Educational Psychologist

London, England, United Kingdom

11/22/2024

Job Description

Discover yourself in Lewisham where what you do makes a difference to our vibrant and culturally diverse communities!

We have a rich history of welcoming people from all over the world and are proud to be recognised as the UK’s first Borough of Sanctuary, for our work in championing the rights of refugees and migrants.

Introduction

Are you looking for an educational psychology service where you can do the job you were trained to do?

We are looking for educational psychologists who are passionate about preventative local authority work and who are committed to the wider inclusion agenda where all children and young people belong. If that sounds like you then come and join our creative and experienced team.

Year 3 trainee EPs are very welcome to apply.

What’s the role?

The Local Authority’s Education and SEND leadership in Lewisham recognises the importance of early intervention and how educational psychology is essential to this preventative work with our vulnerable children and young people. We are being invested in to ensure the Right Support at the Right Time for our most vulnerable children and young people, ensuring needs are identified and met early.As a Lewisham EP you will provide targeted early intervention. Working closely with a group of schools as a Link EP as well as working with early years’ settings, using a consultative style of delivery, and providing statutory assessments. The scope of the work may vary from setting to setting, and we encourage a range of whole setting and staff development activities such as training, supervision, drop-ins, and group work.

What’s in it for you?

Lewisham EPS is forward thinking. Yes, demand for statutory work is high. Yes, we need to ensure our most complex children’s strengths and needs are accurately identified and understood. And yes, we have good leadership and systems in place to ensure that this is just one of many ways of applying psychology, not the only way. You can expect strong leadership and a passion for our profession from the PEP and senior leadership team and a curiosity about creative ways of working with our children and partners

Lewisham EPs are positive, inclusive, and creative. We are an especially warm, friendly, collaborative, and enthusiastic team of Educational Psychologists. We are well established and highly regarded in the Local Authority and new colleagues, both core team and Trainees, report feeling very welcomed and supported. Our reputation is reflected in high levels of buy back from schools, social care and health. We work in a very collaborative, supportive, and creative way, and continue to build positive links with a range of community organisations.

Lewisham EPS is focused on professional and career development. CPD opportunities and innovative roles, such as specialist links with the Virtual School, the Communications Clinic, and Early Years are firmly established. We have two EPs working with the Mental Health Support Team (MHST). Some of our EPs are trained in Video Interaction Guidance, Attachment Based Mentoring, and ADOS and ADIR assessments. We are successfully running ELSA training which is having a long-term impact in schools. We have close links with the Doctoral training courses at UEL, UCL/IOE and the Tavistock, and each year support several trainee placements within the team. Our Trainees value their experience with us and are motivated to stay with us after qualification.

Lewisham EPS is a diverse team. Our team reflects the diversity in our local area and is a strength for our children, families, and schools. Our EPs are deeply committed to promoting inclusion and challenging systemic racism. Our mission is to continually embed anti-racism in our practice and to support our settings and other professionals to share inclusive practice and equity for all.

Lewisham’s PEP and Senior Leadership Team are committed to EP wellbeing. We focus on maintaining work-life balance and we have thought carefully about our allocation model to meet our statutory demands and to maintain our traded work in education settings. As a new member of our team, you will have a carefully planned induction period, and a buddy system to ensure you feel welcome straight away.

What We’re Looking For

Educational Psychologists who can articulate clearly how this role is one of public service to our children and families in Lewisham. We want EPs who are committed to being part of our team and part of Lewisham. Belonging is a key theme across all children’s services in Lewisham and we want EPs with the desire to feel and create belonging.

Our team, from TEPs to PEP, are committed to delivering active anti-racist practice in all our interactions. Becoming Actively Anti-Racist EPs was our priority for CPD and Service Development in academic year 2023-24. Going into 2024-25 this area of practice is a focal point to our service development plan. Examples of our priorities for this year are:

• All EPs can describe how being actively anti-racist is demonstrated through the five functions of the EP (consultation, assessment, intervention, training, and research).
• EPs can demonstrate racial fluency and use a shared vocabulary across our five functions.
• EPs can write provision which explicitly addresses the needs of Black children, e.g., racial identity development and belonging.
  
  

Anyone applying for our job will be required to demonstrate their commitment to this work. Wherever you are in your own personal and professional journey, we will commit to supporting you to your next step. Our expectation is that if you want to work in our team, then you want to work in this way too.

Location

The job is primarily based in Kaleidoscope, 32 Rushey Green, Catford, London, SE6 4JF, our local NHS Childrens Development Centre, here you will work alongside our community health teams, other local authority teams, and soon, one of our Family Hubs. We operate a hybrid approach for working and you will be required to work in the office, in settings, and from home on a regular basis.

Special conditions

• A recognised qualification in Educational Psychology (Masters or Doctoral level)
• HCPC Registration.
  
  

The recruitment process is anonymous, and we do not accept CV’s.

Applicant handbook - please read the guidance in this handbook when applying. It is essential that you complete the application fully and that your supporting statement covers how you meet each of the person specification criteria listed.

For an informal discussion about this job, please contact Sue Franklin sue.franklin@lewisham.gov.uk

Please click here to view the Job Description and Person Specification

Salary

£50,627 - £60,160 Soulbury A Scale 5 - 10 (+3 SPA).

N.B: All appointments will be offered at the minimum spinal column point (SCP) for the grade of the role. The only exception to this will be when matching current salary (up to the maximum of the scale), which is subject to evidential proof.

Diversity

Lewisham Council is a Disability Confident employer. We welcome and encourage job applications of all abilities. If you require any reasonable adjustments in the application or interview, please contact the lead contact on this advert. We will make reasonable adjustments to make sure our disabled applicants and those with health conditions are supported throughout our recruitment process. We support the access to work scheme, further details are available at www.gov.uk/access-to-work/apply

The Council has a dedicated employment support service, Lewisham Works , which offers Lewisham residents guidance in relation to applying for jobs. If you want to join Lewisham Works, please email JobsAndSkills@lewisham.gov.uk and an advisor will be in touch with you.

The Council reserves the right to close adverts early if there is a large response.

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