About this role
Job summary
Our Future in Mind MHST (Mental Health Support Team) is a growing and developing service which provides early intervention to improve the lives of children and young people experiencing mild to moderate mental health problems.
We are looking to recruit 4 Trainee Education Mental Health Practitioners (Trainee EMHP) to join our friendly and supportive team starting in January 2027. Successful candidates will be employed within Wakefield CAMHS, on a NHS Band 4 training contract, on successful completion of the training and registration will transfer to a NHS Band 5 EMHP permanent contract. The role will be based within education settings in Wakefield and the first-year part time study will be at Sheffield University.
All applicants must hold a level 6 qualification and have experience of working with children and young people, an understanding of the educational system is desirable.
The interview process will include a service interview, a university interview and submission of a CV and 600-word assignment.
All employees of the Trust are strongly encouraged to have their up-to-date flu vaccination to protect staff and patients.
Main duties of the job
Responsibilities of the Trainee Education Mental Health Practitioner include:
Completing Sheffield Universitys one-year Postgraduate Diploma in Education Mental Health Practitioner (EMHP).
Delivering and recording accurate assessments including risk assessments.
Delivering evidenced based interventions to children, young people, parents/carers through individual and group work.
Delivering psychoeducation sessions to children, young people, parents/carers through assemblies, classroom, and parent sessions.
Ensuring children/young people play an active part in decision making about the support they need.
Providing advice/consultation to education staff to support children/young people getting the right help at the right time.
Supporting education settings in developing and embedding whole school approaches to mental health through collaboration and coproduction with the school community.
Participating in the delivery of training programmes for education settings and community services.
At the time of advertising, this role does not meet the minimum requirements set by UK Visas and Immigration to sponsor candidates to work in the UK. For this reason, we are unable to sponsor anyone for a skilled worker visa for this role.
We are happy to accept applications from candidates who can prove their right to work in the UK or via alternative visa routes. Such applications will be considered alongside all other applications.
About us
We are a specialist NHS Foundation Trust that provides community, mental health and learning disability services for the people of Barnsley, Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield. We also provide low and medium secure services and are the lead for the west Yorkshire secure provider collaborative.
Our mission is to help people reach their potential and live well in their communities, we do this by providing high-quality care in the right place at the right time. We employ staff in both clinical and non-clinical services who work hard to make a difference to the lives of service users, families and carers.
We encourage and welcome applications from all protected characteristic groups, we value diversity and want our workforce to be reflective of our communities.
Being a foundation Trust means were accountable to our members, who can have a say in how were run. Around 14,300 local people (including staff) are members of our Trust.
Join us and you will be one of over 4,500 staff committed to supporting and improving the mental, physical and social needs of the thousands of people we meet and help each year.
We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all colleagues and volunteers to share this commitment.
We do reserve to right to close vacancy before the advertised closing date if necessary, so please apply as soon as possible.
Job description Job responsibilities
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 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.
Successful candidates will be employed full-time and based in Wakefield Mental Health Support Team, which will be responsible for the delivery of mental health support across a range of educational settings in the region. For part of this role there will be a requirement to travel to Sheffield Trust and affiliated with the University of Sheffield for the teaching element of the training.
This post will be funded at NHS T&Cs 2026 2021 Band 4 scale, in pay band 4 bottom scale( gaining credits towards either a degree or diploma level qualification (depending on level of previous academic study), plus guaranteed employment on completion of training, with a starting salary projected to be based on the NHS T&Cs 2026 Band 5 scale upon registration.
To enable this, all applicants must demonstrate in their application the ability to work at degree level or have an equivalent level of relevant experience, with a proven record of previous learning or formal study in child development, wellbeing or mental health. Further to that experience of working with children and young people and an understanding of the educational system in England is highly desirable.
The training programme for this post starts in February 2027, is 12 months in duration and will consist of academic and supervised practice learning across mental health services and educational settings, such as primary and secondary schools, and further education colleges.
Delivery of the programme will be provided through a combination of taught days at Sheffield, independent self-guided study days and experience gained in education wellbeing and mainstream mental health services.
During training, the post-holder will work under close supervision to gain experience across healthcare and educational settings to enable them to gain the level of competence required to deliver high-quality, evidence-based early interventions for children and young people experiencing mild to moderate mental health problems.
Job Purpose:
For the duration of the training year, EMHPs will attend both Higher Education Institution (HEI) in addition to working in services (and educational settings linked to that service) for the remaining days each week.
On successful completion of training, trainee EMHPs will be equipped with the necessary skills, knowledge and capabilities to work as a qualified EMHP within the Mental Health Support Team.
Under supervision develop knowledge and practice skills in:-
Delivering evidence-based interventions for children and young people, with mild to moderate mental health problems, in education settings.
Helping children and young people within these settings who present with more severe problems to rapidly access more specialist services.
Supporting and facilitating staff in education settings to identify, and where appropriate, manage issues related to mental health and wellbeing.
Working with and within educational environments to afford better access to specialist mental health services.
To evidence development of those skills with associated knowledge acquisition to record and evidence progression towards an academic award and demonstrable practical ability.
For full job description, please see attached supporting documents.
We are aware that an increasing number of applicants are using AI technology to generate responses on NHS Job application forms. Over reliance on AI-generated content in application forms is strongly discouraged and we will conduct a thorough screening process before selecting candidates to progress to the next stage. If you are using AI to enhance your application, please disclose this in your NHS Jobs application form.
Person Specification
Qualifications Essential
Diploma level qualification or equivalent experience. Proven academic record or previous learning or formal study in Child Development. Well-being or Mental Health. Good solid basic literacy and numeracy qualifications at a minimum of level 2.
Desirable
Relevant Degree qualification. Teaching or education related qualification.
Knowledge Essential
Knowledge of the educational system in England. Knowledge of children and young people gained through academic study in child academic study in child development, child wellbeing or mental health.
Desirable
Knowledge of safeguarding issues and legal framework. Knowledge of capacity and consent issues with young people. Knowledge of the whole school approach to mental health.
Experience Essential
Previous experience of working with children and young people and their families in either Health or Education settings. Experience of working with children and young people who have social, emotional and / or behavioural difficulties.
Desirable
Experience of working with children and young people in either a healthcare or education setting. Experience of multiagency working.
Skills/Competancies Essential
Excellent oral and written communication skills. Ability to study as a self-motivated learner who can monitor their won progress towards learning objectives.
Desirable
Skilled at engaging and building relationships with children, young people and their families. Ability to work collaboratively with young people, parents, colleagues and partner agencies.
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 South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Trust
Address Fieldhead Hospital
Ouchthorpe Lane
Wakefield
WF1 3SP
United Kingdom
Employer's website https://www.southwestyorkshire.nhs.uk (Opens in a new tab)