Job summary
Mental Health Support Teams in Schools (MHSTs) are an exciting development, located in schools and AFC offices and provide a whole school approach to mental health; including individual and group work with students and parents, staff training and consultation and policy and ethos advice. The team is part of the broader Emotional Health Service (EHS) and links closely with AFCs other education and social care teams. Our service covers Richmond and Kingston boroughs. We have a strong sense of team and collaboration to support children and young peoples emotional wellbeing to achieve positive outcomes. The MHST is a dynamic service of Counseling & Educational Psychologists, CBT Therapists, Dramatherapists, Dance & Movement Psychotherapists, Music Therapists, Art Therapists, Systemic Practitioners, Counsellors and Education Wellbeing Practitioners (EWPs).
Please note that the salary advertised will be calculated pro-rata.
Main duties of the job
This post will be based at Chase Bridge Primary. The role will contribute to the leadership of the programme, line management and clinical supervision of colleagues in the programme team. The MHST works within a cluster of primary and secondary schools with a combined total population of 9,500 pupils. MHSTs work jointly with schools and cluster leads to implement a whole school approach to mental health, informed by the cluster action plan.
About us
Achieving for Children (AfC) is a community interest company (a not-for-profit social enterprise) created in 2014 by the Royal Borough of Kingston and the London Borough of Richmond to provide their childrens services. In 2017, the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead joined AfC as our third owner. We now deliver social care, education and health services to children and young people across all three boroughs.
At AfC, our mission is to provide children and their families with the support and services they need to live happy, healthy and successful lives.
We strive to achieve excellence in everything we do by putting children and young people first in the design, delivery and evaluation of every service we provide.
Our broad service offer is informed by leading practice and a strong evidence-base of what works best. It is guided by our daily work with children and young people and the organisations that work with us to help and support them.
As a social enterprise, we take a business approach to delivering our social aims. We have the independence and flexibility to tailor innovative solutions to the needs of children and their families, whilst maintaining our strong bond and deep commitment to society and public service.
We work closely with Kingston, Richmondand Windsor & Maidenhead councils to set priorities and ensure that children's services remain an integral part of the local public sector offer across all three boroughs.
Job description
Job responsibilities
About the service
Mental Health Support Teams in Schools (MHSTs) are an exciting development, located in schools and AFC offices and provide a whole school approach to mental health; including individual and group work with students and parents, staff training and consultation and policy and ethos advice. The team is part of the broader Emotional Health Service (EHS) and links closely with AFCs other education and social care teams. Our service covers Richmond and Kingston boroughs. We have a strong sense of team and collaboration to support children and young peoples emotional wellbeing to achieve positive outcomes. The MHST is a dynamic service of Counseling & Educational Psychologists, CBT Therapists, Dramatherpists, Dance & Movement Psychotherapists, Music Therapists, Art Therapists, Systemic Practitioners, Counsellors and Education Wellbeing Practitioners (EWPs).
About the role This post will be based at Chase Bridge Primary. The role will contribute to the leadership of the programme, line management and clinical supervision of colleagues in the programme team. The MHST works within a cluster of primary and secondary schools with a combined total population of 9,500 pupils. MHSTs work jointly with schools and cluster leads to implement a whole school approach to mental health, informed by the cluster action plan.
Person Specification
Experience
Essential
1. Significant experience of working with complex and vulnerable families in UK CAMHS, in the community, working therapeutically with individuals and groups presenting with a range of needs.
2. Ability to formulate and implement plans for therapeutic interventions with young people and families in line with research findings and evidence-based practice, across the full range of care settings.
3. Able to work with children, young people and their families with suspected or diagnosed Autistic Spectrum Disorder and/or ADHD.
4. Able to quality assure assessments, direct interventions and consultative work.
5. Is able to provide consultation and training to education staff and other professionals on mental health
6. Is able to use a broad range of assessment tools and frameworks to evaluate outcomes and progress for children and families
7. Is able to manage priorities and work under pressure displaying initiative and creativity
8. Is able to influence, develop and change the motivation and behaviour of people to achieve objectives
9. Ability to provide high quality supervision
10. Ability to provide line management to identified professionals
11. Ability to demonstrate a high level of determination, personal drive, energy and ambition to achieve challenging targets and improve outcomes
12. Ability to manage high levels of emotional distress and think clearly in emotionally charged situations
13. Strong organisational ability, including the ability to work on initiative and to prioritise workloads to meet agreed deadlines
14. Knowledge and understanding of data quality, information security and sharing requirements
15. Experienced in the use of ICT, including MS Word, Outlook and case record management systems
16. Knowledge of a range of business systems and software applications and a high standard of ICT literacy; ability to understand new technologies and their potential
Qualifications
Essential
17. Current HCPC Registration or other equivalent professional body registration
18. Postgraduate qualification in Mental Health profession clinical or counselling psychology or CBT,
Desirable
19. Supervisors qualification