Location: Schools across the borough of Southwark

Contract: Fixed Term Contract until March 2027 dependent upon completion of Diploma

Salary: £26,000 rising to £28,000 upon successful completion of probation. Salary will increase further subject to completion of year-long diploma

Hours: 37.5 per week

Join our ambitious and passionate team, which provides a range of vital therapeutic interventions across primary and secondary schools in Southwark. The Mental Health Support Team (MHST) works to improve children, young people and their families’ mental health and wellbeing through a range of early intervention and prevention programmes across the diverse borough of Southwark.

Groundwork MHST is part of a national, government-funded, pioneering programme transforming mental health and wellbeing provision for children and young people via early intervention. The service was launched in Southwark in January 2022 and currently works across 27 schools, with plans to expand over the academic year. The MHST is dynamic, flexible and diverse, representing the community, which we serve. We are looking for a highly motivated candidate, from the local community, able to achieve high standards of academic excellence at King’s College London, and work within our dynamic service whilst studying.

Employees for Groundwork London receive Health Shield benefits that mean staff are able to claim money back, for a wide variety of wellbeing services including dental work, optician’s appointments and massages.

Staff are given the opportunity to participate in regular CPD opportunities to support their professional growth. Groundwork’s Youth Team also provide whole team Wellbeing Days allowing colleagues to take the day off from their regular workday to socialise and participate in a range of activities to support positive wellbeing and team cohesion.

Groundwork MHST work closely with their Youth Forum, which is led by young people from within the community in which we serve. The Youth Forum is central to ensuring the young person’s voice is always at the heart and forefront of the work we do, enabling us to support positive change in young people’s lives in the ways that are the most important and meaningful to them.

The EMHP role is a unique paid training opportunity, where candidates study a one-year Diploma in Education Mental Health Practice at King’s College London (Denmark Hill campus), whilst working alongside existing MHST staff to deliver evidence-based individual low-intensity CBT interventions with children, young people and their parents/carers. EMHPs also deliver one-off workshops within schools and in the community, group work, remote courses and staff training.

Key requirements: Please contact us if you have:

• Experience of and passion for working with children and young people
• Experience of and passion for working in mental health and wellbeing.
• Knowledge and understanding of the barriers children and families face when accessing support
• An awareness of working to safeguard children, including relevant training
• The ability to work to a high academic standard expected at postgraduate level
• An understanding of the local community of Southwark

Applicants will need to be ready to start work in early January 2025 and posts cannot be offered to candidates unless they can guarantee this start date.

Successful applicants will need to submit an application form to KCL, and be accepted on the Diploma in Education Mental Health Practice at King’s College London. Please note if you are successful at interview, you will be invited to submit your application to KCL. Your post is only able to be confirmed once KCL have accepted your application. Apply now!

To apply for the job download the Job Description and Person Specification and the Application Form and Groundwork London Prospectus via the job listing on our website.

To apply for this role, please complete the attached application form quoting reference 201/1120­_EMHP to londonjobs@groundwork.org.uk

Closing date for applications: 12:00, 7th October 2024

The first round of interviews will be conducted remotely

For further information and to discuss the role please contact Rosa Kornfein at Rosa.kornfein@groundwork.org.uk or 07999 402 360

Groundwork London is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from all members of the community. We are particularly seeking applicants from under-represented backgrounds including but not exclusive to, males, transgender people and those from an Asian background.