About This Role
Job Description
We are looking for a qualified School Counsellor to work within our Mental Health Support Team. This is an exciting opportunity to work within a friendly, innovative, and collaborative pastoral team who are passionate about maximising the sense of enjoyment, empowerment and meaning that children, young people, families/carers and educational staff experience.
The school has their specially developed Wellbeing and Mental Health Centre, the Willow Hub, which provides a bespoke space for both educational and therapeutic practices. This will also be where the School Counsellor Role will be stationed.
As the school’s Counsellor, you will be an integral member of the multidisciplinary team offering consultation, assessment and evidence-based interventions to the children and young people we serve.
Overall Purpose of the Post
To provide a confidential counselling and welfare support service to students where appropriate, and signpost to relevant external agencies.
To liaise with other staff members and parents/carers where appropriate.
Responsibilities
Delivering early intervention for children and young people in education settings with a wide range of mental health problems, working with other professionals to direct best practice, in a holistic and child-centred way.
Helping children and young people within these settings who present with more severe problems to rapidly access more specialist services.
Supporting and facilitating staff, families and carers to identify mental health and wellbeing needs, promoting a Whole School Approach and embedding a positive ethos and attitude to mental health and wellbeing.
Contributing to ongoing service innovations and development.
Work in partnership to support children and young people experiencing mental health difficulties and their parents/carers, families and educators in the self-management of presenting difficulties.
Work in partnership with children, young people, their families and their educators in the development of plans for the intervention and agreed outcomes.
Support and empower children, young people, their parents/carers and families and their educators to make informed choices about the interventions being offered.
Operate at all times from an inclusive values base, which recognises and respects diversity.
Accept referrals according to agreed local and national protocols.
Undertake and record accurate assessments of risk and operate clear risk management processes in line with locally agreed procedures, including the safeguarding protocols of the educational setting.
Adhere to all regulations, processes and procedures within the school, including (but not limited to) HR policies, training requirements, referral protocols, and emergency procedures. Signpost referrals of children with more complex needs to an identified appropriate relevant service.
Through case management, supervision and any other relevant local pathway, escalate cases where the level of need or risk is beyond the scope of your practice.
Provide a range of self-help information and support for evidence-based psychological treatments.
Attend meetings relating to referrals or children and young people accessing counselling, where appropriate.
Keep clear, confidential, and professionally coherent records of all activity in line with both health and education service protocols and use these records and outcome data to inform decision-making.
Work within a collaborative approach involving a range of relevant others when indicated.
Contribute to the development of clinical and training materials under the direction of the wider team.
Prepare and present case load information to supervisors within the service on an agreed and scheduled basis to ensure safe practice and the governance obligations of the trainee, supervisor and service are delivered. Respond to and implement supervision suggestions by supervisors in practice.
Engage in and respond to personal development supervision to improve competencies and practice.
To disseminate research and service evaluation findings in appropriate formats through agreed channels.
To engage in continual personal self-care and development, which aims to maintain and enhance your own ability to support members of the school community.
To support the school in adopting a Whole School Approach to mental health and wellbeing.
Desired Criteria
Relevant Experience
Experience of counselling in an educational environment.
Experience of working with external support agencies.
Education and Training
Advanced Counselling qualification.
Degree-level qualification.
Safeguarding Training.
Essential Criteria
Relevant Experience
Have considerable experience working with children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing.
Education and Training
Relevant Level 4 Counselling qualification or similar.
Be registered in a professional body (BACP or another body relevant to the role) or be in the process of gaining registration.
Special Skills and Knowledge
Commitment to student welfare and achievement.
Ability to listen and advise in a non-judgmental way.
Ability to work with others on difficult/delicate/sensitive subjects.
Ability to motivate others.
Customer service/care approach.
Good time management skills.
Personal Skills and Qualities
Passion for the role.
Confidence in working with students within the 11-18 age range.
Ability to work independently or as part of a team.
Excellent communication skills with the ability to communicate with staff at all levels.
Reliability and commitment to the individual student and their needs.
Additional Factors
Good team member.
Commitment to continuous improvement and willingness to learn from experience and practice in this College and others.
A supportive and empathetic approach to students and the ability to relate well to staff.
Awareness of Health and Safety issues.
Commitment to equal opportunities.
Statutory requirements & equal opportunities
Safeguarding & Child Protection
For this post applicants must be willing to undergo child protection screening, including, but not limited to, reference checks with previous employers, online searches, prohibition checks and a criminal record check via the Applicants Disclosure and Barring Service (including Barred List Check). All offers of employment are conditional upon the satisfactory outcome of child protection screening checks.
Disclosures
We will appoint, train, develop and promote on the basis of merit and ability alone. It is a stipulation of the Governors and a statutory requirement that members of staff appointed to Worksop College should be shown not to have any criminal record, which might prevent them accepting a post at the College. Accordingly, the College requires permission from all members of staff to make an appropriate investigation. Offers of employment are subject to a satisfactory outcome of this enquiry.
The post is exempt from the Rehabilitations of Offenders Act 1974 and the School is therefore permitted to ask job applicants to declare all convictions and cautions (including those which are “spent” unless they are “protected” under the DBS filtering rules) in order to assess their suitability to work with children.
Equal Opportunities
Worksop College is an equal opportunities employer and is committed to a policy of treating all our employees and job applicants equally. It is our policy to take all reasonable steps to employ and promote employees on the basis of their abilities and qualifications without regard to age, disability, sex, gender reassignment, pregnancy, maternity, marital or civil partnership status, race (which includes colour, nationality and ethnic or national origins), sexual orientation, trade union membership, religion or belief.
Benefits
Working at Worksop and Ranby House is as much about a lifestyle choice as it is about pursuing a satisfying career path. We have high expectations of our staff and reward with an attractive benefits package, which includes:
Fee concessions for your children
Workplace pension scheme
Access to gym, sports hall and swimming pool
Free meals provided when on duty
Free onsite parking