Senior Educational Psychologist

Human Resources & Development - Form 35a Version 16 - Issued February 2025 JOB DESCRIPTION AND PARTICULARS OF APPOINTMENT ▪ Job Title: Senior Educational Psychologist ▪ Post Number: P27893 ▪ Grade and SCP: Soulbury B SCP 6-9 (£65,423 - £68,884) plus up to 3 SPAs ▪ Directorate: People (maximum £72,999) 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. As a member of the Educational Psychology Service within Learning and Skills, you will support the achievement of these key priorities, making a real difference to the lives of people in Shropshire. 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 Senior Educational Psychologist within Learning & Skills, you will provide decisive and effective leadership to the Educational Psychology Service, to support the delivery of the key priorities in line with the Council's vision, values and strategic objectives. This will involve: ▪ working as part of the Leadership Team to help lead service development, manage staff and quality assure the work of the Educational Psychology Service and of wider work that Educational Psychologists contribute to. ▪ ensuring the service achieves it aims, objectives and service standards and provides a reliable, effective service for children and young people with additional and complex needs within the context of the SEND Code of Practice, the LA's SEND and AP Strategy, Outcomes Framework and other policies and guidance. ▪ supporting strategic development in a variety of areas, including engagement in and oversight of strategic workstreams and using data analysis to improve core, traded and statutory service delivery. Who will your manager be and what will you be responsible for? You will be: ▪ ▪ reporting to the Principal Educational Psychologist and Preventative Lead, who is in turn responsible for your health and safety, training and development. Peer, group and line management supervision is available to all members of the service. responsible and accountable for approximately 6 members of the Educational Psychology Service acting in a supervisory/managerial capacity, monitoring performance, supporting development and undertaking annual appraisals. ▪ 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 preparing responses in line with Shropshire Council's corporate processes and national/regulatory/statutory processes (e.g. complaints, MP enquiries, Information Governance requests, customer enquiries, media enquiries, HR staff investigations etc..). These responses should be in line with the quality and timescale expectations set out within Shropshire Council's published procedures and/or case allocation emails and discussions. 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 lead and manage the Service by: ▪ managing and overseeing a specialist area (this is flexible and the specialist area may change dependent on the service and Local Authority's need), particularly the operational aspects of the work of a Senior Specialist Educational Psychologist or a team within the educational psychology service such as the Neurodiversity Practitioners or EBSA team, where systems for effectively monitoring and reporting work will be established. ▪ preparing and analysing data relating to the area of specialist responsibility, providing regular oral and relevant written reports contributing to annual outcomes and impact data of the Educational Psychology Service, to wider Local Authority reports, such as the Director's Quarterly Quality Assurance Report, and the Local Authority's SEND Self Evaluation Framework. ▪ sharing responsibility for clinical and management supervision of the rest of the members of the Educational Psychology Service. ▪ giving clear direction and providing professional leadership, to help identify and address individual development needs and manage performance utilising the range of HR tools to achieve effective people and performance management. ▪ allocating cases, monitor, and review the work of the team including regular audits, in accordance with performance / quality standards / and the procedures of the Council. ▪ participating in developing quality assurance mechanisms, so that the service is of a consistently high standard and meets the needs of Shropshire's communities and the statutory assessment process. ▪ enabling a culture of continuous improvement encouraging members of the service to reflect and act on evaluation and feedback through coaching and mentoring. ▪ inspiring the service by creating opportunities to be creative and innovative, supporting their development and encouraging autonomy to enable the service to do their best work. ▪ attending meetings with commissioners and partners, as appropriate, and contributing to strategic discussions and working groups within the Local Authority to develop best practice in relation to the educational needs of children and young people, translating policies into practice. ▪ undertaking and contributing to project design and evaluation for the Local Authority in conjunction with relevant others and to produce bids for funding along with other relevant colleagues. ▪ ▪ leading and supporting the development of relevant research informed interventions and the evaluation of the Educational Psychology Service's contribution to multi-agency initiatives as determined by the Principal Educational Psychologist and Preventative Lead. reviewing the Statutory Advice as part of the statutory assessment of special educational needs to the Local Authority, in line with regulations and requirements set out in legislation and in the SEN Code of Practice and advise appropriately. ▪ attending leadership meetings and fulfil any other managerial tasks and duties required by the Principal Educational Psychologist and Preventative Lead. You will be expected to complete educational psychology tasks by: ▪ working 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. ▪ devoting some of your time to generic work as an Educational Psychologist to provide a high quality and effective Educational Psychology Service through the delivery of statutory, core and traded services by applying psychology to promote the development of emotional well-being and learning for children and young people in their communities. NOTE: The proportion of this time will be determined by the Principal Educational Psychologist and Preventative Lead following Service and Local Authority requirements. ▪ having contact and making links with, children, young people and their parents/carers, educational professionals in schools, as well as any other educational services, and managers and team leaders from a range of services, including the private and voluntary sector. ▪ taking a lead in settings, schools and colleges in relation to information, training and interventions for children and young people, their families and schools, wider communities and other services. ▪ drawing on psychological theory, and evidenced informed practice, in offering solutions/making recommendations on moving a situation forward, for those seeking assistance from the Service to promote inclusive practice for all. ▪ providing 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 Child and Families Act and the Code of Practice and according to relevant timescales. This may include appropriate contribution and presentation to SENDIST procedures. ▪ provide, as appropriate, psychological input to child protection and safeguarding procedures. The postholder is 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 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 the Principal ...