Educational Psychologist

Job Description

Salary range: Scale A SCP 4-9 - £57,173 - £67,883 p.a. inc. London weighting (successful applicants should expect to start on minimum of Point 5)

Contract: Permanent

Hours of work: 36 hours per week

Location: Civic centre and other locations from time to time

Shape brighter futures. Use psychology to make a lasting difference.

Are you an Educational Psychologist looking for a role where your expertise can genuinely change outcomes for children and young people?

At Brent, you'll use your psychological knowledge, skills and experience to help children and young people aged 0-25 overcome barriers to learning, develop emotionally and thrive in their education.

As part of our Educational Psychology Service, you'll work alongside schools, families, council services and partner agencies to understand needs, provide psychological advice and support, and develop approaches that enable children and young people to achieve their potential.

This is an opportunity to do more than assess needs. You'll help build the capacity of schools and settings to support the full range of learners, contribute to inclusive practice and use psychology to influence positive change across the wider SEND system.

The Role

As an Educational Psychologist, you'll provide psychological consultation, advice and support to the Local Authority, schools, early years settings and other agencies.

You'll assess the psychological and educational needs of children and young people and provide timely advice and intervention to teachers, families and other professionals.

You'll use a range of psychological approaches to understand individual needs, identify barriers and develop effective strategies that support learning and emotional wellbeing.

You'll also have the opportunity to:

• Work collaboratively with children, young people, families, schools and a wide range of professionals.
• Provide psychological consultation, assessment and intervention across a varied caseload.
• Develop and facilitate training for school-based professionals and other services.
• Support schools and other settings to develop their capacity to meet the needs of all learners.
• Contribute your psychological expertise to SEND policy, practice, research and service development.
• Develop specialist expertise across areas of SEN and disability.
• Contribute to the Educational Psychology Service response to critical incidents.
• Support the development of Brent's traded Educational Psychology Service, including early intervention, assessment and specialist advice.
• Ensure that the views and experiences of children, young people and their families are heard and appropriately reflected in your work.

You’ll be part of a service that values collaboration, curiosity and innovation, with the opportunity to make a meaningful contribution both to individual children and to the wider education system.

The Person

We're looking for a qualified Educational Psychologist who is passionate about improving outcomes for children and young people and understands the difference psychologically informed practice can make.

You’ll need to be registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) as an Educational Psychologist, or be an impending new entrant who can evidence that registration is being sought. You’ll also need a good honours degree in Psychology and a postgraduate qualification at Masters level or above acceptable to the HCPC as constituting clinical training as an Educational Psychologist.

You’ll bring:

• Knowledge and experience of current approaches, tools and techniques used by Educational Psychologists.
• A strong understanding of current legislation affecting Educational Psychology.
• A commitment to safeguarding children and young people.
• Experience working with children and young people in an education or social care context.
• Experience across a range of special educational needs and issues commonly presented to psychological services.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to communicate sensitively and effectively with different audiences.
• The ability to build positive, collaborative relationships with schools, families, colleagues and partner agencies.
• Strong organisational skills and the ability to manage a varied workload while maintaining professional judgement under pressure.
• A commitment to high standards of practice, customer service and positive outcomes for children and young people.

Most importantly, you’ll bring curiosity, compassion and a genuine commitment to helping children and young people overcome barriers and achieve their potential.

Why join us?

We know people do their best work when they feel valued, supported and able to grow. At Brent, you will benefit from:

• 27 days' annual leave, rising with length of service, plus bank holidays
• Local Government Pension Scheme with generous employer contributions
• Hybrid and flexible working options available for most roles
• Supportive family-friendly policies, including carers' leave, paternity leave and compassionate leave for eligible employees
• Health and wellbeing support, including eye test support and a 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme
• Financial wellbeing support, including education sessions, childcare deposit loans and season ticket loans
• Travel support, including affordable parking nearby, a Cycle to Work scheme and onsite facilities
• Learning and development opportunities to support your career
• Access to My Brent Rewards with exclusive discounts on shopping, travel, leisure and entertainment

To learn more about our staff benefits, visit Our offer to you.

Brent has a positive approach to flexible working.

Brent Council values the diversity of its community and aims to have a workforce that reflects the people we serve. We welcome applications from all sections of the community and encourage applicants to complete the diversity survey section of the application.

We are committed to fostering an inclusive workplace where everyone is treated with dignity, respect and fairness. We expect all employees to demonstrate a commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion and to promote inclusive, non-discriminatory practices in their work. This commitment forms part of our recruitment process, and candidates may be assessed on their understanding of and ability to contribute to an inclusive working environment.

The information we collect from you will be shared with Cifas, who will use it to help prevent fraud and other unlawful or dishonest conduct, malpractice, and other seriously improper conduct. Further details on how your information will be used by Brent and Cifas, and your data protection rights can be found here.

As a Disability Confident employer, we guarantee an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role. This includes people with hidden disabilities, long-term health conditions, diagnoses and mental health conditions. We also guarantee an interview to care-experienced applicants who meet the essential criteria. Information shared for this purpose will be treated fairly and used only to confirm eligibility under these schemes.

If you need reasonable adjustments at any stage of the recruitment process, please contact recruitment@brent.gov.uk.