School Counselling Team Leader

Gwynedd Council; Caernarfon; On-site; GBP 32,000 - 52,000; Full time

Job summary

Gwynedd Council is seeking a qualified counsellor to provide a confidential, school-based counselling service for children and young people across Gwynedd. You will work within primary and secondary settings, delivering face-to-face sessions and ensuring safeguarding and ethical standards.

The role includes clinical supervision for the schools' counselling team, maintaining standardised records, and collaborating with partners such as CAMHS and other agencies to support vulnerable pupils.

Qualifications

• Masters level counselling qualification with accreditation.
• BACP membership or equivalent accreditation.
• Ability to lead and supervise service teams.
• Experience with safeguarding and child protection processes.
• Proficiency in Welsh and English preferred.

Responsibilities

• Provide a confidential face-to-face counselling service in schools.
• Offer professional supervision for the schools' counselling team.
• Maintain standardised case notes and data in the service system.
• Coordinate with partner agencies; ensure safeguarding.
• Develop the service and participate in evaluations.

Skills

Communication skills

Team leadership

Listening skills

Confidentiality

BACP awareness

Welsh language ability

Education

Masters in Counselling

BACP accreditation

Clinical supervision qualification

Experience with school settings

Job description

Cyngor Gwynedd is committed to being an inclusive employer and to enhancing the diversity of the workforce. Applications will be assessed anonymously. All applicant information will be handled confidentially.

Person Specification

Personal attributesEssentialUnderstanding of team leadership and development and management methods. Confident in meetings and when presenting information. Excellent communication and listening skills The ability to respect and deal with the service, staff and clients in a sincere and confidential manner. Confident to provide clinical leadership to the team in terms of the ethical code of professional bodies in the therapy and counselling field. Thorough understanding of Child Protection processes. Knowledge of children and young people safety processes Knowledge of the issues affecting and disrupting the lives of young people. The ability to ensure self-motivation and to work independently. The ability to contact and work with other agencies and individuals to change things for the better in response to matters of relevance to the service. Enthusiasm for working with children and young people. Patience, tolerance and sensitivity. The ability to deal with stress effectively.Desirable-Qualifications and relevant trainingEssentialHigher qualification in Counselling e.g. Masters degree or higher. Professional body accreditation, BACP or equivalent body. DesirableHigher academic or vocational qualification in a relevant field of study. Qualification to provide clinical supervision. Service / team management and leadership qualification. Qualification or experience in an alternative therapy, such as play therapy, art therapy, music therapy, etc. Relevant experienceEssentialFive years’ experience or more of working in the field of children and young people’s counselling. Experience of working in the primary sector and in relation to the needs of junior children. Experience of keeping standardised notes. Experience of leading and developing a service/team. Experience of working with others. Good IT skills and experience of using computer programmes and databases. DesirableExperience of working in a range of schools. Experience of alternative therapies fields.Skills and specialist knowledgeEssentialCounselling training up to Masters level. Desirable-Language requirementsListening and Speaking - Higher Able to follow a conversation or discussion through the medium of Welsh and English on a professional level and discuss general day to day topics in the field in order to present information and express opinions. Able to give a pre-prepared presentation and respond to any comments and questions on it in Welsh or English. Reading and Understanding - Higher Able to understand standard written Welsh and English; both formal and informal. Able to gather information from various sources such as letters, reports, articles through the medium of Welsh and English in order to fulfil the post. Writing - Higher Present written information confidently by letter, more detailed and technical report formats, and respond to written requests conveying information, ideas and opinion in Welsh and English (help is available to check the work).

Job Description

Purpose of the post

• To ensure that the children and young people of Gwynedd are central to everything we do.
• To provide a counselling service for young people in Secondary and Primary schools (Year 6) in Gwynedd.
• To provide professional supervision for members of the schools' counselling team.
• To ensure that the service prioritises support for the most vulnerable pupils.
• To ensure the quality of the provision.

Responsibility for functions:

• Laptop and mobile phone.
• Day-to-day resources budget.
• Training budget.

