Educational Psychologist - Req24130

As an Educational Psychologist you thrive on working collaboratively with children, families and educators to make a real difference to children’s wellbeing, communication and learning.

Using a child-centred approach, you assess a young person’s needs, advocate for them and provide interventions that put their welfare front and centre. You promote inclusion and enable every young person to achieve their full potential at school and beyond the classroom.

Leeds Educational Psychology Team is a dynamic and creative team of practitioners encompassing a range of experience and interests. This means you will benefit from a strong support network and supervision, and exciting opportunities to develop and progress, wherever you are in your career.

We have vacancies for qualified Educational Psychologists and can offer permanent contracts on a full-time, part-time or job-share basis. You must hold a postgraduate qualification in educational psychology or be due to qualify in September 2024.

As a team we work through a cluster delivery model that encourages collaboration, multi-agency working, consultation and problem solving. We are proud to be part of Leeds children’s services, rated by Ofsted as outstanding in overall effectiveness.

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 Educational Psychologist you will bring to the role:

• A postgraduate qualification in Educational Psychology with eligibility to register with the Health and Care Professions Council
• Ability to assess school and individual needs through consultation and analysis of information, devise interventions and evaluate impact
• Effective interpersonal and communication skills, sensitivity, flexibility and self-motivation
• Knowledge of best practice for improving children’s progress and a reflective approach
• Collaborative working style to maintain effective links with colleagues and partners in an inter-agency environment

About the role

As our next Educational Psychologist, you will be integral to our committed and close-knit team, which has a strong ethos of peer supervision, support and collaboration. Our hybrid working model encourages connection and team relationships, with regular team meetings and whole team professional development days.

All our Educational Psychologists work at the heart of the community, in a cluster of schools and settings, applying creativity and psychological expertise to promote inclusion for children and young people from birth to 25 years of age.

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 and Adult'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.

Educational Psychologist Job Description

Job purpose

To undertake duties across the Educational Psychology Team in support of the Principal EP/Senior EPs.

Responsibilities

• Deliver a psychological service to a cluster of schools, settings and their communities in an area of the city.
• Apply psychology in the creative and efficient promotion of inclusion for children and young people aged 0 to 25.
• Implement policies, plans and guidelines of Children’s Services and Learning Inclusion Service, ensuring high quality psychological service delivery, in alignment with service arrangements.
• Offer direct consultation and active psychological support for families and staff working with children/young people with SEND aged 0 to 25 in the schools and settings.
• Advocate for vulnerable children and young people and ensure their welfare is paramount.
• Provide effective advice, psychological 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.
• Provide recommendations on how contexts can be changed to ensure vulnerable children/young people and those with SEND achieve their optimum potential and are fully included.
• Monitor and review progress of children/young people who may have SEND and provide written advice as appropriate.
• Provide quality psychological advice for statutory assessments in a timely and efficient manner in accordance with Children’s Services operational standards.
• Contribute to the annual review and reassessment procedures for children/young people with a statement of SEND, including transition planning.
• Provide consultation and psychological advice to support Children Leeds funding systems where appropriate.
• Represent Children Leeds in SEN Tribunals as an expert witness.
• Participate in the critical incident work and the council’s emergency response arrangements to offer psychological advice and support as requested.
• Devise, deliver and evaluate bespoke training (including advice on curriculum development, interventions and resources) to build capacity of frontline staff.
• Support SENCOs and senior managers in self-review, strategic direction and development of processes and provision regarding inclusion and teaching/learning for children and young people with SEND.
• Support 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, the Code(s) of Conduct of the British Psychological Society and Association of Educational Psychologists and the requirements of Health & Care Professions Council registration.
• Effectively manage workload and maintain up-to-date records in relation to individual casework and other activities, through active engagement with the council’s 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 research based practice.
• Provide efficient and effective communication, team working and delivery to children, schools/settings and families within an area team.
• Provide consultation and support, in a variety of contexts and mediums, to clusters of schools and settings within an area of the city according to identified needs.
• 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.

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 with eligibility for graduate membership of the British Psychological Society
• postgraduate qualification in Educational Psychology; either, Qualified Teacher Status (with minimum of 2 years teaching experience) and MSc training in Educational Psychology, or minimum of 2 years’ experience of working with children and young people and 3 year doctorate training in Educational Psychology

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.

• Able to manage information for a) individual pupils and b) training, support and systems work.
• Able to gather, analyse and interpret information through consultation to assess individual and school needs at systems level.
• Able to determine appropriate teaching and learning strategies, plan and deliver interventions, training and or support and formulate written advice as appropriate.
• Able to monitor and evaluate the impact of interventions and outcomes.
• Able to demonstrate effective interpersonal and communication skills.
• Able to deliver sensitive messages in a constructive way and deal effectively with conflict.
• Able to present feedback with sensitivity, honesty and clarity.
• Able to manage change, respond flexibly to new ideas and promote change as a natural process.
• Able to demonstrate effective time management and organisational skills, with ability to plan, prioritise and manage a challenging workload with identified deadlines.
• Able to identify and agree actions that are likely to lead to child/young person progress and school improvement.
• Able to reflect on and share practice with others.
• Able 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 their communities.
• Able to use ICT and technology effectively and encourage others to develop technical solutions in response to change.
• Knowledge and understanding of essential relevant legislation including Children and Families Act (2014), SEND Code of Practice (2015), and other national and local legislation, developments and good practice in relation to inclusion, SEND.
• Recent working knowledge of Educational Psychology and able to meet the qualification requirements of the British Psychological Society towards registered status with Health & Care Professionals Council (HCPC).
• Knowledge of a variety of methods of psychological assessment and intervention at the individual child, group and systems level.
• Knowledge of using applied psychology in a range of settings.

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.
• 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 It is desirable that the candidate should be able to demonstrate the following criteria for the post. Candidates are not required to meet all the desirable requirements however these may be used to distinguish between candidates.

• Able to effectively implement and communicate psychological research and practice within a range of contexts.
• Able to provide supervision and mentoring support for new colleagues, trainees and peers.

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