Job summary
This is a very exciting opportunity in response to the Government's priority to increase access and availability of mental health and wellbeing support for children and young people in schools and colleges. Central Bedfordshire has been successfully awarded funding for a new Mental Health Support Team due to start in September 2024.
The MHST team will be working with schools in and around the areas of Luton and Houghton Regis areas . There are also vacancies within Leighton Buzzard and Dunstable MHST's The teams will be focusing on early interventions, working closely with schools and our partners to improve access to services for children and young people to mental health services. The team will focus on the needs of the community to help reduce health inequalities whilst delivering our whole school approaches.
Successful candidates will be offered a full-time educational programme specifically for the role delivered by the University of Reading. The course fees are fully funded, and the salary support for the job post will be funded at NHS Agenda for Change (AfC) at level Band 4. You will gain credits towards completing a postgraduate degree diploma level qualification. There will be guaranteed employment on successful completion of training, with a starting salary projected to be based on the NHS AfC Band 5 scale. For the duration of the training year and afterwards, successful candidates will be employed by CAMHS, East London Foundation Trust.
Main duties of the job
The training programme for this post starts in Jan 2026, is 12 months in duration and will consist of academic and supervised practice learning across mental health services and educational settings, such as primary and secondary schools, and further education colleges.
During training, the post-holder will work under 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.
Delivery of the programme will be provided through a combination of taught days within University of Reading, independent self-guided study days, and experience gained in education wellbeing and mainstream mental health services.
The training course is divided into 6 modules, developing skills and knowledge in areas such as:
o Self-management including development of plans for specific interventions and agreeing outcomes;
o Learning to manage own caseload, gaining the necessary skills to practice a range of interventions such as guided self-help;
o Preparing and presenting caseload information to supervisors;
o Working with colleagues to provide better access to specialist mental health services and supporting referrals where required;
o Supporting colleagues in education to identify and manage issues related to mental health and wellbeing.
About us
You will be working with schools around the Luton and Central Bedfordshire areas of Dunstbale and Leighton Buzzard area, and at the moment we are working hard to identify a suitable base for the team.
We welcome and encourage applications from candidates who are bi-lingual, and candidates from BME communities, including the South Asian community. Applicants from the local area will be welcomed to better an understanding of the needs or the local communities .
Job description
Job responsibilities
Please find attached the job description and person/role specification.
Closing date for applications: 13th Sept.
Please note there will be an interview.
Stage 1 (Service and university Interview Dates) -Week commencing 13th october for 4 days
*We reserve the right to bring the closing date forward for this vacancy at any time should we receive an overwhelming number of applications. We therefore encourage applicants to apply early if you wish to be considered for this post
Job description
Job responsibilities
Please find attached the job description and person/role specification.
Closing date for applications: 13th Sept.
Please note there will be an interview.
Stage 1 (Service and university Interview Dates) -Week commencing 13th october for 4 days
*We reserve the right to bring the closing date forward for this vacancy at any time should we receive an overwhelming number of applications. We therefore encourage applicants to apply early if you wish to be considered for this post
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Applicants that may not hold an honours degree must have proven successful study at Level 5; or successful part completion of an Honours degree (Level 6) or a pre-entry essay for the University of Reading that achieves a passing standard). Please note, an academic reference may be sought OR Postgraduate route (Level 7) Honours degree graded at 2:2 or above
- It is essential that the applicant has previous experience of working with children and young people in either a health or educational setting
Other
Essential
- Ability to personally manage a sensitive, traumatic and potentially emotionally distressing caseload
- Excellent oral and written communication skills
- Self-motivated
- Must be able to travel between venues/schools
- Excellent time management and organisational skills
- Able to meet the physical requirements of the role after reasonable adjustments have been made for any illness or disability
- Lives or moving to area
Knowledge and Skills
Essential
- Knowledge of the educational system in England.
- Knowledge of children and young people gained through academic study in child development, child wellbeing or mental health.
- Excellent organizational and motivation to manage the demands of the course and clinical work.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Applicants that may not hold an honours degree must have proven successful study at Level 5; or successful part completion of an Honours degree (Level 6) or a pre-entry essay for the University of Reading that achieves a passing standard). Please note, an academic reference may be sought OR Postgraduate route (Level 7) Honours degree graded at 2:2 or above
- It is essential that the applicant has previous experience of working with children and young people in either a health or educational setting
Other
Essential
- Ability to personally manage a sensitive, traumatic and potentially emotionally distressing caseload
- Excellent oral and written communication skills
- Self-motivated
- Must be able to travel between venues/schools
- Excellent time management and organisational skills
- Able to meet the physical requirements of the role after reasonable adjustments have been made for any illness or disability
- Lives or moving to area
Knowledge and Skills
Essential
- Knowledge of the educational system in England.
- Knowledge of children and young people gained through academic study in child development, child wellbeing or mental health.
- Excellent organizational and motivation to manage the demands of the course and clinical work.
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.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
Additional information
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.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
