Educational Psychologist

West Sussex County Council; England; On-site; GBP 45,000 - 56,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading council in West Sussex is seeking Educational Psychologists to join their expanding service. The role involves working collaboratively to deliver evidence-based outcomes for children and young people. The successful candidate will have a strong focus on early intervention and statutory requirements, with opportunities for professional development and a supportive work environment.

Benefits

31 days annual leave + bank holidays

Commitment to ongoing professional development

High quality supervision

Qualifications

• Experience working with children in education or children's services.
• Successfully completed training as an educational psychologist.

Responsibilities

• Support the delivery of the Local Authority's wellbeing strategy.
• Collaborate with team members to achieve outcomes for children.

Skills

Communication

Interpersonal Skills

Time Management

Self-reflection

Teamwork

Education

Honours Degree in Psychology

Job description

The Opportunity

Salary: Soulbury Educational Psychologists Scale A 2-7 £45,586 to £55,974 per annum, plus up to 3 SPA points
Working Pattern: 37 hours per week full-time, and part-time available, Monday to Friday
Contract: Permanent
Location: Your base location can be from County Hall Chichester, Bridge House Worthing, or County Hall North Horsham.

Closing date: 08 June 2025

Interview date: Interviews are scheduled for 16 June 2025

Are you currently training to be an Educational Psychologist?

Or do you already hold your Educational Psychology qualification and are looking for a new opportunity?

We would love to hear from you.

To respond to an increase in demand for Educational Psychologists within West Sussex, we are building our expanding Educational Psychology Service for our 2024 and 2026 cohorts. This includes broadening the range of work we undertake in this service.

If you are passionate about evidence-based outcomes, with a child/young person focus, and would love to help shape our service, this is a fantastic opportunity for you.

You would become part of our evolving Educational Psychology Service, focussing on early intervention whilst maintaining excellent standards of delivery on our statutory requirements.

We are looking for someone who enjoys working collaboratively with team members and stakeholders, to achieve outcomes for children and their families.

We welcome applications from:

• Fully qualified and experienced Educational Psychologists
• Trainee Educational Psychologists towards the end of their second year
• Trainee Educational Psychologists in their final year of training and who are soon to be qualified.

Please note that Newly Qualified Educational Psychologists will start on Soulbury EP Scale A point 4 (£48,575 per annum).

Please note: You must be able to travel throughout the county including to locations that are not always accessible by public transport. There is a regular and intrinsic requirement to communicate in English with members of the public.

About Us

As an integral part of the SEND and Inclusion service, the Educational Psychology Service (EPS) supports the delivery of the Local Authority's wellbeing strategy and Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) strategy across educational settings, children, young people, and families throughout West Sussex. The EPS directly oversees the Portage Service and the Mental Health Support Teams in schools, with Education Psychologists playing an important role in both.

We have a growing chargeable service focussed on wellbeing which enables us to offer a range of evidence-based support to schools and other settings, including consultation and training. We have a well-developed Emotional Literacy Support Assistant (ELSA) programme and lead on the county wide Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA) support. Additionally, EPs contribute to other services such as our Virtual School and a specialist CAMHS service.

For more information, please visit our dedicated Careers in educational psychology (westsussex.gov.uk)

The Team

Our Educational Psychology Service consists of four area teams with offices based in Chichester, Worthing, and Horsham, each managed by a Senior Educational Psychologist. Our service offers a range of support to Schools and other settings, including mental health support, portage, consultation, and training.

Our senior management team place the development and wellbeing of our team at the centre of all we do. We ensure Educational Psychologists have opportunities to develop their areas of interest, leadership, and strategic skills. We offer induction support, regular supervision, and dedicated time for peer support.

Experience and Skills

Key Skills:

• Experience of applying psychology with children and young people.
• A strong work ethic that delivers.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills with the ability to persuade and influence.
• Ability to self-reflect and evaluate performance.
• Excellent time management and personal organisational skills.
• Most importantly, passion, drive and enthusiasm to work within a strong team ethos that places wellbeing at the heart of your work.

Qualifications and/or experience:

• An Honours Degree in Psychology or recognised equivalent qualification.
• Substantial relevant experience working with children in education or children's services or both.
• Successfully followed a course of specific post graduate professional training as an educational psychologist.
• Recent successful training or experience as an educational psychologist.
• Knowledge of applying Psychology in practice.

For a full list of responsibilities, key skills, qualifications and experience required for this role, please refer to the job description. Please refer to the key skills in your cover letter.

Benefits

As an employer we recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive and dynamic working environment where employees can achieve their full potential, achieve a healthy work-life balance, and are rewarded for the work they do.

For a full list this can be found at our Rewards and Benefits page.

Upon joining us you will have access to a range of benefits including the following:

• Commitment to ongoing professional development supporting you to develop areas of interest.
• High quality supervision.
• 31 days annual leave + bank holidays with the ability to buy additional leave annually.

Further Information

The reference number for this role is CAFHE05392

For an informal conversation or for further information regarding the role, please contact Andrea Morgan (Principal Educational Psychologist) at .

For issues or queries regarding your application please contact

How to Apply

To apply, please follow the links below to upload your CV and Cover Letter.

In your cover letter please outline your motivations for applying and explaining the skills and experience you can bring to the role (please refer to the key skills) ensuring that any gaps in employment are covered in your CV. Please ensure you have saved the job description attached to the main advert on our website as, once the job has closed, you may not have the opportunity to download again.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people, and vulnerable adults.

This post is subject to HCPC registration, an enhanced DBS check, five years referencing and an occupational health check.

Equity, inclusion, and accessibility is very important to West Sussex County Council. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, as this helps us build a diverse and talented workforce, that reflects the communities we serve. We ensure our approach to recruitment is flexible and supportive to enable all applicants to be at their best and to ensure they have the best possible chance of success.

We operate a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants that have a disability, are a veteran or are a care leaver. More information can be found on our application help page.