Job summary
This is a training position post holder will undertake training at Kings College London alongside working in service for the Mental Health Support Teams at Achieving for Children. They will be taught to deliver evidence based guided self-help interventions for children and young people experiencing mild to moderate mental health difficulties. The post holder will use their newly developed skills to support children and young people who are referred into the service and trainees will receive supervision to support their professional development.
Applicants will need to be ready to start work in mid-January 2026 and posts cannot be offered to candidates unless they can guarantee this start date.
Shortlisted candidates will also need to submit an application form to KCL for a place on the Diploma in Education Mental Health Practice. The application form details are attached and will need to be completed at the same time as your application for a post.
Main duties of the job
We are seeking to recruit 4 graduate level practitioners to provide guided self-help therapy and parenting interventions. These posts are salaried at NHS Agenda for Change band 4 and fully funded for a one year post graduate diploma in Education Mental Health Practice through Kings College London. Further intensive supervision and on the job training will be provided by an experienced supervisor within each team. There will be a strong expectation for trainees to continue in post on successful completion of the one year training, with a salary increase to NHS Band 5 scale for the second year onwards.
During training, the post-holders will work under close supervision to gain experience across healthcare and educational settings to enable them to gain the level of competence required to deliver high-quality, evidence-based early interventions for children and young people experiencing mild to moderate mental health problems.
Please read the Job Description and Person Specification before applying for the role.
Please note that an application to Kings College London Post Graduate Diploma in Education Mental Health Practice needs to be made alongside your application to Achieving for Children. It is important that you read the attached guidance on this webpage: https://www.kings-cyp.com/page/emhp
You will need to submit an application to Kings College London alongside the application for AfC. Please find information for the Kings application process: https://apply.kcl.ac.uk/
About us
Achieving for Children is a Community Interest Company that has a public sector ethos, combined with the freedom to innovate enabling us to do things differently. As a not-for-profit social enterprise owned by three local authorities (Windsor & Maidenhead, Kingston and Richmond), we offer the freedoms of a social enterprise with the employment benefits of local government. To find out more about usclick here.
In line with the governments priority to increase access and availability of mental health and wellbeing support for children and young people, the Education Mental Health Practitioner (EMHP) role is an exciting opportunity to deliver evidence-based early interventions for children and young people, working across both educational settings and healthcare sectors in England.
Job description
Job responsibilities
The service the job will be based within is the Mental Health Support Teams in Schools (MHSTs). The
team provides a whole school approach to mental health, including individual and group work with
students and parents, sta training, consultation, policy and ethos advice. We have a strong sense of
team and work together to support children and young peoples emotional wellbeing to achieve
positive outcomes. The MHST is a dynamic service with a diverse MDT of Counselling & Educational
Psychologists, CBT therapists, Dramatherapists, Dance & Movement Psychotherapists, Music
Therapists, Art Therapists, Systemic Therapists, Counsellors and Education Wellbeing Practitioners
(EWPs) & Child Wellbeing Practitioners (CWPs).
The post holder will work within a service providing low intensity interventions to children and young
people with mild to moderate anxiety and depression and/or behavioural diiculties. The post holder
will work with dierent cultural backgrounds and ages, using interpreters when necessary and should
be committed to equal opportunities.You will also be part of a team of clinicians providing access to
clinical supervision, peer supervision, line management and CPD.
Job description
Job responsibilities
The service the job will be based within is the Mental Health Support Teams in Schools (MHSTs). The
team provides a whole school approach to mental health, including individual and group work with
students and parents, sta training, consultation, policy and ethos advice. We have a strong sense of
team and work together to support children and young peoples emotional wellbeing to achieve
positive outcomes. The MHST is a dynamic service with a diverse MDT of Counselling & Educational
Psychologists, CBT therapists, Dramatherapists, Dance & Movement Psychotherapists, Music
Therapists, Art Therapists, Systemic Therapists, Counsellors and Education Wellbeing Practitioners
(EWPs) & Child Wellbeing Practitioners (CWPs).
The post holder will work within a service providing low intensity interventions to children and young
people with mild to moderate anxiety and depression and/or behavioural diiculties. The post holder
will work with dierent cultural backgrounds and ages, using interpreters when necessary and should
be committed to equal opportunities.You will also be part of a team of clinicians providing access to
clinical supervision, peer supervision, line management and CPD.
Person Specification
Experience
Essential
- Experience of working with children and young people who have social, emotional and/or behavioural difficulties including anxiety disorders and affective (mood) disorders
- Experience of the delivery of specific therapeutic interventions to children, young people or their families (e.g. CBT, solution focused brief therapy)
- Experience of working and liaising with a wide variety of agencies and stakeholders
- Experience of a range of assessment tools and frameworks to evaluate progress and outcomes for children and young people
- Ability to carry out mental health assessments of children and young people and carry out 1:1 therapeutic mental health interventions with children and with families
- Ability to conduct group parenting programmes
- Ability to work within educational settings to increase mental health awareness within the staff group
- Ability to make an assessment of risk, to record and communicate it appropriately and take appropriate action to mitigate or manage risk.
- Have the ability to recognise your own professional limitations and gaps and to use clinical supervision and regular CPD to overcome limitations and close knowledge gaps
- Have good IT skills including use of database or spreadsheet packages
Qualifications
Essential
- Undergraduate degree, upper second class or above, in Psychology OR related subject (e.g., Psychology, Education, Childhood development, Social Work etc), OR any subject with further training or experience in a relevant field (e.g., Teaching/TA; Learning Support; HCA; Youth Work; Counselling etc)
- OR relevant professional experience in CYP Mental Health/Education/Mentorship (to be considered on a case-by-case basis)
Person Specification
Experience
Essential
- Experience of working with children and young people who have social, emotional and/or behavioural difficulties including anxiety disorders and affective (mood) disorders
- Experience of the delivery of specific therapeutic interventions to children, young people or their families (e.g. CBT, solution focused brief therapy)
- Experience of working and liaising with a wide variety of agencies and stakeholders
- Experience of a range of assessment tools and frameworks to evaluate progress and outcomes for children and young people
- Ability to carry out mental health assessments of children and young people and carry out 1:1 therapeutic mental health interventions with children and with families
- Ability to conduct group parenting programmes
- Ability to work within educational settings to increase mental health awareness within the staff group
- Ability to make an assessment of risk, to record and communicate it appropriately and take appropriate action to mitigate or manage risk.
- Have the ability to recognise your own professional limitations and gaps and to use clinical supervision and regular CPD to overcome limitations and close knowledge gaps
- Have good IT skills including use of database or spreadsheet packages
Qualifications
Essential
- Undergraduate degree, upper second class or above, in Psychology OR related subject (e.g., Psychology, Education, Childhood development, Social Work etc), OR any subject with further training or experience in a relevant field (e.g., Teaching/TA; Learning Support; HCA; Youth Work; Counselling etc)
- OR relevant professional experience in CYP Mental Health/Education/Mentorship (to be considered on a case-by-case basis)
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.
