School Counsellor (Part-Time)

The College

Oxford International College Brighton is an international boarding school opening in Ovingdean, Brighton in August 2023. For the right candidate, this is an exciting and highly rewarding opportunity to work in a new College within Nord Anglia’s world-class international network of schools. The College’s curriculum will be based on the proven success of Oxford International College’s three pronged curriculum model which has led to outstanding academic outcomes; OIC Brighton intends to join OIC Oxford at the top of the UK league tables, preparing our leavers for the most competitive courses at the world’s best universities. The successful candidate will contribute to the College’s opening phase and boarding provision, with excellent opportunities for further training and career development.

The Role

OIC Brighton will open with 2 boarding houses, with international boarders from Years 9 to 12. The successful candidate will support the Well-Being and Pastoral team, ensuring the highest possible levels of pastoral care and boarding provision, working in our bespoke Well-Being suite. They will contribute to the development of a positive and supportive pastoral culture throughout the College.

Depending on the candidate’s background and experience, there may be opportunities to teach and / or support the teaching of PSHE and IGCSE and A Level Psychology, and offer activities and training, as part of this role.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

• support students and staff throughout OIC Brighton in the provision of an independent and confidential counselling service;
• support the College’s stated Personal Development aims in developing students’ coping strategies and resilience;
• provide high quality, one-to-one and small group counselling sessions in person or online as appropriate;
• help the College to create a safe, non-judgemental space in which students feel confident to express themselves and seek support;
• be committed to the safeguarding of children, upholding best practice in all areas pertaining to safeguarding;
• work with the College’s medical team to ensure that students have the best possible care, contributing to care plans as required;
• liaise with the College’s safeguarding and medical staff as well as outside agencies such as CAMHS and student GPs where targeted support is deemed necessary;
• contribute to the College’s PSHE programme to promote Well-Being and encourage best practice among staff and students
• communicate effectively with staff and parents as appropriate
• comply with the College’s safeguarding procedures at all times
• Keep suitable case records on each student in a secure place in accordance with GDPR regulations.

Responsibilities and Reporting Relationships

The School Counsellor will report to the Deputy Principal Pastoral & Well-Being and Designated Safeguarding Lead. They will work closely with the Head of Boarding and House Parents.

Experience

• good numeracy, literacy and IT skills
• a recognised counselling and/or psychotherapy qualification (typically Level 4 or higher)
• accreditation from a recognized body such as the BACP, UKCP or ACP
• experience of working in a similar or relevant role
• understanding the needs of young people
• experience of working in a school or College environment is desirable
• experience of working in an international environment is desirable

Attributes

• ability to form strong professional relationships
• ability to work both as part of a team and with autonomy
• a flexible, can do attitude as suits the demands of a new College
• a sense of humour and creativity
• ability to respond rapidly and manage an in-demand service
• clear ability to set and respect boundaries
• Sound clinical rationale – ability to differentiate between short & long-term work and to provide flexible provision to suit the needs of all
• good personal resilience and solid professional support structures. 
• demonstrate a caring and understanding approach and an excellent communicator with students and families
• sensitive understanding of the cultural issues and challenges which may arise 
• language skills are desirable with a number of our students speaking Mandarin, Cantonese and Russian as their first languages

Role: Part-time, Permanent

Salary: competitive

Other benefits:

• Free meals in College on contact days

Start date: 7 August 2023

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Our schools

Each Nord Anglia Education school is unique in character and designed to meet the needs of its community. We are united by our philosophy, to be ambitious for our students, our people, and our family of schools. We believe that being part of our family of schools gives them a special advantage. Working together, we can achieve more than we can individually. Our schools have access to a wide range of resources and support to enhance their success.

We also create unique opportunities to benefit our students and people, such as the Global Campus, Nord Anglia University, and our collaborations with The Juilliard School, MIT, UNICEF, and King’s College London.

Global academic results

The 2021-2022 school year was one of the strongest ever in terms of Nord Anglia Education’s academic results. For the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, our students achieved a 35.1 global point average, far exceeding the global average of 31.9. A third of students eared a perfect score of 45. In the A-levels, our students achieved 60.5% of grades at A*-A, along with 77.3% at A*-B. The group’s latest IGCSE student cohort, consisting of 2,351 students across 41 Nord Anglia schools, achieving an outstanding set of results, with 52.8% of grades at 9 – 7 for the year and 90.8% at 9 – 4.

See Oxford International College Brighton CHILD PROTECTION AND SAFEGUARDING POLICY: 

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