Classifications
Job Information
Achieving for Children is a Community Interest Company that has a public sector ethos, combined with the freedom to innovate enabling us to do things differently. As a not-for-profit social enterprise owned by three local authorities (Windsor & Maidenhead, Kingston and Richmond), we offer the freedoms of a social enterprise with the employment benefits of local government. To find out more about us click here.
Educational Psychologist
We are a large and supportive psychological team with a range of professional interests and experiences. Our service protects time for systemic and early intervention work, as well as opportunities for training, joint working and projects. The team is currently spearheading an Attachment Aware and Trauma Informed project with colleagues from the Virtual School across a significant number of schools (this work will extend into the next academic year), and developing project work around executive functioning. The service also has the standard offer around ELSA, SCERTS, workforce development training, and Early Years’ consultations.
Following a growing demand from our schools and commissioners to increase their psychological input beyond our initial projections we are seeking to appoint enthusiastic, creative and innovative Educational Psychologists (EPs).
This is a fantastic opportunity to join a warm, welcoming and supportive psychological team.
About the role
As an Educational Psychologist for Achieving for Children you will be joining:
- An EP team which is highly regarded by schools and other services/organisations across Kingston and Richmond.
- A service which successfully commissions and trades with a wide range of stakeholders, allowing for creative and interesting systemic and early intervention opportunities.
- A service which keeps psychological theory and research at the forefront of all our practice and work, and is committed to providing a high-quality evidence-based psychological service to children and young people in our communities.
- A service which highly values professional development and service development. As such, we ensure there is protected time for all EPs to work collectively and systemically. Our safeguarded time enables us to focus on training, service development, project work and early intervention.
- A service that is a well-established part of Kingston and Richmond schools’ assess, plan, do and review cycles ensuring that statutory activity is kept at a manageable level and focused on ‘making the difference’.
About you
To be an Educational Psychologist for AfC, you will be passionate about making a positive difference to the lives of children and young people as well as demonstrating the following points:
- Committed to operating within a consultative framework, can demonstrate awareness of how to make an impact in applying psychology to affect change, and view teamwork and peer support as key factors in a successful service.
- Ability to use, describe and explain psychological concepts, theories, research and practice in a way which enthuses others and adds to their understanding.
- Interested in working systemically across two boroughs and committed to early intervention.
About our benefits
We are focused on creating a positive supportive environment, where you will have access to a really wide range of resources, as well as a competitive salary and all the perks to enable hybrid working. In AfC you will also have access to:
- 29 days annual leave, increasing to 33 days after 2 years and 35 days after 4 years with an additional day off in your birthday month (Or for term-time workers, your leave entitlement consists of the non-working periods in your contract)
- Tailored induction sessions commencing on the date you start working for AfC
- Local Government salary and pension scheme (LGPS or Teachers Pension)
- Flexible working options - helping to keep a good work life balance
- A comprehensive Employee Assistance Programme
- A range of staff benefits and discounts
- An excellent learning and development offer to support your career pathway
To find out about all of the breadth of benefits of working for Achieving for Children click here. For our social work offer click here. For our Recruitment Journey, click here.
Important Information
Start dates: Achieving for Children have set start dates meaning successful candidates join on a set date in each month. Candidates are advised to prepare for this should a job offer be accepted to ensure eligible continuous service is not affected.
Right to work: The UK has introduced a new points-based immigration system affecting EU and Non-EU workers and sponsorship requirements. We advise checking the GOV.UK website for right to work guidance.
Equality: We particularly welcome applications from sections of the community who are currently underrepresented within our teams. Achieving for Children 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 and can improve the way we deliver services. We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer.
Safeguarding: We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. We expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. 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).
For more information about AfC: Drop in and meet Regina on the first Wednesday of every month at Civic Centre, Twickenham.
We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received. Therefore, it is strongly advised that you complete and return your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.
