Job Description

Job Title: / Specialist Senior Educational Psychologist
Directorate: / People
Section: / Learning Services - Educational/Child Psychology Service & Virtual School
Responsible to / Lead Psychologist
Grade / Soulbury B point 5 - 8

Job Purpose:

  • To provide psychological expertise to the Virtual School, school and other education/care staff, foster carers, other psychologists, LA officers and others in order to manage risk and improve outcomes for Children in Care and Care Leavers [CiC]and others who have a range of needs, particularly those needing to be protected by the local authority.
  • Provide consultation and clinical expertise to the Virtual School, education professionals, social work colleagues, foster carers, health and others.
  • To improve outcomes for children in care and care leavers, specifically:

Outcomes sought and used as performance framework.

[Cases to be determined by the Head of the Virtual School with the Lead EP and CaMHS involvement.]

  • Improved attainment and attendance
  • Reduced exclusion
  • Child and adult well being
  • Delivery of plans/processes to agreed timescales
  • Education and care placement stability (i.e. less out of city if in city can meet needs, build the capacity of schools for CiC)
  • Hours and interim outcomes (as above) per case to be logged monthly and reported to the Virtual School/Lead EP.
  • To ensure schools and settings are attachment aware and have capacity to support children who have attachment and trauma difficulties

Values, skills and abilities

  • Proactive corporate parent able to manage the boundaries and stress involved in this role
  • Balance support and challenge
  • Excellent and current knowledge of attachment, trauma and recovery and ability to translate this into accessible explanations and operational plans for front line staff, including through training
  • Able to develop multi-systematic formulations and plans (health, care and education) with a multi-agency teams, and support and hold teams to account for delivery
  • Must be able to commit to and take responsibility for achieving outcomes

Service Development 25%

  • To deliver a flexible service and work directly to meet the needs of children and carers by working in the school, carer’s home and community settings as well as at the work place.
  • Supervision of others, particularly in order to support them in the development and implementation of multi systemic plans e.g. to promote inclusion or engagement.
  • To help evaluate and monitor the service delivered, with a commitment to children and family involvement, including the analysis of complex data and reporting to senior management as required.

Leadership and management 25%

  • Lead on the provision of an evidence based therapeutic service for children in care and care leavers from within the Stoke Virtual School & Child Psychology Service/Inclusion through the provision of direct work and assessments of therapeutic need and/or educational need and through providing consultation and advice to colleagues.
  • To identify training needs within Education/Care and the wider services and to develop and deliver training programmes (with partner agencies) in response to this need.
  • To take the lead on the unit’s development of evidence based practice in this area, supporting all colleagues in understanding and developing skills in the methods used.
  • Keep fully informed and disseminate information on relevant developments in the field of research and policy in relation to the needs of ‘Children in Need’ , ‘Children in Care’ and Care Leavers. To analyse complex information and its significance for individual cases and for the development of the service and advise senior managers accordingly.

Assessment and safeguarding 25%

  • Undertake assessment of needs, analyse and evaluate information to provide most appropriate therapeutic and/or other interventions.
  • Produce comprehensive, analytical reports for a range of arenas
  • To contribute to the assessment of risk and protective factors in cases where there are issues of risk of harm to children and to lead on the clinical assessment for educational purposes in high risk cases
  • To respond to child protection concerns that arise in the course of interventions, in line with child protection procedures and guidance and to take responsibility for one’s own decision making in high-risk cases using the supervisory framework and Safeguarding Guidance.

Partnership working 25%

  • Work directly with the Virtual School on all aspects of service development and delivery outlined above.
  • Continue to maintain an excellent collaborative working relationship with Yellow House and VCCP staff, including any other agency or organisation involved in work with the client group.
  • Use experience and expertise to support and respectfully challenge practice in order to contribute to the provision of effective interventions to support the child and bring about change in the education setting and in the carer and or family’s setting.
  • Lead on the provision of therapeutic consultation within the Virtual School, ECPS and Learning Services, including support to children and families. To offer advice and support to professionals and others working within the early intervention and prevention field.

Management of Post

  • Cases determined by the Virtual School (lead) with EP and CAMHS (as partners)
  • Regular VS/EP (and CAMHS if partner) meeting to review
  • Line management within ECPS
  • Performance measured against pre-determined outcomes
  • Hours and (interim) outcomes per case to be logged monthly and sent to VS

Administrative Duties and Responsibilities as an Educational Psychologist

  • To allocate time to the organisation, management, review
  • To organise and manage casework data and record-keeping systems
  • To allocate appropriate time to complete administrative duties arising from casework
  • To maintain and update accurate and confidential casework files
  • To maintain and update accurate data systems
  • To provide casework and data for the Performance Management of the post
  • To provide written psychological advice for the L.A. consistent with Service and LA policy.
  • To attend Service meetings as required by the Lead EP
  • To conform to the maintenance of the agreed Service routines/systems as specified by the Lead EP
  • To ensure the completion of various returns to Lead EP

Continuing Professional Development and INSET

  • To participate fully in the cycle of continuous improvements of the E.C.P.S. and to undertake individual professional development relevant to meeting the organisation’s strategic role in the L.A.
  • To identify own training needs and communicate these through the Professional Development Review System
  • To negotiate with the Lead EP all responses to requests for support
  • To engage in project work consistent with the role
  • To participate in the development and delivery of City in-service training for schools, services colleagues and different users groups within the support network

Person Specification

Job Title: / Specialist Senior Educational Psychologist
Directorate: / People
Section: / Learning Services - Educational/Child Psychology Service & Virtual School

