Mental Health and Wellbeing Practitioner - West Sussex Alternative Provision College

About Us

Mental Health & Wellbeing Practitioner

Grade 8 | Permanent Contract | Curriculum Access Team (CAT)

Help us bring the right support to children and young people, at the right time.

Sussex Alternative Provision College (APC) is looking for a Mental Health & Wellbeing Practitioner to join us on a permanent basis, working within our growing Mental Health Programme and wider Curriculum Access Team (CAT).

We are looking for someone with a degree or Level 6 qualification in psychology, mental health, health and social care, counselling, education, youth work or another relevant discipline, or an equivalent professional qualification, together with at least two years’ relevant experience working with children and young people.

This is an exciting opportunity for a practitioner who wants to use their knowledge and skills to make a tangible difference to children and young people’s wellbeing and engagement with education. You will combine direct work with young people with early intervention, partnership with families and practical support for education teams, helping us respond to need earlier, build resilience and keep children successfully connected to education.

The Role

Working under the leadership and supervision of our Mental Health Programme Manager, you will hold an allocated caseload and deliver structured, time-limited 1:1 and small-group mental health and wellbeing interventions for children and young people whose emotional, behavioural or mental health needs are affecting their engagement with and access to education. Your work may focus on areas such as anxiety, emotional regulation, resilience, self-esteem, healthy relationships, coping strategies and emotional wellbeing. You will undertake structured assessments, develop intervention plans, review progress and help young people develop practical strategies that support their wellbeing, relationships, behaviour and engagement with learning.

A key part of the role is working with the adults around the child. You will collaborate with parents and carers, teachers, pastoral and SEND colleagues and other professionals to build a shared understanding of need and help translate learning from intervention into practical strategies that can be sustained within everyday education. You will also recognise when a young person’s needs, complexity or risk require senior professional input, safeguarding action or support from another service, helping children and families access the right pathway when needs extend beyond the remit of our programme.

As CAT continues to develop, you will have opportunities to work across APC and mainstream schools in West Sussex, contributing to early intervention and helping education teams build confidence in recognising and responding effectively to emerging emotional and mental health needs.

Job Details

About You

You will be someone who can build strong, purposeful relationships with children and young people while bringing structure, professional curiosity and sound judgement to your work.

You will have experience of delivering structured individual and/or group interventions and working with children and young people experiencing additional or complex needs or significant barriers to education. You will be confident working with families, education colleagues and other professionals and able to communicate clearly about pupil need, progress and appropriate strategies.

You will understand the relationship between mental health, emotional wellbeing, SEND, behaviour, relationships and engagement with education , and be able to translate that understanding into practical support.

You will be reflective, open to supervision and continued learning, able to work independently within agreed frameworks and confident in recognising the boundaries of your role and when advice or escalation is required.

What You Need to Succeed

• Degree or Level 6 qualification in psychology, mental health, health and social care, counselling, education, youth work or another relevant discipline, or an equivalent professional qualification relevant to the role.
• Evidence of relevant continued professional development in children and young people's mental health, emotional wellbeing, SEND, therapeutic approaches or related practice.
• Good knowledge and understanding of children and young people's mental health and emotional wellbeing, including factors affecting presentation, behaviour and engagement with education.
• Understanding of safeguarding, risk, professional boundaries and appropriate routes for seeking advice and escalating concerns.
• Understanding of SEND and the interaction between mental health, emotional wellbeing, behaviour, relationships, family circumstances and access to education.
• Knowledge of evidence-informed approaches to supporting emotional regulation, resilience and wellbeing.
• Experience
• A minimum of two years' relevant experience working with children and young people in mental health, emotional wellbeing, education, SEND, pastoral, youth or a related service, including experience supporting those with complex or significant barriers to education.
• Experience of delivering structured individual and/or group interventions to children and young people and reviewing progress against identified outcomes.
• Experience of contributing to assessment, intervention planning, risk management and review within an agreed professional framework.
• Experience of developing positive and purposeful relationships with vulnerable, disadvantaged or disengaged children and young people.
• Experience of working collaboratively with families, education professionals and other agencies to support children and young people with additional or complex needs.
• Experience of recognising safeguarding, mental health or risk concerns and appropriately seeking advice, signposting or escalating to other professionals or services.
• Ability to engage children and young people and deliver structured, purposeful interventions according to individual need.
• Ability to gather, analyse and interpret information, contribute to assessment and planning and recognise changes in presentation, need or risk.
• Ability to exercise appropriate professional judgement whilst recognising the limits of own competence and when advice or escalation is required.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to work effectively with pupils, families, education staff and other professionals.
• Ability to translate understanding of mental health and emotional wellbeing into practical strategies that support children and young people within education.
• Ability to work independently within agreed frameworks whilst contributing effectively to a multidisciplinary team and responding appropriately to supervision.
• Strong organisational skills with the ability to manage a caseload, prioritise work, maintain accurate records and meet agreed timescales.
• Confident and effective use of ICT and digital systems for recording, monitoring and reporting.
• Relational, professionally curious and child-centred, with high expectations for children and young people.
• Reflective and open to supervision, professional challenge and continued learning.
• Able to maintain appropriate professional boundaries and work calmly and proportionately where pupils present with complexity or risk.
• Committed to inclusive practice and improving outcomes for children and young people experiencing vulnerability, disadvantage or barriers to education.
• To be able to demonstrate a commitment to the principles of Equalities and to be able to carry out duties in accordance with the Council's Equalities Policy.

Further Information

APC works with some of the most diverse and vulnerable children and young people across West Sussex. Our pupils may have experienced exclusion, significant disruption to education, SEND, emotional or mental health difficulties and other barriers that make successfully accessing education more challenging.

Our approach is about more than responding when difficulties have escalated.

Through our Curriculum Access Team, we are developing a growing early intervention and preventative offer that brings specialist support closer to children, families and schools. We want to understand what sits behind a young person’s presentation, intervene purposefully and strengthen the confidence and capability of the adults around them.

For the right person, this is an opportunity to join that work at an exciting stage of its development — working directly with young people, collaborating with psychology, mental health and education colleagues, and helping us extend the reach of effective intervention across West Sussex.

If you are an experienced practitioner who wants to use your skills to help children and young people build confidence, improve wellbeing and remain successfully connected to education, we would love to hear from you.

WSAPCSchool and West Sussex County Council are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We will ensure that all our recruitment and selection practices reflect this commitment. All successful candidates will be subject to an appropriate Disclosure and Barring Service check along with other relevant employment checks, including satisfactory references.

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