Assistant Educational Psychologist - Req24757

Job title: Assistant Educational Psychologist

Salary: Soulbury Assistant Educational Psychologist Scale (£35,228-£39,341)

Hours: 37

Contract: Temporary    

Location: Leeds

As an Assistant Educational Psychologist you will be eager to put into practice your academic learning to build the skills and experience you need to progress to professional educational psychology training.

It’s not about shadowing or observing, you will work directly with children and young people to assess their needs and promote positive change through psychological interventions. You will be an active member of Leeds Educational Psychology Team with access to high quality supervision and training opportunities.

You must hold a degree that qualifies you for British Psychological Society (BPS) graduate registration and be eligible to apply for the educational psychology doctorate.

Our team works to enable collaboration, multi-agency working, consultation and continuous improvement. We are part of Leeds City Council’s children’s services, rated outstanding by Ofsted at the last inspection.

We are committed to the ambition of Child Friendly Leeds. We want Leeds to be a city where all children are safe, happy and healthy, do well at school, fulfil their potential and grow up to be active citizens with voice and influence. 

Leeds City Council is one of the largest employers in the region with over 14,000 employees. We seek to recruit and develop talented individuals who embody our council values and ambitions.

About you

As an Assistant Educational Psychologist you will bring to the role:

• a degree in psychology with at least 2:1 classification and eligibility for graduate membership of the BPS
• minimum of one year full-time equivalent experience of working with children and young people 
• ability to collate and analyse information and use it to assess individual and school needs, devise, monitor and evaluate interventions
• effective interpersonal and communication skills, sensitivity, flexibility and self-motivation
• collaborative working style to maintain productive links with colleagues and partners in an inter-agency environment

About the role 

As our next Assistant Educational Psychologist you will be integral to Leeds Educational Psychology Team, which is a large dynamic and creative team made up of Educational Psychologists with a range of interests and expertise. We work closely with doctoral training course providers and our established Assistant Educational Psychologist programme offers you a broad hands-on experience to stand you in good stead for your doctorate application.

From the start you will be fully involved in delivering our service, with the opportunity to make a positive difference for children and young people in Leeds. With guidance from qualified Educational Psychologists, you will work on casework, training, project work, consultation and other initiatives to support schools and communities throughout the city. 

You will access high quality supervision within the team to reflect on and develop your practice, while gaining invaluable insight into the day-to-day workings of a local authority EP team.

What we offer you

We take pride in offering the best employee experience, with benefits including:

• a competitive salary and annual leave entitlement plus statutory holidays
• membership of the West Yorkshire Pension Fund with generous employer contributions
• flexible and hybrid working arrangements subject to service requirements
• a clear career pathway and continuing professional development opportunities
• a range of staff benefits to help you boost your wellbeing and make your money go further

How to apply

Please complete the online application form.

Read our guidance for further advice. Please check your information carefully and ensure you complete all sections before submitting your application. 

If you would like to speak to a member of the leadership team about these roles please contact the Educational Psychology Team on 0113 378 2888 or email SEND@leeds.gov.uk with the subject line 'for attention of EP leadership team'.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. 

A Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check against the Children’s barred list will be carried out on preferred candidates.

We promote diversity and want a workforce that reflects the population of Leeds and the communities we serve. Leeds City Council is an Inclusive employer, ranked 70 on the Stonewall top 100 employers 2023 list. We are also an Age friendly employer, a Mindful employer and a Disability Confident leader.

All new Leeds City Council appointments are made subject to the satisfactory completion of a six month probationary period. 

This role is based in the UK. Employment is conditional on confirmation of the right to work in the UK  - either as a UK or Irish citizen, under the EU Settlement scheme or having secured any other relevant work visa. If you do not have the right to work in the UK and the role does not meet eligibility for sponsorship, please consider carefully whether you meet the eligibility to apply.

Job Description 

Job purpose

To develop skills and experience in preparation for professional training as an Educational Psychologist, by supporting delivery of a psychological service to schools and other settings and assisting the Educational Psychology Team in the creative and efficient promotion of inclusion for children and young people.   

