West Berkshire Council are delighted to be offering this exciting opportunity for a Senior Educational Psychologist (SEP) to join our friendly and dynamic Educational Psychology Service.

We are seeking an individual who has a strong knowledge base in therapeutic approaches which support pupils with Social, Emotional and Mental Health Needs andcan contribute positively to shaping our services.

We have an established model of service delivery that values the application of psychology, and innovative practice and use a wide range of tools and approaches for different levels of work to deliver and support early intervention services.

All EPs have the opportunity to undertake a variety of work alongside EHCNAs, supporting the delivery of a graduated approach for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and disabilities.

Within this role you will:

• Promote knowledge and understanding of psychology across the directorate.
• Take a role in designated projects as appropriate and in discussion with the Principal Educational Psychologist & SEMH Service Manager.
• Lead a team within the service, providing appraisal, supervision and day-to-day management and to advise schools, officers and members of the council on developments, issues, policies and strategies which support pupils with SEMH needs.
• In relation to the specialist area, keep up-to-date, to establish and develop contacts with local and national agencies, and to secure and manage externally funded initiatives
• Promote the role of EPS in the development and implementation of LA policy with particular emphasis on the area of SEMH, attendance and exclusion.
• Give appropriate attention to challenges faces by our most vulnerable children and young people
• Contribute to timely and effective responses to major incidents in schools.
• Undertake such tasks as the Principal Educational Psychologist & Service Manager may from time to time reasonably require and deputise as appropriate.
• Support the early identification of children and young people with SEN, using evidence-based approaches
• Provide advice on effective research-based interventions
• Support the timely, highly quality psychological advice for Education, Health and Care Needs Assessments and attend SEN Tribunal hearings as required and co-ordinate the writing of relevant reports and provision of expert advice in connection with these as may be requested
• Have responsibility for the development and implementation of significant initiatives e.g. SEND strategic development work.

The ideal candidate would have the following qualifications, skills and attributes:

• Professional post-graduate qualification in Educational Psychology
• HCPC registration as practitioner psychologist
• Supervisory experience in an educational psychology service.
• Ability to prioritise and manage a complex workload and support supervisees to do the same.
• Ability to manage workload and time constraints effectively
• Leadership skills
• Delivery Through Collaboration evidence of working collaboratively with others, with dignity and respect to deliver role objectives.
• Responsibility and Accountability able to be responsible for own actions in order to deliver the Councils Strategy and Service Priorities.
• Effective Communication and Engagement to be able to communicate in a wide variety of forms as required by the role and to take account of the views of others.
• Managing Change open to new ways of working and embracing change.

This role has the option for offering less hours than advertised, providing you meet the requirements of the role and service as determined by the recruiting manager.

Our offer to you

A competitive salary alongside a range of benefits including:

• We offer flexible working wherever possible between the hours of
• We offer hybrid working wherever possible working 40% in the office
• Access to a wide range of training and development opportunities
• Local Government Pension Scheme
• Death in service benefit
• Family friendly policies
• Payment of professional registration fees
• A range of local discounts
• Wellbeing Programme including Employee Assistance Programme and employee benefits
• Ongoing training and development opportunities.
• You will also be entitled to a generous annual leave entitlement starting at 30 days per annum (plus public holidays) Rising by an additional 5 days after 5 years service.

All roles will be subject to an annual banding pay review until the top of the pay grade is reached (following successfully passing probation)

All roles will be eligible for the annual national pay award.

About us

West Berkshire council is a forward thinking and ambitious council. We have a positive attitude to our work and focus on excellent teamwork to deliver award winning services for our residents and businesses.

We employ over 1,500 members of staff corporately, plus additional members of staff working across our local schools and education settings. We offer a wide array of opportunities for training and development and varied career progression opportunities.

Our staff support the delivery of a wide range of services on behalf of the Council. Ranging from garden waste collection, planning and roadworks to caring for those in our communities. Everything we do is focused on our priority for improvement and delivering our values of fairness, integrity and being customer focused. xbpsjku

This is a rolling campaign, and we aim to regularly review all applications and contact you shortly after your application is received to arrange an interview.

Equal Opportunities

The Council supports Equal Opportunity of employment and positively encourages applications from people who fall within any of the nine protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010.