.
* Experience of working with other vulnerable groups.
* Teaching qualification.
* Youth Mental Health First Aid trained.
* Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
* Able 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 (i.e. teachers).
* Skills in delivering Guided Self‑Help interventions.
* Ability to deliver interventions to groups (young people and parent groups).
* Able to develop good therapeutic relationships with young people.
* Analytical skills: Self‑reflective work with service users, personal and professional development and in supervision.
* Ability to assess risk assessments and understanding of the importance of assessing risk.
Other Requirements
* Good IT skills and experience of use of software such as Word and Excel.
* Car driver licence and ability to travel independently across the Trust.
* Ability and willingness to work outside office hours when required.
* Ability to manage own caseload and demonstrate good time management and prioritisation skills.
* Regular requirement to deal with distressing or emotionally charged situations.
* Values and personal qualities in line with the Trust values: Welcoming, Kind, Positive, Respectful and Professional.
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