School, College and Looked After Children's Practitioner

Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust; City Of London; On-site; GBP 33,000 - 37,000; Full time

Job summary

A London-based healthcare foundation is seeking a School, College and Looked After Children's Practitioner to support children and young people in educational settings. The role involves delivering educational workshops and working closely with families and organizations to enhance wellbeing. Candidates should have strong interpersonal skills and a background in recovery principles, with a commitment to improving health outcomes for young people.

Qualifications

• Strong understanding of recovery practitioner roles within children and young people's services.
• Experience of working with alcohol/substance users or a comparable field.
• Ability to write clear reports for stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Deliver educational awareness workshops in schools and community venues.
• Participate in outreach efforts to identify health and wellbeing needs.
• Collaborate with key partners to develop health and wellbeing interventions.

Skills

Interpersonal skills

Ability to assess and manage caseload

Effective listening skills

Knowledge of recovery principles

Motivational Interviewing

Education

Recovery practitioner training

Tools

Microsoft Office

SystmOne

Cerna

Job description

Go back Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust

School, College and Looked After Children's Practitioner

The closing date is 10 December 2025

CNWL Addictions directorate are proud to be recruiting for a new Children and Young People's (CYP) Health and Wellbeing Service for Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster.

We are committed to supporting children and young people (CYP) who experience difficulties in relation to substance use. This role is to work as a member of CYP service within the Boroughs, including partnership working, networking and attending relevant meetings/events.

The role of the School, College and Looked After Children's Practitioner is to primarily provide support and engage CYP with universal and targeted support in educational settings, including alternative education provisions. The support should include 1:1 support, advice and information for CYP with a focus on prevention and recognition of the importance of education and health to protect the CYP from harm and support improvement in their overall lifestyle and positive health outcomes.

Main duties of the job

To deliver educational awareness in CYP settings (i.e. schools, colleges, community venues through workshops, assemblies)

To deliver bespoke training for those in contact with CYP (i.e. teachers, foster carers, parents, social care)

To oversee, work effectively and in partnership with all relevant key partners within the Boroughs. This includes networking and establishing links, where appropriate.

To use their specialist knowledge and skills in evidence-based health and education interventions to support CYP and undertake assessment, care plan, implement and evaluate treatment delivered to young people. They will complete high-quality reports for young people in relation to schooling; children and families services; CAMHS etc.

To plan, organise and deliver individual and group work interventions for young people in locations that are suitable for young people

To work effectively and in partnership with all key partners within the Boroughs. This includes networking and establishing links where appropriate.

To act as keyworker to a defined allocated caseload of clients, under the supervision of a designated manager within the team.

About us

CNWL Addictions Directorate are an established, strong and innovative directorate. The Children and Young People's (CYP) Health and Wellbeing Service for Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster is a new service within the Directorate. We have an inclusive, welcoming and supportive culture. There is a visible and supportive management team and a strong emphasis on training and professional development opportunities.

CNWL staff provide integrated healthcare to a third of London's population, Milton Keynes and areas beyond. We involve service users, carers, the public, staff and partner organisations in the way that we are run.

Our catchment area spans diverse communities, with over 100 first languages spoken. It contains areas of great affluence and areas of much deprivation. We are committed to providing services that meet the needs of the people who use them, and actively encourage involvement to make a difference. We're proud of our diversity and continue to undertake new initiatives to advance equality to promote good relations and understanding between our staff. We are recognised locally, nationally and internationally for providing high quality, innovative healthcare. We aim to employ only the best people, and our experts are frequently called upon to contribute to national health strategy and policy, many models of our care have been adapted for use in other countries.

Job responsibilities

Please see job description and person specification for full details.

You will have a good understanding of the barriers and issues affecting children and young people and work closely with organisations and services that support or work with children and young people, their family, carers and schools.

You will also link in voluntary sector organisations and the local public health team to deliver preventative health and wellbeing support to children and young people.

They will also signpost to the appropriate services that can meet the needs of CYP. Together with CYP, organisations working with them, schools, parents, family and carers co‑design workshops, interventions and come up with solutions to support the wellbeing of CYP. Working with them to develop workshops and sessions that address their needs to support the development of culturally sensitive offers further and improve accessibility of existing offers.

A substantial part of your working time will be spent conducting outreach. Working closely with communities in identifying health and wellbeing needs and supporting the development of services in response to those needs. Part of your role will be seeking the community voice; recognising and addressing concerns around the needs of children and young people.

You will possess good communications skills with excellent interpersonal skills, ability to listen to others views, respect and value individuals from a diverse range of backgrounds.

Person Specification

Training and Qualification

• Strong understanding of recovery practitioner roles within children and young peoples services
• Evidence of further training in relation to personal recovery principles
• Commitment to obtain underpinning knowledge through work based learning and mandatory training
• Motivational Interviewing training
• Any specific training related to young People
• Completed Recovery practitioner training

Experience

• Experience of working with alcohol/substance users or another comparable field
• An understanding of the complex issues presented by young people
• Experience of working as part of a team
• Experience of working with individuals of all ages in a therapeutic/supportive role
• Experience of working in collaboration with health providers, schools; CAMHS; probation, the courts, police, youth services, mental health & addictions organisations.
• Experience of delivering groups as well as one-to-one interventions
• Experience in undertaking evaluations, audit and research

Knowledge & Skills

• Ability to demonstrate knowledge of recovery principles and values
• Evidence of good interpersonal skills and an ability to form boundaried relationships with service users and carers
• Ability to assess and manage caseload of clients, making continuous assessments of the psychosocial, emotional and rehabilitative needs of clients, taking into account the needs of family, local community and developing care plans and the evaluation of these plans
• To be conversant with the precepts of harm reduction
• To ensure compliance with risk assessments and risk management
• To complete all relevant data collection using established Outcome Monitoring Tools and any relevant quality measures to support the delivery of contracted service
• Able to use Microsoft packages to keep records and write reports or ability to learn
• Effective listening skills and team player
• Ability to challenge issues in relation to stigma, low expectations and discriminatory practice in an effective manner
• Ability to write clear reports for stakeholders (including court reports; probation)
• Proficient use of clinical systems such as SystmOne; Cerna and/or other relevant systems for documenting client work

Personal

• A preparedness to work flexible hours through prior arrangement as the needs of the job indicate (e.g. some evenings and weekends)
• Ability to travel between locations using own or public transport

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust

£33,094 to £36,195 a yearPer annum incl. HCAS