Senior Educational Psychologist

London Borough of Bexley; Bexleyheath; Hybrid; GBP 52,000 - 69,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Coaching and mentoring

Excellent pension scheme

Generous annual leave

Job summary

London Borough of Bexley is recruiting a Senior Educational Psychologist to lead the induction and CPD offer for the EP team and Trainee EPs. You will develop and strengthen retention, recruitment, and ongoing professional development across services, while driving EDI policy and practice.

The role requires HCPC-registered EPs with at least 5 years' experience, and a track record in staff development and cross-agency leadership within education, health and social care settings.

Qualifications

• HCPC-registered Educational Psychologist
• Masters/Doctorate in Educational Psychology or equivalent
• Strong leadership and supervision experience desirable

Responsibilities

• Lead induction and CPD offer for the EP team and Trainee EPs
• Develop and implement EDI practice, policy and action across the service
• Support strategic development of key priority areas and staff development
• Provide high-quality Educational Psychology services and supervise junior EPs
• Collaborate with multi-agency partners to improve educational outcomes

Skills

Leadership

Systemic practice

Induction & CPD

Collaboration

Policy development

Education

HCPC registration as Educational Psychologist

Masters or Doctorate in Educational Psychology

Honours degree in Psychology

Job description

About The Role

In Bexley we are passionate about early intervention, innovation, and multi-agency working. The Educational Psychology team works closely alongside specialist teaching services and other professionals and is led by a Principal Educational Psychologist and a strong Senior Educational Psychologist team, with a focus on early intervention and collaboration. Within this structure, there is commitment to Educational Psychologists retaining a strong professional identity and continuing to maintain a high level of professional skills, as well as working collaboratively with other services to achieve better outcomes for children.

We have an established team of Assistant Educational Psychologists who work closely with our EPs to deliver additional early intervention support to our early years and school settings.

The service is highly valued by schools and by colleagues in health and social care, which promotes high quality partnership working and joint project initiatives. There is a strong commitment to continually improving the quality of our assessment, training and project-based interventions. High priority is given to induction, supervision, reflective practice and continuous professional development.

This is for one fulltime fixed-term position (2 years).

For an informal discussion about the role please contact Tamsin Cox (Principal Educational Psychologist) on 020 3045 5824 [e-mail]

Candidate Profile

Do you have a strong inclusive vision and are you passionate about ensuring better outcomes for children and young people so they can achieve their aspirations? Have you the enthusiasm, skills and knowledge base to lead in early intervention and systemic practice?

We are expanding our senior team and therefore looking to recruit an additional Senior Educational Psychologist to further develop our creative and evolving EP offer. Our priorities are driven by a passion to extend systemic and cross-agency partnership working and further promote early intervention and improved educational outcomes for the children and young people throughout our borough.

We are seeking to appoint innovative HCPC registered Educational Psychologists who have at least 5 years experience, can demonstrate experience and creativity in developing an area of specialism, and who have actively contributed to the induction, supervision and development of staff.

In addition to providing high quality Educational Psychology services and supervising and supporting the development of EPs in the team, the successful candidate will be an integral part of the Senior Educational Psychologist team and responsible for the strategic development of the key priority area outlined below.

As Specialist Senior EP for Professional Development, Growth and EDI

you will take the lead in developing the Induction and CPD offer for the EP team, co-ordinating and supporting our offer for Trainee EPs and further developing and strengthening retention and recruitment processes across the EP service. In addition, you will take a strategic lead role, working alongside EP colleagues, to promote, develop and support the ongoing work in relation to EDI practice, policy and action across the service.

So, if you want a role that requires innovative practice and where you are empowered to drive forward change, and if you have the determination and expertise to make a real difference to the lives of children and young people in Bexley, we want to hear from you.

Specifically, we can offer you:

• A genuinely diverse team who have ongoing commitment to hiring a diverse workforce, and who consistently look at issues related to equality and diversity from a holistic lens to address conscious and unconscious bias.
• A creative and friendly team that are highly valued by schools, families and other teams in the Local Authority which offers a prominent level of professional support within a culture of high-quality supervision.
• Excellent CPD opportunities, both within the team and dedicated funding for external courses.
• Opportunities to use professional skills outside of the school-based context, working in partnership with health and social care. This includes being an integral part of a broader multi-professional early intervention and specialist advice service.
• Dedicated time to deliver therapeutic interventions to children and young people (e.g. CBT, SFBT, VIG).
• Protected time and support to develop a specialist area of interest at a strategic / systemic level in line with the specified focus area.
• Dedicated time to extend supervision skills, including opportunities to supervise and support the development of colleagues across teams and services.
• Good ICT systems that enable smooth working from home and in our modern office, which supports hybrid working practice.

We honour SPA points and reimburse our EPs for HCPC and DBS registration fees.

All candidates would be expected to hold a good honours degree in Psychology with a post graduate qualification at Masters or Doctorate level, which is recognised by the Health Care Professionals Council and acceptable to the British Psychological Society as constituting clinical training as an Educational Psychologist.

For the full list of essential and desirable criteria for this role then please refer to the Person Specification within the Job Description attached.

Appointment to this post will be subject to the outcome of an Enhanced Disclosure obtained through the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS)

About Us

Bexley is a vibrant and diverse outer London Borough nestled in the Thames Gateway between London and Kent which means it combines the perfect blend of city vibe and the tranquillity of Kent. It's got award-winning parks, open spaces, and heritage sites. The borough has excellent transport connections, including the Elizabeth Line and proximity to the M25. Bexley offers fantastic amenities such as libraries, leisure centres, and shopping areas. Our borough is also home to numerous primary and secondary schools, as well as further education institutions.

Our Offer to you

We will offer you in return a package that includes a competitive salary, coaching and mentoring programmes, an excellent pension scheme and generous annual leave plus bank holidays. For more information on the benefits package on offer please refer to the Candidate Information document attached.

Recruitment Information

As a disability confident employer Bexley welcomes applications from people with all disabilities, including hidden disabilities and mental health conditions. We will interview any disabled applicant who meets the minimum criteria. If you require reasonable adjustments to be made to any part of the recruitment process due to your disability, please contact us on [e-mail]

This authority is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

This role may be available as a development opportunity through secondment for the Council’s existing employees. The Council’s Secondment Scheme can be found here. If this option is of interest, please contact the recruiting manager.

We reserve the right to close adverts earlier than the closing date.