School Counsellor

We are looking for a School Counsellor to carry out one to one therapeutic work with children and teenagers, covering a variety of emotional health issues. We are looking for a strong communicator with proven skills in engaging with, inspiring and motivating, students, parents and staff.

At Harris Academy Wimbledon our students are provided with a strong pastoral system giving them the support and care they need to realise their potential, make rapid progress and achieve. For those children who need support in managing their own wellbeing the role of the School Counsellor is paramount in order to ensure that they are safe, fulfilled and happy, both inside and outside of school.

About Us

Harris Academy Wimbledon opened in September 2018. We are a brand new, co-educational 11-18 school for the High Path area. We currently have 900 students in year 7-11 and will open a 6th form in September 2023.

There is a great deal of collaborative working and sharing of good ideas about what works within secondary academies at Harris. The successful candidate will be joining a friendly and outward looking group where professional development and progression opportunities are second to none.

Main Areas of Responsibility

Your role will be:

• To provide a high-quality professional counselling service for students in the Academy who require therapeutic welfare support covering a variety of emotional health issues.
• To liaise with parents where necessary to ensure the young person is supported well.
• To provide a drop-in service at the Academy for all students as means of one-off support or self-referral.
• To co-ordinate where appropriate with external agencies such as CAMHs, GPs and Psychiatrists to ensure the young person's well being and safety.
• To appropriately share all safeguarding concerns with the Designated Safeguarding Lead within the Academy.
• To lead and support parents information evenings about well-being and resilience.
• To attend a weekly pastoral briefing to provide updates on students receiving counselling support.
• To provide a termly impact report on the counselling service within the Academy.
• To maintain confidential notes on all counselling sessions and complete session notes (respecting appropriate confidentiality) on the Academy's data base system.
• To attend external clinical supervision to ensure best practice, discuss current case load and identify CPD needs.
• To provide CPD to allow colleagues to understand the emotional needs of students.
• To liaise with key Academy staff members in respect of any necessary next steps to ensure the welfare and safety for all students at the Academy.
• To review the counselling provision on a termly basis and implement steps to improve the service.

Qualifications & Experience

The successful candidate will have:

• Post graduate qualification in child counselling or child/adult Psychotherapy either to masters or post graduate diploma level.
• Accreditation by the British Psychological Society UK Council for Psychotherapy or the British Association for Counselling
• Experience of working with young people aged 11-18 with a range of emotional issues preferably in a school or institutional setting such as CAMHs.
• Experience of working with parents/carers/external agencies and delivering intervention programmes to individual groups of students.
• Highly effective skills in communicating clearly both orally and in writing.
• Maintaining appropriate and respectful boundaries and other ethical boundaries such as confidentiality, discretion and integrity.
• Confidence and presence in communicating and working with young people.
• Sensitivity to complex situations.
• Excellent organisational skills, confidence in liaising with parents and outside professionals.
• Emotional maturity and resilience in dealing with complex issues.

Next Steps

If you have any questions about this opportunity, please contact us via e-mail, or call to arrange a conversation.

Before applying, please download the Job Pack for full details on the job responsibilities and person specification. You will need this when completing your application.

Please note: we may hold interviews as and when applications are received and we reserve the right to offer to a candidate prior to the closing date. We only accept applications submitted online via our careers website and which are completed before the closing deadline. With this in mind, we encourage you to apply as soon as possible and advise you check the job information as per the listing on our careers site.

Professional Development & Benefits

Our people are at the heart of our success. We have developed a strong culture of collaboration and best practice, with professional development and career planning at its centre. We invest in our staff with support, coaching, mentoring, and a wide range of top-quality training programmes delivered at every level to senior leadership.

We look for talented individuals who share our vision for creating exceptional places of learning, and are committed to ensuring that every child in London has access to the best possible education.

In addition to the opportunities for career progression, training and development, we also offer a competitive rewards and benefits package which includes a Performance and Loyalty Bonus, Pension Scheme, a Wellbeing Cash Plan, electric car scheme, 26 days' annual leave (plus bank holidays) for non term-time only employees, and many other benefits.

Safeguarding Notice

The Harris Federation and all our academies are committed to ensuring the highest levels of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, and we expect all our staff and volunteers to share in this commitment. All offers of employment are subject to an Enhanced DBS check, references, and where applicable, a prohibition from teaching check will be completed for all applicants. Before applying, please review our Policy Statement on the Recruitment of Ex-Offenders.

Equal Opportunities

The Harris Federation is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from all suitably qualified candidates.

As a provider of employment and education, we value the diversity of our staff and students, and all our staff are equally valued and respected. We are committed to providing a fair, equitable and mutually supportive learning and working environment for our students and staff.