School Therapist

Northpoint Wellbeing Ltd; Leeds; On-site; GBP 28,000 - 36,000; Part time

Job summary

A therapeutic services provider in Leeds is seeking a qualified School Therapist to deliver short-term, one-to-one interventions for primary and secondary pupils. This part-time role (28 hours) offers a competitive salary between £28,606 and £35,740 per annum. Ideal candidates will have a recognized qualification in psychotherapy or counseling, experience in therapeutic interventions for youth, and a commitment to safeguarding. Join our mission to enhance mental health support for children and young people in schools.

Benefits

Term-time only employment

Enhanced leave policies

Qualifications

• Experience delivering therapeutic interventions to children or young people.
• Ability to assess and respond to child protection and safeguarding issues.
• Minimum one year's post-qualification clinical experience.

Responsibilities

• Deliver therapeutic services in primary and secondary schools.
• Liaise with school staff on referrals and assess intervention needs.
• Provide short-term individual interventions based on evidence.

Skills

Therapeutic interventions

Communication skills

Safeguarding knowledge

Multidisciplinary teamwork

Education

Relevant therapeutic qualification

Registration with professional body (BACP, UKCP)

Tools

Basic IT software (email, Word)

Job description

The focus will be on referrals from identified priority groups where consent and motivation criteria are met (including those experiencing friendship/relationship issues, those affected by loss/bereavement/family separation, anxiety, depression, those experiencing deprivation, asylum seekers, refugees, etc).

Work with children and young people aged 5 to 19 will be required within the role and some contact with parents of young people will be required.

Main duties of the job

Delivery of the therapeutic service in primary and secondary schools within the cluster, working with colleagues to promote the service, liaising with cluster and school staff and other stakeholders.

Building and maintaining good, effective working relationships with cluster teams and pastoral staff in the schools.

Liaising with school staff on referrals, assessing and determining the need for intervention with the children and young people referred.

Holding a caseload of children and young people at any one time.

Holding a caseload of referrals and gathering information to allow accurate assessment and formulation of the emotional and mental health needs of children and young people.

Delivery of short-term (normally 6 to 8 sessions), evidence-based individual interventions in the school setting, to children and young people who are referred through the cluster and where consent and motivation criteria are met.

Delivery of group interventions where appropriate.

Delivery of single session therapy or brief intervention where appropriate.

With a developed understanding of local services, assisting the cluster/school team to establish the most appropriate offer of support, or providing supporting information for onward referrals.

Offering consultation, training and advice to school staff and other professionals as and when appropriate.

Providing clinical support, training, guidance, and input to cluster/school staff.

Attending/contributing to referral and planning meetings with cluster and other staff.

Taking a proactive approach to ensuring safeguarding concerns are raised appropriately, following both Northpoint, Cluster and school safeguarding processes.

Ensuring that all records are kept confidentially, in line with Northpoint’s procedures.

Working with other professionals to ensure therapeutic input is appropriate to the needs of the client group, and that all therapeutic services follow the evidence base.

Communicating with parents/families where appropriate in line with Northpoint guidance.

Any other duties as required by the evolving nature of the project (primarily keeping integrated case management information in line with other project members, undertaking relevant assessments, completing monitoring and evaluation reports, and attending team meetings and other forums).

About us

Northpoint is a charity with a track record of providing accessible therapeutic services. In recent years the organisation has significantly developed its school therapy services and is now commissioned by 17 clusters of schools across Leeds, to provide therapeutic interventions to pupils and/or parents (Leeds Mindmate Wellbeing).

Over the last few years the volume of work that the Northpoint Schools services provide to children and young people and parents has more than doubled. This continuing growth of our school therapy services in Leeds, and in our commissioned services in Doncaster, Harrogate, Bradford and Halifax means that we are now providing therapeutic interventions to pupils and/or parents in more than 200 schools.

Northpoint has worked in partnership with TNCP for several years and are commissioned to provide a therapy service to the children and young people who attend schools within the cluster partnership. We need to recruit a qualified and experienced therapist to join the team to provide the same depth and quality of support that has made our services so successful.

Job responsibilities

Do You Want To Help Make a Difference to the Lives of Children and Young People?

We’re offering an exciting opportunity for a part-time (28 hours), term-time School Therapist within the Alwoodley, Roundhay and Moortown (ARM) Cluster. The role is permanent, with a competitive FTE salary of £32,440 to £40,530 per annum. For this term-time-only role, the pro‑rata salary is £28,606 to £35,740

At Northpoint, we’re committed to ensuring every child and young person can access the mental health support they need. We’re looking for a compassionate, skilled School Therapist to deliver short‑term, one‑to‑one interventions for primary and secondary pupils, working closely with school teams and local partners to improve emotional wellbeing.

What we offer:

• Term‑time only employment
• Enhanced leave policies

Why Northpoint? We provide a range of talking and digital therapies across Yorkshire, guided by our values of professionalism, responsiveness, collaboration, and transparency. We’re dedicated to improving mental health outcomes and creating an inclusive, welcoming environment where everyone can thrive.

What you’ll do:

• Provide caring, short‑term therapeutic support to children and young people in ARM schools
• Work with school teams and partners to promote wellbeing, safeguard pupils and strengthen support services

What you’ll bring:

• A recognised qualification in counselling, psychotherapy, or a related field
• Experience delivering therapeutic interventions to children or young people
• A collaborative, communicative, and resilient approach, with a strong commitment to safeguarding and Northpoint’s values

If you’re ready to make a meaningful impact and help shape mental health support for children and young people, we’d love to hear from you.

Closing date: 4 January 2026

We review applications regularly and may close the advert early. Digital interviews may be used. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and offer flexible working options. All posts require a commitment to safeguarding; a DBS check will be required.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• A relevant therapeutic qualification
• Registration/membership with a relevant professional body (BACP, UKCP, BABCP, HCPC) OR the ability and willingness to achieve registration/membership within a year
• Further training in working therapeutically with children and young people
• Accreditation with a professional body (e.g. BACP‑accredited)
• Understanding of mental health and wellbeing issues facing children and young people
• Knowledge of initiatives, priorities and agendas facing staff working in childrens services, such as EHP, Child Protection Plans etc
• Knowledge/experience of education and school working
• Knowledge or training in restorative practice techniques

Experience

• At least one years post‑qualification clinical experience
• Ability to carry out comprehensive mental health assessments including assessment of risk, analysis of strengths and protective factors.
• An understanding of social, emotional, behavioural and specialist presentations for children and young people
• Experience or knowledge of CAMHS or other mental health services
• Experience and or knowledge of systemic family therapeutic interventions
• Experience of group work and training provision
• Experience of working with people from diverse cultural backgrounds
• Experience or knowledge of specialist schools SILCs

Skills and Competencies

• Ability to deliver time‑limited evidence‑based therapeutic interventions (usually 6-8 sessions) to primary and secondary school students
• Ability to work within a multi‑disciplinary team, and to foster good working relationships with different professionals and agencies
• Ability to communicate effectively and manage sensitive client information
• Ability to assess and respond to child protection and safeguarding issues
• Ability to assess risk and suitability for therapy
• Ability to manage own caseload, time and priorities, plus ability to be self‑motivated, to work with remote management, and to take initiative as appropriate
• Ability to demonstrate outcomes and evidence impact (e.g. SDQ, client feedback)
• Competence with basic IT software (email, Word, spreadsheets, report writing, letters)
• Commitment to working within relevant professional guidance (e.g. BACP Ethical Framework)
• Ability to offer Single Session Therapy (SST) and Brief Interventions as per the service requires and/or willingness to attend training to be able to deliver this within the cluster

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.