Minimum Essential Requirements - Evidenced by: a: application formb: testc: interview

a b c

Have post qualification experience. / 
Demonstrate evidence of further training and/or experiences in CiN/CiC. /  / 
Have knowledge of relevant legislation and ethical issues affecting Children and Families, including strategic frameworks and their implications for both clinical practice and professional management in relation to the client group. E.G. NICHE Guidance, Children and Families Act on the participation of clients and personalisation of support. /  / 
Have knowledge of child development and mental health needs. For example, knowledge of the factors affecting the emotional well being of children in need (CIN) and children in care (CiC), including issues of attachment, separation and loss, together with how to respond to these. /  / 
Have sufficient knowledge of other modalities and professional practice to engage appropriately with colleagues and their work with clients who are CIN or CiC. / 
Have an awareness and understanding of issues of risk relating to children and ability to respond appropriately using relevant procedures, including the ability to work with high risk situations in complex cases, and to take responsibility for clinical decisions as part of a team. / 
Have the ability to sustain work and contain highly distressing and emotional circumstances that include child physical, sexual, emotional abuse and neglect, physical violence, extreme deprivation /  / 
Be able to provide leadership in clinical issues and practice both within the EPS and to colleagues in other units. / 
Demonstrate the ability to provide high quality advice from a broad range of psychological knowledge and expertise. /  / 
Demonstrate the ability to develop and maintain effective and constructive working relationships with a wide range of users and colleagues. /  / 
Demonstrate the ability to communicate effectively with a wide range of audiences, both orally and in writing. /  /  / 
Demonstrate evidence of effective organisation skills and the ability to work to deadlines, including knowledge and expertise in the use of I.T. /  / 
Level 4 Safeguarding training or a willingness to achieve this in a short time of appointment /  / 
Training in screening procedures for mental health needs / 
Higher level supervisory skills (and a willingness to gain entry to the BPS register of recognised supervisors if not already on it). /  / 

Conditions of Service

Job Title:: / Specialist Senior Educational Psychologist
Directorate:: / People
Section: / Learning Services - Educational/Child Psychology Service & Virtual School
Grade:: / Soulbury B point 5 - 8

Salary:

/ £49,313 - £52,431 plus 3 Structured Performance Assessment Points

The post is subject to the Conditions of Service for Soulbury Adviser / Inspectors staff of local authorities, as amended by the decision, rules and regulations of the City Council.

Duration: This is a temporary post initially until 31 August 2016.

Working Hours: The normal standard working arrangements will be based on a 37 hour week, working over five days between normal office hours. However, there may be flexibility in these arrangements. Please refer to the Flexible Working Policy

Annual Leave Entitlement:Leave entitlement varies according to grade and continuous service as shown below:-

BasicAfter 5 years’ Service

28 31

In addition, employees are entitled to 8 public, 2 extra statutory and 2 local day’s holiday.

Sickness Absence: This will be paid at basic levels. This means that any enhancements normally received for shift work, weekend working and so on will not be paid on days when you are absent from work due to sickness

Pension Provisions: For occupational pension purposes you will have the choice of:-

a.Joining or continuing in the Local Government Pension Scheme.

b.Arranging your own personal pension provision approved by the Inland Revenue.

c.Joining S2P (State Second Pension Scheme).

Business Mileage:If you have to use your own vehicle on council business please ensure that you are insured to do so then the appropriate allowance is payable.

Notice: You must tell us that you intend to leave three months before you leave. We will also tell you three months before we terminate your post.

Probation Period: New entrants to local Government service are subject to a probationary period of six months during which you are expected to establish your suitability to the post.

Equal Opportunities Monitoring: New entrants must provide details of ethnicity and disability for the starter forms to enable the city council to monitor its progress towards being an equal opportunities employer.

Medical Examination: Your employment is subject to the council’s medical adviser giving medical clearance. Initially, this will take the form of a medical questionnaire.

Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Check: The appointment to this post will be subject to satisfactory Disclosure of Criminal Background, and is therefore expressly conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory response to a check of police records.

If during your continued employment you receive a conviction, caution or bind over you must declare this to your manager at the earliest possible stage. Such information will be treated sensitively and its relevance, nature and your length of service will be taken into account when deciding what action, if any needs to be taken. Failure to declare such information could result in disciplinary action being taken against you. Notwithstanding this, periodic rechecks will also be required. The city council has a three year re-check policy. We may take disciplinary action if a satisfactory re-check is not received.

Asylum and Immigration: According to the Immigration, Asylum, Nationality Act 2006 you must (if appointed) provide proof of current and valid permission to be in the United Kingdom, and valid permission to do the type of work offered.

Your continuing employment is subject to you having leave to remain and work in the United Kingdom by having a valid work permit. Should your work permit fail to be renewed at a future date, the authority would have to terminate your contract with immediate effect.

Trade Unions: As your employer, we support the system of collective bargaining in every way and believe in the principal of solving industrial relations problems by discussion and agreement. For practical purposes, this can only be conducted by representatives of the employers and of the employees. If collective bargaining of this kind is to continue and improve for the benefit of both, it is essential that the employee’s organisations should be fully representative. Therefore, it is recommended that employees become a member of a trade union represented on the relevant national joint council.

A full list of the trade unions appropriate to the type and nature of employment is available from HR.

Other Conditions of Service: Any other conditions of service are as per the Scheme of Conditions of the National Joint Council for Local Government Services as amended by decisions, rules and regulations of the City Council.

Page 1 of 6