The Role

Are you looking to join a creative, friendly and supportive multi-disciplinary team?

Do you want to deliver a high-quality, values driven service to children and young people in Wandsworth? 

If yes, then we would encourage you to apply to our Educational Psychologist roles!

We have 1 permanent and 2 fixed term (2 years) EP posts on a full-time or part-time basis (minimum 0.6FTE) within a team that delivers inspiring, varied and innovative work.

In return to your hard work and commitment, we would like to reassure you that you will benefit from:

• Working in a team with no EHCNA backlog and an average balance of statutory time of approximately 20% of your overall allocation.
• Regular 1:1 supervision as well as peer supervision for all members of the SCPS using the Reflecting Teams model.
• Being part of a dynamic team with a great reputation and involvement in innovative practice.
• Being part of a wider Children’s Services department that values psychology and prioritises our voice in strategic work.
• Potential involvement with the delivery of Attachment and Trauma informed training, support for yp during their primary to secondary transfer, Children’s Centre work, ELSA training and supervision, therapeutic play, CBA interventions and other types of non-school related work.
• Access to CPD and support to develop your professional interests and reflective practice.

Please note the closing date for the role is Sunday 24^th of September.

Who are we?

The Schools and Community Psychology Service (SCPS) is a team of Psychologists, Trainee Psychologists, Systemic Family Therapists and Primary Mental Health Workers (PMHWs). As part of Wandsworth Council, we are a key service contributing to work that aims to improve educational, social and mental health outcomes for children and young people living and being educated in Wandsworth. We have a strong traded presence with our local schools as well as strong links with other teams and university organisations.

The SCPS is committed to the following current priority areas:

• Becoming an anti-racist team, promoting diversity and inclusion, as well as reducing barriers in society.
• Consultation as a model of service delivery.
• Review of our report writing practice to increase our face to face work in schools and support the needs of our multiple audiences and our own wellbeing.
• Values driven approach to practice, both internally as a team and externally with our school communities.
• Team wellbeing and team collaboration at all levels with bi-annual team surveys led by our Team wellbeing working group.
• Fostering and encouraging team member’s individual areas of professional interest. We endeavour to offer all our EPs at least one area of EP practice outside of school work.
• A good balance of statutory, commissioned and project work across all levels of experience. Statutory work takes on average less then 1/3 of each EP’s overall allocation.
• High quality psychology with an emphasis on ongoing professional development with protected CPD time.  
• High quality psychological supervision and developing reflexivity through our various opportunities for group reflective space, included a devoted reflective space session for our anti-racist practice, CBT supervision for those delivering therapeutic work and other similar groups.
• Promoting psychology at all strategic levels both in our work with others as well as in our work with each other.

About the role

We are seeking applicants who value a team approach, are committed to consultation as a model of service delivery and who can work sensitively and pro-actively with schools, families and young people, applying psychology at all levels to promote social and educational inclusion for children as well as promote anti-racism and anti-discriminatory practice across all aspects of the role.

We are interested in hearing from qualified, HCPC registered Educational Psychologists or Trainee Educational Psychologists (due to qualify by September 2024 and eligible for HCPC registration) with:

• Creative thinking and ideas for offering an EP service as part of a dynamic and multi-talented team.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.  
• Commitment to deliver psychology within the LA context.

If you are interested in this role please contact Theodora Theodoratou (Principal Educational Psychologist) on  theodora.theodoratou@richmondandwandsworth.gov.uk or one of the senior EPs (Henrietta Ogbonna, Helen Upton, Jenny Twells) on edpsychs@richmondandwandsworth.gov.uk

Benefits

At Richmond and Wandsworth Councils, we care more about how you work and what you achieve, rather than where you work on any given day. The difference you can make to our local communities is what really matters most to us, service delivery must always come first. We have carefully considered agile ways of working to provide the best experience for residents, stakeholders and our staff. Our agile working strategy actively supports and encourages a dynamic work environment and daily working experience. Agile working helps put the needs of our staff at the centre of everything we do, so if specific flexible working arrangements helps you with this, feel free to let us know.

Your wellbeing and the flexible way in which you can work is and will remain a key priority for Richmond and Wandsworth Councils. We want you to thrive and feel empowered in your work!

We recognise the importance of a good balance between work and home life so we do everything we can to accommodate flexible working including, a flexible hybrid model of home and face to face working (depending on service and individual needs) and other arrangements. Please just let us know in your application or at any stage throughout the process (and beyond) if these are options you’d like to explore. We also offer a generous holiday allowance of 40 paid days (pro rata) including bank holidays and a wide range of learning and development opportunities.

In addition, we offer a comprehensive range of staff benefits such as membership of the Local Government pension scheme, childcare vouchers, new technology scheme, interest-free loans on annual travel cards, discounts with many leisure activities, restaurants, shops and other establishments.

Indicative Recruitment Timeline

Closing Date: 11:59 pm on Sunday 24th September 2023

Shortlisting Date: Week commencing 25th September 2023

Interviews will likely take place on 3rd October 2023

More detailed information about the posts and its requirements are contained in the Job Description and Person Specification accompanying this advertisement.

Useful Information:

The closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received. We strongly advise you to complete your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

Please note that the advertised dates for interviews may change due to the current Covid-19 situation. If they do, we will let you know as soon as possible.

We particularly welcome applications from sections of the community who are currently underrepresented within our teams, including males, BAME and disabled candidates.

Richmond and Wandsworth Councils are committed to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible for everyone. We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and developing a culture that values differences, recognising that employees from a variety of backgrounds bring important and positive contributions to the Councils and can improve the way we deliver services. We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer.

Important Information:

This post is exempted under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and as such appointment to this post will be conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory response to a check of police records via Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) helps employers make safer recruitment decisions and prevent unsuitable people from working with vulnerable groups, including children. It replaces the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) and Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA).

How to apply:

To be shortlisted for this position your supporting statement must clearly address each point in the person specification of the Job Profile. Your supporting statement should be no longer than 2 A4 pages.

Richmond and Wandsworth Councils