Responsibilities

• Assist in the delivery of a high quality psychological service in alignment with all policies, plans and guidelines of children’s services and the learning inclusion service.
• Assist the Educational Psychology Team in delivering direct consultation and psychological support for families and staff working with children/young people with SEND aged 0-25 in the schools and settings.
• Advocate for vulnerable children/young people and ensure their welfare is paramount.
• Support EP colleagues in providing effective advice, assessment and evidence based intervention to raise achievement, improve outcomes and promote inclusion of children and young people with SEND, within the framework of the SEND Code of Practice (2015), Children and Families Act (2014) and other relevant guidance.
• Collaborate with others to develop next steps on how contexts can be changed to ensure vulnerable children/young people and those with SEND achieve their optimum potential and are fully included.
• Assist EP colleagues in monitoring and reviewing the progress of children/young people who may have SEND and contribute towards written advice, as appropriate.
• Assist EP colleagues in providing quality psychological advice for statutory assessments in a timely and efficient manner in accordance with children’s services operational standards.
• Assist EP colleagues in contributing to the annual review and reassessment procedures for children/young people with an Education, Health and Care Plan, including transition planning.
• Support EP colleagues with critical incident work and the council’s emergency response arrangements to offer psychological advice and support as requested.
• Collaborate in devising, delivering and evaluating bespoke training (including advice on curriculum development, interventions and resources) to build capacity of frontline staff. 
• Support EPs in settings where significant issues have been identified at the systems level to improve overall provision and achievement of children and young people with SEND. 
• Work within appropriate legislation, Department of Education guidelines and the Code(s) of Conduct of the British Psychological Society, Association of Educational Psychologists and requirements of Health Care Professional Council registration. 
• Effectively manage workload and maintain up-to-date record keeping in relation to casework and other activities, through active engagement with council data systems and protocols. 
• Ensure high quality service delivery through data collection, monitoring and self-review processes.
• Gather, analyse and interpret data and undertake and promote evidence based practice.
• Identify areas for continuing professional development, ensuring highest personal and professional standards and up-to-date awareness of national and local initiatives.
• Actively engage in performance management, supervision and problem solving.
• Contribute to service planning and development.
• Undertake additional duties as required by the Principal EP/Deputy EP/Senior EPs.
• Provide efficient and effective consultation, communication, team working and support to children, schools/settings and families within an area team.
• The duties outlined are not meant as an exhaustive list and will also comprise any other duties within the spirit of the post commensurate with the job evaluation outcome for this post.

Qualifications 

• Degree in psychology, minimum 2:1 (with eligibility for graduate membership for the British Psychological Society).

Essential requirements It is essential that the candidate should be able to demonstrate the following criteria for the post. Candidates will only be shortlisted for interview if they can demonstrate that they meet all the essential requirements.

The post holder should be able to demonstrate the following essential skills:

• Ability to gather, analyse and interpret information for individual pupils and for training, support and systems work, to assess individual and school needs at systems level. 
• Ability to determine appropriate teaching and learning strategies, plan and deliver interventions, training and/or support and formulate written advice as appropriate. 
• Ability to monitor and evaluate the impact of interventions and outcomes.
• Effective interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to deliver sensitive messages in a constructive way, deal effectively with conflict, and present feedback with sensitivity, honesty and clarity. 
• Flexibility to manage change, respond to new ideas and promote change as a natural process within the team. 
• Effective time management and organisational skills, with ability to plan, prioritise and manage a challenging workload with identified deadlines.
• Performance management and development, identifying and agreeing actions that are likely to lead to child/young person progress and/or school improvement. 
• Ability to reflect on and share practice with others.
• Positive inter-agency/service partnership working to provide effective links and maintain relationships with colleagues and partners at a range of levels, to maximise impact in terms of focussed outcomes for children/young people within schools, settings and communities. 
• Effective use of ICT and technology with the ability to encourage others to develop technical solutions in response to change.
• A minimum of one year full-time equivalent experience of working with children and young people.
• Knowledge and understanding of essential relevant legislation including Children and Families Act (2014), the SEND Code of Practice (2015), and other national and local legislation, developments and good practice in relation to inclusion and SEND.
• Recent working knowledge of applying psychology in a context and able to meet the initial qualification requirements of the British Psychological Society towards registered status with the HCPC.
• Knowledge of a variety of methods of assessment and intervention, and of using applied psychology in a range of settings.
• Intention to study accredited 3-year doctorate training in Educational Psychology. 

Essential Behavioural & other Characteristics 

• Understand and embrace Leeds City Council Values and Behaviours and codes of conduct.
• Committed to continuous improvement in all areas and work towards delivering the Best City Ambition of Health & Wellbeing, Inclusive Growth and Zero Carbon
• Able to understand and observe Leeds City Council equality and diversity policies.
• Carry out all duties having regard to an employee’s responsibility under Health and Safety Policies.
• Willingness to actively participate in training and development activities. 
• Flexible and adaptable to change to assist other services as required commensurate to grade. 
• Participate in appraisal, training, and development activities.
• Be aware of and comply with Leeds City Council policies and procedures.
• Be aware of and support difference and ensure equality for all working in an anti-discriminatory manner, upholding, equality & diversity policies of Leeds City Council.
• Recognise and appropriately challenge any incidents of racism, bullying, harassment, victimisation, and any form of abuse, reporting any concerns to the appropriate person.
• The council has adopted a flexibility protocol and the role will be expected to work within these parameters.

Desirable requirements

• Experience of working with children and young people in education settings.

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