Educational Psychologist

We have fantastic opportunities for enthusiastic and motivated Educational Psychologists to join our creative and friendly service following the retirement of several of our team members. This year, the EP service has a central role in operationalising Staffordshire’s new exciting Enhanced APDR pathway which is a pre-statutory, co-produced and collaborative framework that ensures that our EP time is spent supporting schools improve their Graduated Approach rather than writing reports for EHCNA.

Our service leads on other local authority wide initiatives, including our nationally renowned EP literacy approach, our new school non-attendance pathway, supporting care experienced children as part of joint work with the Virtual School and our in-demand ELSA project. We continue to use psychology in everything we do to change and improve the life experiences of children and families in Staffordshire.

We are looking for Educational Psychologists to join us who will add to our diverse practice alongside our fantastic teams of Eps and Assistants, and who want to work creatively in applying psychology to achieve great outcomes for our children and families in Staffordshire. As a new member of the team, you will be supported to develop your psychological practice through our CPD opportunities, peer supervision and the opportunity to collaborate with team members with similar interests.

You will join a district team and work collaboratively with other team members, assistants, and with multi-agency colleagues to improve outcomes for children, young people and families by:

Working preventatively with a patch of schools

Supporting children and families in the Early Years

Contributing to the Statutory process through EHC assessments

Collaborating on research, service and practice development

Contributing to service work on cross LA projects such as Trauma Informed, ELSA and literacy

Taking part in a varied CPD programme and supporting practice development of teams and colleagues

You will need an honours degree in Psychology (or equivalent) recognised by the British Psychological Society (BPS) as well as recognised post graduate training and qualification in Educational Psychology. We are also interested in receiving applications from those who are due to qualify in September 2025. You must be registered with the Heath and Care Professions Council (HCPC) or in the case of trainee EPs following completion of your recognised qualification in September 2024/5.

Staffordshire Educational Psychology Service is part of the Children and Families directorate, which highly values the work of its Educational Psychologists.

When you join us you will also benefit from:

• Mixed urban and rural areas that enable a range of psychological practice.
• Dedicated service time for peer supervision
• A range of service development projects to choose from
• Essential car user allowance
• A great flexi-time system
• A supportive and proactive Senior who will oversee your induction programme
• A strong service ethos in promoting equality and diversity

Pay scale – EP Soulbury A points 4 – 8, plus up to 3 SPA points where applicable.

Staffordshire is also seeking EPs to work on short-term or sessional contracts.

Locations include: Lichfield, Stafford and Newcastle offices.

For further information on any of these positions, please contact:

Melissa Jones, Principal Educational Psychologist melissa.jones@staffordshire.gov.uk; 07970 460188

We are no ordinary county council:

Our Values:

The core of who we are as an organisation. Just like we all have personal values that shape our thoughts and behaviour, organisational values drive how we think and act collectively.

Our values were created and shaped by colleague feedback and national best practice and they sit at the heart of People Strategy:

We have a real sense of community spirit that brings our people together. This feeling of belonging means we are all connected to what we do and take pride in the difference we make every day for Staffordshire people.

We are ambitious and our sights are set firmly on a better future. We look forward and race ahead - that goes for your career too.

Our benefits:

We recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive working environment where employees can achieve their full potential and achieve a healthy work-life balance.

In addition to your salary, as a member of staff, you will have access to Our rewards and benefits - Careers at Staffordshire

Our recruitment process:

As an Authority we are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

Staffordshire County Council is an equal opportunities organisation and Disability Confident employer. We encourage applications from all background and communities

As part of our commitment as a Disability Confident employer, a Gold Award Armed Forces employer and our commitment to supporting care leavers - we offer a guaranteed interview as long as your application meets the minimum criteria for the post.

Proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme