Educational Psychologist

Human Resources & Development - Form 35a Version 16 - Issued February 2025 JOB DESCRIPTION AND PARTICULARS OF APPOINTMENT ▪ Job Title: Educational Psychologist ▪ Post Number: To Be Confirmed ▪ Grade and SCP: £51,383 - £61,721 (Educational Psychologist Soulbury Pay Scale A 4-9 (+ up to 3 SPAs maximum, £66,156) ▪ Directorate: People Where your role fits at Shropshire Council As Shropshire Council we are rightly proud of our achievements and we have proven to be a resilient local authority in our response to the many challenges we overcome, particularly over recent years. We will be continuing this momentum with ambition and a focus on delivering our four key priorities outlined within the Shropshire Plan: Healthy People, Healthy Environment, Health Economy and Healthy Organisation. We are committed to achieving this by aligning everything we do to our vision 'Shropshire - living the best life'; to tell everyone that Shropshire Council is a great place to be. We will enable a skilled, happy, healthy, diverse, inclusive, empowered, and proud workforce that influences and leads change, addressing any inequalities. The Shropshire Educational Psychology Service applies psychology to promote positive social and educational outcomes for children, young people and their families by working with schools, other agencies and the wider community. Overview of your role As a member of the Educational Psychology Service within Learning and Skills, you will support the delivery of services for children and young people in line with the Council's vision, values and strategic objectives. This will involve maintaining effective delivery of statutory, core and traded services, applying psychology to make a real difference to the lives of children and young people. As a qualified Educational Psychologist your professional skills will enable you to provide a high quality and effective Educational Psychology Service to children and young people and families, within Shropshire Council. You will work in partnership with a range of agencies and educational settings and directly with children, young people and parent carers to deliver psychological services. Who will your manager be and what will you be responsible for? You will be: ▪ reporting to a Senior Educational Psychologist and the Principal Educational Psychologist and Preventative Lead, who is in turn responsible for your health and safety, training and development. ▪ asked to contribute to the mentoring and support of trainees or less experienced staff within the Educational Psychology Service. ▪ expected to lead and/or contribute to a range of projects and build relations with both internal and external partners in order achieve specified outcomes but will not have direct authority over those involved. ▪ responsible for completing within expected timescales all mandatory corporate and role specific training. Training requirements will be detailed in your corporate induction and Personal Development Plan (PDP). Courses are accessed via the council Learning Management System via the Intranet. What will you be doing? You will be expected: ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ to work within the guidelines provided by professional Codes of Conduct of the Association of Educational Psychologists, the Health Care Professions Council and the British Psychological Society, and policies concerning data protection and health and safety. to keep up to date with service specific legislation, guidance, good practice and other developments. to deliver a service that reflects the Council's vision, priorities and strategic objectives, working with the Principal Educational Psychologist and the Senior Leadership Team to translate these into practice. to draw on psychological theory, and evidenced informed practice, in offering solutions and making recommendations on moving a situation forward, for those seeking assistance from the Service. to identify significant issues and solutions to the Principal Educational Psychologist and the Senior Leadership Team. to deliver statutory, core and traded services that promote equity, diversity and inclusion. ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ to facilitate the development of inclusive practice to improve educational outcomes and to prepare all children and young people for adulthood, especially those who are vulnerable and/or have additional educational needs. to contribute to multi-agency work, including the provision of specialist advice and guidance within agreed multi-agency assessment processes. to provide Statutory Advice as part of the Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment process to the Local Authority, in line with the regulations set out in the 2014 Children and Families Act and the Code of Practice and according to relevant timescales and to contribute where necessary to other SEND processes and procedures. to draft evidence-based reports for internal and external use as required, with due analysis of how known factors will impact on learning and development. These reports need to be accessible to parent carers and other professionals. to provide psychological input into the development of policy and practice in the Local Authority through discussion, research, evaluation and dissemination. to provide, as appropriate, psychological input to child protection and safeguarding procedures. You are responsible for ensuring that any concerns in relation to safeguarding and/or child protection are reported to the designated person in line with Local Authority child protection procedures. It is an expectation of the post that child protection and safeguarding training will be undertaken. The above duties are an illustrative outline and are not an exhaustive list. You will be expected to become involved in a range of work to enable the service to respond effectively to the changing requirements of the Council and changes affecting the workforce. Supervision received: ▪ Peer, group and line management supervision is available to all members of the service. Line management supervision will be provided by a Senior Educational Psychologist, half termly. ▪ A yearly professional development plan will be completed to support personal development targets, career progression and CPD. ▪ On-going further professional development should take place in accordance with the codes of professional conduct of the Health and Care Professions Council and The British Psychological Society. An up-to-date CPD log should be maintained. ▪ The post holder will organise their own workload, contacting their manager to seek advice where required. What we expect of you You will: ▪ adopt a customer focused approach when delivering your service, ensuring engagement with service users and maintenance of an appropriate personal profile. ▪ act as an advocate for your service and work collaboratively with colleagues across the whole Council to meet the needs of the people of Shropshire. ▪ meet individual, service and personal development targets agreed through the Personal Development Review Process, learn from experience and are committed to continuous improvement individually and as an employee of the Council. ▪ work with colleagues to meet your Service's key performance indicators, support a culture of team working and ensure the team functions successfully in support of the Council's corporate and service objectives. ▪ meet the behaviours and competencies adopted by the Council in the way in which you achieve your objectives and carry out your work. ▪ a priority for the Council is the protection of vulnerable people, ensuring they are able to live as independently as possible. You will promote and engage with the Council's responsibility to safeguard the welfare of children, young people and adults, and protect their right to be safe from harm. What are your conditions of Service The conditions of service are those laid down by Shropshire Council, which have been adopted and amended as necessary from those laid down by the National Joint Council for Local Government Services. Your primary work base will be at Louise House, Shrewsbury, however, this can be subject to change, with the option to regularly work from home as well as visits to schools and settings. Your post is subject to the following: ▪ The post is permanent for 37 hours per week, ▪ Normal office hours are 7am - 7pm, Monday - Friday and 8am - 1pm on a Saturday with a minimum lunch break of 30 minutes. Occasional evening work may be required, ▪ The post is subject to the Council's annualised hours scheme as implemented within the specific work area. This post carries eligibility to join the Local Government Pension Scheme. Information about this will be sent with any formal offer of appointment. Annual leave entitlement is a pro rata flat rate scheme of 207 hours (28 days) annual leave plus bank holidays, with five days extra awarded to those staff with five years local government service giving an entitlement of 244 hours (33 days). Two days of an employee's allowance (pro rota for part time staff) must be taken at Christmas for any potential Christmas closures. Employees who work in a building/service which is required to open over the Christmas period, the two days leave (pro rota) can be carried over into your next leave year but must be used by the end of March. The appointment is subject to three months' notice in writing on either side. The appointment is subject to six months' satisfactory probationary service during which time the notice period will be one week on either side. Smoking is not allowed in Council buildings, in Council vehicles or in any Council place of work. It is a condition of your appointment that you provide a suitable vehicle for the performance of your duties and that this is readily available for use during normal working hours. You are entitled to claim for reimbursement of the costs of travel on council business at the rate of 45 ...