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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.
Please review our Candidate Application Guide before submitting your application, it’s packed with helpful tips to guide you through our application and interview process, while showing you what we are looking for.
Trainee Education Wellbeing Practitioner
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.
This is a training position, the post holder will undertake training at Kings College London alongside working in service for Achieving for Children. 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.
The post holder will need to be ready to start work in early/mid-January 2027 and posts cannot be offered to candidates unless they can guarantee this start date.
Shortlisted 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 this post.
Training commences 18th January 2027
About the role
We are seeking to recruit two graduate level practitioners to provide guided self-help therapy and parenting interventions. These posts are salaried at NHS Agenda for Change band 4 for a one year post graduate diploma in Education Mental Health Practice through Kings College London. Further intensive supervision and on the job training will be provided by an experienced supervisor within each team.
Successful candidates will be employed on a full-time basis within a Mental Health Support Team delivering individual, group and workshop-based mental health interventions within a borough-based cluster of schools.
During training, the post-holders 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.
Please read the Job Profile (attached on the left hand side) before applying for the role.
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 Achieving for Children. It is important that you read the attached guidance/linked guidance below:
KCL EMHP PGDip Jan 2027 - Programme Brochure.pdf
KCL EMHP PGDip Jan 2027 - Application Guidance.pdf
2-Year Post-Graduation Rule for Progression to Further NHSE-Funded Training
Applicants should be aware that individuals who commence an NHSE-funded course listed on the webpage below will normally be required to wait two years from the date of their qualifying exam board before they can start another NHSE-funded training programme:
For example, trainees starting the EMHP, CWP or CYP-PT Therapy programmes in January 2027 are expected to complete their qualifying exam board in April 2028. As a result, they would not be eligible to begin a further NHSE-funded training programme until two years after April 2028.
Please note that the following programmes are exempt from this requirement:
- CYP-PT Supervision PGCert
- Senior Wellbeing Practitioner PGDip
- Leadership PGCert
Applicants are encouraged to consider this rule when planning future training and career progression opportunities.
Please contact cyp-mh@kcl.ac.uk if you have any questions about the course.
Please contact service if you have any questions about the job role. Rosie Creer - rosie.creer@achievingforchildren.org.uk
About you
- 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/TA; Learning Support; HCA; Youth Work; Counselling etc)
- Relevant professional experience in CYP Mental Health/Education/Mentorship (to be considered on a case-by-case basis)
- Strong communication skills
- The ability to work cohesively within small teams
- Motivation to learn and to be challenged
- The ability to use feedback and adapt accordingly
- Good organisational skills
- Experience of working within a mental health setting and / or school pastoral care
- Experience of working with children and an understanding of how to talk with them
- Commitment to using data and relevant measures to assess clinical outcomes
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).
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.
