About this role
Job summary
Were currently recruiting 4 full time Trainee Education Mental Health Practitioners (EMHPs) to work directly with young people in our Mental Health Support Teams (MHST). For this post you need to have a Undergraduate degree, second class or above, in a mental health of child development related subject OR any subject with further training or experience in a relevant field. We are also looking for people with an open and flexible attitude; excellent engagement skills and a passion for working with children and young people around mental health.
All posts are based on-site (office/school) and may require flexibility to work across different service areas and interventions. Some evening and/or weekend work may be necessary to meet the needs of young people.
This is a training position post holder will undertake training at Kings College London alongside working in service for Off The Record. Applicants will need to be ready to start work in January 2027 and posts cannot be offered to candidates unless they can guarantee this start date.
Candidates will also need to submit an application form to KCL for a place on the Diploma in Education Mental Health Practice. Please see links.
Main duties of the job
Responsibilities include offering CBT based self-guided mental health interventions to primary and secondary aged children and young people and their families including individual, parent-led and group-based support; workshops; crisis support; mental health themed activities.
Please see the full list of main duties below in the job description.
About us
We are an outward looking charity with a compelling reputation for delivering professional support services to young people in South West London coupled with the motivation to develop new and innovative responses to young peoples mental health needs. This was particularly tested when the Covid pandemic forced us to quickly pivot all our provision to remote working. However, we met the challenge, training staff in new ways of working and integrating new offers that have now become part of our ongoing work supporting children and young peoples mental health.
Post-pandemic, the well-documented rise in mental health needs amongst young people has resulted in unprecedented levels of demand for our services. Nationally, the need to modernise and transform mental health services alongside the need to increase service capacity has been recognised and, as a result, we have expanded our staff team and broadened the range of mental health interventions we offer to young people. At our core is a commitment to strong active engagement with young people and creating support that's relevant, flexible and accessible. Young people need to be at the heart of all our service design and were committed to making sure young people are able to get help now when they first reach out for it, at the point of need rather than availability.
We recognise our staff are our greatest asset and we invest in ensuring staff are supported, trained and managed in their role.
Job description Job responsibilities
Trainee Education Mental Health Practitioner
Role Description
Responsible to: Senior Mental Health Practitioner
Salary: NHS Band 4 FTE (£33,262), inclusive of Outer London Weighting
Annual Leave: Pro rata of 28 days per annum (plus bank holidays)
Hours: Full-time (35 hpw) Occasional evening work and attendance at Saturday meetings (currently 2 times p.a.) for which TOIL will be given.
Benefits: Extra day of paid leave on or around your birthday, Employee Assistance Programme, Company Pension after 3 months, Travel Loan and shopping discount vouchers.
Location: Across schools within the borough of Croydon as well as office based in our Croydon, Merton or Sutton service premises or other in-borough community venues. Portland House will be the main office base.
Croydon Portland House 678 London Road, CR7 7HU
Croydon 72 Queens Road, Croydon CR0 2PR
Merton Vestry Hall, 336 London Rd, Mitcham CR4 3UD
Sutton 172 Croydon Road, Beddington CR0 4PG
Job Summary: In line with the governments priority to increase access and availability of mental health and wellbeing support for children and young people, the Trainee Education Mental Health Practitioner (EMHP) role is an exciting opportunity to deliver evidence-based early interventions for children and young people, working across both educational settings and healthcare sectors in England.
DUTIES:
This is a training position post holder will undertake training at Kings College London alongside working in service for Off The Record. They will be taught to deliver evidence based guided self-help interventions for children and young people experiencing mild to moderate mental health difficulties. The post holder will use their newly developed skills to support children and young people who are referred into the service and trainees will receive supervision to support their professional development.
Applicants will need to be ready to start work in January 2027 and posts cannot be offered to candidates unless they can guarantee this start date.
Candidates will also need to submit an application form to KCL for a place on the Diploma in Education Mental Health Practice. The application form details are attached/linked below and will need to be completed at the same time as your application for a post.