Main duties:

• Serve as a team member to provide an effective, professional and statutory counselling service for young people as and when needed.
• Provide a face‑to‑face counselling service for individuals who, it is considered, would benefit from counselling.
• Provide and arrange a one‑to‑one assessment in accordance with BACP regulations.
• Comply with and conduct a limited number of sessions in accordance with BACP regulations.
• Ensure that every client is assessed and that either the service deals with the case or the client is referred to the appropriate service.
• Act in a manner that is consistent with recognised standards of counselling providers.
• Comply with the BACP Code of Practice and Ethical Framework.
• Follow recommendations of the Welsh Government Support Pack on good practice.
• Focus on children and young people's safeguarding and protection arrangements.
• Maintain a balance independently between Safeguarding and Ethics – for the benefit of the client.
• Keep standardised records on every case.
• Collect basic notes on every individual case.
• Provide data and feedback to be posted onto the service's information management system.
• Input client data into the secure online system on a regular basis.
• Ensure that all notes are kept in accordance with Data Protection.
• Follow a procedure by which the user's opinion on the service is obtained.
• Maintain firm contact and an agreed system of efficient collaboration with relevant agencies within the boundaries of confidentiality.
• Consult with other key colleagues in the field of children and young people's well‑being and mental health and follow an agreed referral system to and onwards from the service.
• Provide information on the counselling service. Raise awareness among children, young people, their parents and other professionals about the existence of the counselling service and how it operates. Raise awareness about counselling among school staff, advising them on the counselling service's website that forms part of the range of support services that are available for children and young people.
• Undertake any tasks related to providing counselling in schools, as can reasonably be expected given the salary of the post, at the request of a line manager.
• Protect clients and others that are at risk of considerable harm.
• Clients depend on the Counselling Service to provide a higher level of confidentiality. It is essential that the Counsellor provides this safe environment whilst maintaining a balance between the Ethical Framework and Child Protection Legislation. There is a need to monitor the clients' needs regularly throughout the therapeutic process.

Coordinate the service on a school level by:

• Arrange and administrate the counselling service jointly with the school's staff.
• Communicate with and contact the school's staff, for the benefit of the young person, whilst keeping within the boundaries of client confidentiality.
• Act as a resource for school staff by providing them with an insight into the world of counselling and promoting the service wherever possible.
• Maintain and develop a professional practice through regular and consistent management and supervision and clinical training, and through taking part in evaluations and investigations of the service.
• Assess and manage the risks to individuals, and to yourself.
• Regularly monitor, re‑assess and manage the risks to individuals.
• Take immediate steps that are commensurate to dealing with/addressing any behaviour that poses a risk.
• Comply with the safeguarding procedures and practices of the local Child Protection Board and those of the department.
• Comply with all the relevant legislation, guidelines, national standards and departmental policies.
• Maintain accurate and up‑to‑date case records and ensure files comply with the department's policy requirements on data protection, record retention and confidentiality.
• Pro‑actively contribute to performance evaluation reviews and individual supervision.
• Make a positive contribution to the team, by collaborating with colleagues and the line manager.
• Attend team meetings and take part in any relevant working groups and other departmental and inter‑agency meetings as needed.
• Ensure and maintain ongoing and effective professional supervision for the rest of the team's counsellors.
• Ensure the quality of practice of the team members' and that evidence is recorded promptly, accurately and in detail.
• Participate, as required, in the processes to review, monitor and develop the Counselling Service. This includes the need for self‑evaluation and the drafting a detailed development plan for the service.
• Create an annual business plan for the service.
• Submit a quarterly progress report against set targets in the business plan.
• Work with a Senior Mental Health Worker to ensure that the Counselling service is aligned and further develop work that promotes the mental health of vulnerable pupils within schools in Gwynedd.

General:

• Create and maintain placement trainee scheme.
• Develop Primary work and alternative therapy.
• Develop a supervision plan for school staff.
• Recruitment, appointment, induction and development of staff.
• Represent the service in relation to other agencies (e.g. CAMHS, Cruse, the Welsh Government).
• Line management of team members. Conducting group supervision for the team.
• Responsibility for self‑development.
• Ensure compliance with Health and Safety rules in the workplace in accordance with the responsibilities noted in the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Council’s Health and Safety Policy.
• Responsible for managing information in accordance with the Council’s information management guidelines. Ensure that personal information is treated in accordance with Data Protection legislation.
• Commitment to reducing the Council’s carbon emissions in accordance with the Carbon Management Plan, and to encourage others to act positively towards reducing the Council’s Carbon Footprint.
• Undertake any other reasonable duty which corresponds to the salary level and responsibility level of the job.
• Responsibility to report any concern or suspicion that a child or vulnerable adult is being abused.

Special circumstances:

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