Group Educational Psychologist

Aldar Education is currently seeking a dedicated professional to be our new Group Educational Psychologist .  

Job Purpose:

• To contribute to the strategic and operational development of student support and wellbeing, working in partnership with Directors of Education:

• providing a high quality and effective educational psychology service to     children and young people, their families, schools and communities;

• providing professional leadership for the schools’ team in related specialism, working in partnership with the Group Head of Inclusion and Safeguarding, Senior Manager Pastoral and the Director of Education;

• contributing to the development, research and evaluation programme of training and development

 Main Tasks:

• liaising and working effectively with schools and other stakeholders to ensure the highest levels of service delivery and accountability;

• contributing, in partnership with the School Support Team and Directors of Education to the development of policy and delivery of service;

• contributing to the development of impact and evaluation measures; 

• providing professional supervision and peer consultation to members of the team;

• providing professional supervision to school teams including school counsellors;

• helping to ensure Aldar Education remains up to date with developments that affect the delivery of educational psychology, with a particular focus on new initiatives and potential training requirements;

• actively promoting an equal opportunities ethos;

• assisting the Group Head of Safeguarding and Inclusion in ensuring awareness and implementation of safeguarding and child protection procedures;

B) To engage in operational, strategic planning and research/evaluation:

• working within a commissioning framework for research and development, to advise as appropriate on methodologies for research;

• contributing to the development and delivery of training at a variety of levels within schools and HQ;

• engaging in multi-disciplinary and interagency activities as appropriate to progress the above within the context of creating effective children’s services;

• Working within a framework that promotes active partnership with children and young people and their parents/carers, to participate in decision-making processes in relation to effective provision for children with special and/or additional educational needs in conjunction with the Group Head of Safeguarding & Inclusion;

1. GENERAL PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES:

A) To develop and deliver psychological consultation in schools and the wider community:

• providing a consultation-led psychological service to schools and other settings;

• planning, developing and managing workload in schools and other settings via a clear commissioning process;

• promoting models of applied psychology and good practice that will facilitate the optimal psychological development of children and young people, as well as advising on concerns with staff where appropriate;

• working in partnership with service users to support schools and settings in maximising effectiveness, raising standards and planning appropriate interventions at school and individual levels;

• working collaboratively in association with local providers in support of schools and settings in their development of inclusive educational practice;

• contributing to multi-agency work, including the provision of specialist advice and guidance within agreed processes;

B) To undertake direct work with students of determination with additional needs/barriers to learning, and their teachers and families:

• working within a framework of consultation and liaison with schools and other partners, to engage in direct work with individuals, groups or organisations that will support the learning and psychological development of children and young people experiencing barriers to learning and social and emotional development;

• working within a consultative framework, to provide a psychological perspective to assist in developing understanding of the needs of individual children and young people;

• using validated models of psychological assessment and intervention, based on effective hypothesis generation, to effect positive change;

• where commissioned to do so, providing advice and guidance as part of the assessment of special educational needs, to provide expert psychological opinion, where required;

• providing, as appropriate, and where commissioned to do so, psychological input to child protection and safeguarding procedures.

C) To challenge and support schools as part of school improvement:

• working in partnership with colleagues, to engage in effective psychologically based interventions in schools;

• promoting and facilitating the development of inclusive practice and its links with school and setting improvement, to improve educational outcomes for all pupils, especially those who are vulnerable and/or have additional educational needs.

D) To deliver training/continuing professional development:

• preparing and delivering training and CPD activities to schools and other partners in order to promote the application of psychology in a wide variety of settings.

E) To develop Aldar as a leader in this educational field:

• contributing to effective methods of data collection, collation and analysis in line with Company guidance on information management and governance;

• contributing to the systematic monitoring and evaluation of performance, collecting and providing relevant information as required;

• developing a specialist expertise, in line with priorities;

• participating in supervision, induction and personal performance and development processes;

• Ensuring that any concerns in relation to safeguarding and/or child protection are reported to the designated person in line with Aldar safeguarding policy. It is an expectation of the post that Safeguarding and Child Protection training will be undertaken.

F) Other requirements:

• To take reasonable care for your own health and safety and other persons who may be affected by your acts or omissions and to comply with all health and safety legislation as appropriate

• As a term of your employment you may be required to undertake such other duties as may be reasonably required of you, commensurate with your grade or general level of responsibility within the organisation.

NOTE: This job description is designed to help the post holder understand the duties and responsibilities of the post. It may be amended in consultation with the post holder.

In terms of required skills, experience and qualifications:

• supervision of counsellors and/or mental health professionals

• administering, interpreting and reporting on a range of psychological assessments

• experience working as part of a multidisciplinary team

• experience working with students aged 2-18 years

• 5 years experience as a Clinical or Educational Psychologist

• Master’s degree in Psychology (Clinical or Educational)

• ideally qualified to administer ADOS

Application:

• A covering letter and CV including details of two referees should be sent to recruitment@aldaracademies.com  or via the TES website.

Aldar Academies is committed to the safeguarding of children and young people, and any offer of appointment will be subject to any relevant medical checks and clearance from appropriate safeguarding authorities.