1. To offer a range of flexible, compassionate and engaging mental health interventions for young people in schools including individual and parent-led support, group work, counselling and psycho-educational work
2. To support the delivery of the Whole School Approach across the school clusters
3. To build relationships with schools through liaising with key staff and offering consultations and signposting to other borough wide services
4. To monitor the effectiveness of interventions offered through the routine use of outcome monitoring tools reviewed directly with young people and parent/carers
5. Working with other staff across Off the Record to identify new areas for development, creativity and innovation within our existing services, researching unmet need and developing new responses
6. To maintain high levels of safeguarding awareness and to respond to risk and safeguarding issues as they arise whilst respecting the young person's autonomy wherever possible
7. To maintain accurate and up to date records of all work delivered on relevant data systems and to contribute to the monitoring and evaluation of our services
8. To ensure young people's voices are always central to service developments and contributing to young peoples participation and engagement activities in the charity
9. Undertaking direct promotion and publicity of the charity's services to young people, communities and professionals
10. To attend regular clinical and line management supervision and to attend other team/charity meetings as appropriate including occasional Saturday meetings/training days
11. To actively implement the charity's equalities and diversity & user engagement policies.
12. Any other tasks, not listed here, but deemed necessary and in the interest of the charity
Training and Supervision
13. Attend and fulfil all the requirements of the training element of the post including practical, academic and practice-based assessments and assignments to successfully complete the PG Diploma as part of becoming a fully qualified EMHP
14. As well as attendance at the University for training, fulfil private study requirements to enhance learning and prepare assignments for examination
15. Apply learning from the training program directly to practice through the course
16. Receive practice tutoring from educational and clinical providers in relation to course work to meet the required standards
17. Prepare and present case load information to supervisors within the service on an agreed and scheduled basis, in order to ensure safe practice and the governance obligations of the trainee, supervisor and service are delivered
18. Prepare and present case load information to supervisors within the service on an agreed and scheduled basis, in order to ensure safe practice and the governance obligations of the trainee, supervisor and service are delivered
19. Engage in and respond to personal development supervision to improve competences and practice
Please note that an application to Kings College London Post Graduate Diploma in Education Mental Health Practice needs to be made alongside your application to Off The Record. It is important that you read the KCL application guidance and brochure in the supporting documents.
We may close this vacancy early if we believe we have enough strong applications to be able to successfully fill the roles. Interested candidates are encouraged to apply as soon as possible.
Person Specification
Experience Essential
Relevant professional experience in CYP Mental Health, Education or Mentorship Knowledge of the education system in England Knowledge of children and young people gained through academic study in child development, child wellbeing or mental health Awareness of safeguarding responsibilities and the issues related to delivering services to young people under 16 A working understanding of the principles of equality, diversity and inclusion and a commitment to providing an inclusive, culturally sensitive service, including LGBTQ and neuro-diverse young people and those with disabilities
Qualifications Essential
Undergraduate degree, upper second class or above, in Psychology OR related subject e.g., Psychology, Education, Childhood development, Social Work etc, OR any subject with further training or experience in a relevant field e.g., Teaching or TA, Learning Support, HCA, Youth Work, Counselling etc
Skills and attitudes Essential
Very strong ability to actively engage with a wide range of young people and an understanding of the issues young people face in their lives. Excellent core engagement and interpersonal skills and an ability to work consistently with high levels of empathy, warmth and unconditional positive regard. Commitment to working collaboratively with young people as full partners in any approach and to supporting user engagement in Off the Record Ability to maintain accurate records and statistics including database entry Ability to maintain professional boundaries whilst responding to complex ethical dilemmas Ability to work as part of a team and to attend and contribute to team and agency meetings
Disclosure and Barring Service Check This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Employer details Employer name Off The Record Youth Counselling Croydon
Address Off The Record Youth Counselling
72 Queens Road
Croydon
CR0 2PR
United Kingdom
Employer's website https://www.talkofftherecord.org/ (Opens in a new tab)