Senior Specialist Educational Psychologist

Human Resources & Development - Form 35a Version 16 - Issued February 2025 JOB DESCRIPTION AND PARTICULARS OF APPOINTMENT ▪ Job Title: Senior Specialist Educational Psychologist ▪ Post Number: To Be Confirmed ▪ Grade and SCP: Soulbury B SCP 3-6 (£59,809 - £65,423) plus up to 3 SPAs ▪ Directorate: People (maximum £68,884) 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 Specialist Educational Psychologist within Learning & Skills, you will provide decisive and effective leadership to the Educational Psychology Service in a specialist area, 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 Educational Psychologist Service to help lead on a specialist area (this is flexible and the specialist area may change dependent on the service and Local Authority's need), within the Educational Psychology Service and across the Local Authority for 0.5 of a week. ▪ supervision of staff within the Educational Psychology Service and quality assurance of their work when they are working as part of the specialist area you are leading on and more generally. ▪ assisting and deputising for a Senior Educational Psychologist when required. ▪ 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 your area of specialism, this may include engagement in strategic workstreams and using data analysis to improve the delivery of educational psychology services within your area of specialism. Who will your manager be and what will you be responsible for? You will be: ▪ ▪ reporting to a Senior Educational Psychologist who will be managing and supervising the work of the specialist area you are responsible for leading on, 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 3 members of the Educational Psychology Service acting in a supervisory capacity, monitoring performance and supporting development. ▪ 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 lead on a specialist area (0.5) of the week by: ▪ 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. ▪ leading a specialist area, providing psychological input to support other professionals, particularly within the operational aspects of the work and contributing to strategic project management, attending strategic and operational meetings relevant to your area of specialism. ▪ engaging in research and development work within the area of specialism. ▪ preparing and analysing data relating to the area of specialist responsibility to show impact and outcomes for our children/young people and families. ▪ providing verbal and written records where appropriate to senior managers and strategic/operational groups on work undertaken within the specialist area. ▪ leading on the evaluation of the Educational Psychology Service's contribution to the specialist area. ▪ sharing responsibility for supervision of the rest of the members of the Educational Psychology Service, especially if they are working within the area of specialism you are leading on. ▪ allocating cases, monitoring, and reviewing the work of the staff working within your area of specialism. ▪ embedding innovative, evidence-based work practice relating to your area of specialism within the service. ▪ participating in developing quality assurance mechanisms, so that the service is of a consistently high standard and meets the needs of Shropshire's communities. ▪ 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. You will be expected to complete educational psychology tasks 0.5 of a week 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. ▪ working 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 ▪ 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 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 team'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 they achieve their objectives and carry out their work. ▪ promote and engage with the Council's responsibility to safeguard the welfare of ...