Vacancies

Assistant Educational Psychologist

Please Note: The application deadline for this job has now passed.

About the role

We are seeking applications for our assistant educational psychologist posts from applicants who hold a good degree in psychology and can demonstrate successful experience of working with children and young people, preferably within an educational setting.

There are several aspects to the Assistant Educational Psychologist role. You will be supporting primary and secondary aged pupils at risk of exclusion and/or marginalisation due to social, emotional, and mental health factors. This cohort of pupils can include children who have difficulties acquiring social skills, those who struggle to build trusting relationships with others, those displaying emotionally dysregulated behaviour and pupils experiencing emotionally based school avoidance.

What will you be doing?

Our assistants work directly with individuals and small groups within the school setting and with staff and parents/carers.

In addition to this, you will be directly supporting educational psychologists in their assessment work with children and young people. This will include the opportunity to gain experience of working with children and young people with a range of special educational needs from early years through to post 16.

You may also have the opportunity to engage in research and evaluation for the service.

About you

We look forward to hearing from applicants who have:

A track record of initiative and innovation
Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
A passion for improving the life chances of others, and particularly those from vulnerable and/or marginalised groups
An ability to work collaboratively with different professionals

We are expecting applicants for this role to be motivated to apply for doctoral training to qualify as an educational psychologist. Many of our previous assistants have been successful in achieving this.

Our benefits

We offer a wide range of benefits to our employees, these include:

Generous annual leave entitlement starting at 28 days annual leave per year, 29 days for senior managers (pro rata, depending on how many hours per week you work), plus bank holidays. An additional 5 days, linked to continuous service, and ability to purchase up to 6 weeks additional leave per year.
Cycle to Work scheme.
Local Government Pension Scheme plus immediate life cover (3 times your annual salary from day one) and ill-health protection.
Employee discounts with local and national retailers, days out, finance, health and beauty, travel and eating out plus lots more.
Car Lease scheme
Payment of professional subscription / membership - If your job description requires that you are registered with or are a member of a professional body, WNC will pay for your professional subscription or membership fees.
Employee Assistance Programme - We have an employee support programme run by Health Assured, an independent, external organisation. Health Assured is available for you and your immediate family members, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year and includes telephone counselling, legal advice, bereavement support and medical information.
Ongoing training and development opportunities.
A variety of flexible working options to support your work/life balance, including full or part time, term time, 9-day fortnight, etc. (subject to business needs).
Our West Ways of Working – We want our workforce to thrive, and we equip our employees with the right technology to support hybrid and collaborative working, on or off site, depending on the role.
Making a difference - If you want to use your skills and experience with an organisation that are genuinely invested in making a difference, are committed to improving people's lives, and whose success has a direct impact on the wellbeing of your family, friends and people in your local area, then West Northamptonshire Council is the place for you.

About us

At West Northants Council, it’s about our people. People who thrive with ambition, bubble with new ideas, demand better ways of working, caring about every detail, and who never shy away from a challenge. Our culture is a gateway for new experiences. A place to forge new opportunities. To empower you in your career and unite you with like-minded people.

Our vision is ‘to make West Northants a great place to live, work, visit and thrive’. We truly stand by this and work hard every day to make this a reality. Our corporate values, THRIVE, stand for: Trust, High Performance, Respect, Innovate and Empower, they underpin everything we do and how we deliver services.

Hear more from our Chief Executive, Anna Earnshaw, about what it's like to work at West Northants Council https://youtu.be/lV0EfeUF4aU

We are committed to ensuring diversity, equality, equity, and inclusion is woven into the fabric of WNC and everything we do, to enable all colleagues to develop and maximize their full potential.  We are a disability confident employer, a member of the Armed Forces Covenant, and a Care Leaver Covenant partner

The following film was created by us to communicate our intentions - watch WNC colleagues explain what DEI means to us.

If you need additional support or reasonable adjustments during the application process, including needing the job description in another format or language, please email careers@westnorthants.gov.uk for support.

West Northants Council, where careers thrive.