Trainee Children's Wellbeing Practitioner inStevenage inStevenage PUBLISHED 16 DEC 2023

The Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust, Childrens Wellbeing Practitioner Service is looking to recruit 4 trainee Childrens Wellbeing Practitioners (CWPs) to improve children and young peoples mental health in Hertfordshire. The training forms part of the service transformation initiative delivered by NHS England as part of the Children and Young Peoples Mental Health Psychological Trainings (CYP PT). Formerly known as CYP IAPT.

These posts are salaried at NHS Agenda for Change Band 4 and fully funded for a one year post graduate diploma in Child and Young Persons Psychological Wellbeing Practice through University College London. Further intensive supervision and on the job training will be provided by an experienced supervisor.

During training, the post-holders will work under close supervision to gain experience across healthcare and community settings to enable them to gain the level of competence required to deliver high-quality, evidence-based early interventions for children and young people experiencingmild to moderate mental health problems.

You will be expected to attend university whilst applying the skills you learn in a practical setting in service. Please be aware the university timetable has not been confirmed yet however based on previous years trainees were on average at university 3 days a week in the first term, 2 days a week in the second term and 1 day a week in the final term. Non university days are spent in service. Whilst in service you will be expected to initially shadow colleagues, then provide assessments and interventions to service users. You will provide interventions in 1-1 and group settings. You will also be expected to co-facilitate workshops and work on service development tasks and projects

As part of your role you will attend weekly clinical skills and case management supervision. You will also access group supervision, safeguarding supervision and line management meetings. As part of your training, you will be expected to video record your sessions where consent has been obtained. You will be expected to review and reflect on some of these recordings in supervision sessions as well as at university for your development. When you start working with us you will be expected to complete a HCT Trust induction and mandatory training which may be online or in person.

To be successful in this role you will need:

• Strong communication skills
• The ability to work cohesively within a team
• Motivation to learn and and to be challenged
• The ability to use feedback constructively and adapt accordingly
• Good self-reflection and self-awareness skills
• Good organisation skills
• Strong time management skills (splitting time between university and in service work)
• Experience of working within a mental health setting and/or school pastoral care
• Experience of working with children and understanding how to talk to them
• Commitment to using data and relevant measures to assess clinical outcomes
• Ability to use computer software like Word, Excel and Powerpoint

For more information on what this job entails please see the job description.

This role would suit applicants who are passionate about early intervention mental health support; improving the mental health of children and young people and those who are keen to progress their career in working therapeutically with children and families.

We currently have 4 vacancies which will based across Hertfordshire. Each successfully recruited trainee will be based in one of the 4 quadrants of Hertfordshire and will be expected to cover the entire quadrant. The vacancies will be based in: Ware (East), St Albans (West), Watford (South) and Stevenage (North). The bases are either clinic or office spaces but your clinical work will be in a variety of settings. Please consider which area of Hertfordshire you would like to be based in if successful and note this preference. Although bases are within one quadrant of Hertfordshire, please be aware that travelling across the county will be expected for training and meeting purposes; this will especially be the case in the first term. It is possible some of the locations may change but it will be within the same regions/quadrants of the county. Please note this job involves regular driving and travelling for appointments therefore you need to be confident driving.

Successful applicants will need to have a full UK driving licence, have access to a car and you will need car insurance for business use from the start date of the role.

Please read the Job Description and Person Specification before applying for the role.

Please note that an application to University College London Post Graduate Diploma in Child and Young Persons Psychological Wellbeing Practice needs to be made alongside your application to the HCT CWP Service. Please see in the attached documents the UCL application guidance and course brochure for more information. Please use this link to apply for the course: Child and Young Persons Psychological Wellbeing Practice PG Dip | Prospective Students Graduate - UCL University College London

We cannot invite you for an interview or make an offer of a job without a successful completed university application.

Word versions of documents are available if needed to allow for any adaptations to be made i.e. font, colour, background, convert to Read Aloud.

We are recruiting 4 trainee CWPs. Post holders will undertake training with University College London (UCL) alongside working in service . You will be taught to deliver evidence based guided self-help interventions for children and young people experiencing mild to moderate mental health difficulties. You will also be taught how to deliver interventions in the community, for example, service user participation activities, training and group interventions. The post holder will use their newly developed skills to support children and young people who are referred into the service. Trainees will receive supervision to support their professional development.

All applicants need to complete and submit an application form to UCL for a place on the Diploma in Child and Young Persons Psychological Wellbeing Practice. The application form needs to be completed as part of your job application as you cannot be considered for a position without this. Application details are in the attached CWP Recruitment Pack.

Applicants will need to be ready to start work from 6th January 2025. Posts cannot be offered to candidates unless they can guarantee this start date.

Interview dates: week beginning 30th September and 7th October

*** Please note, depending on the volume of applicants, this advert may close early therefore we advise you complete your application early. Once the advert closes we cannot consider other applications ***

You will study at University College London/Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families, with tutors that are renowned for their great work with children and families in the area of emotional and mental health. The Postgraduate Diploma in Child and Young Persons Psychological Wellbeing Practice will begin in January 2025 and the course lasts 1 year. As part of your training you will use the theory that you learn to deliver low intensity mental health interventions to adolescents and the parents of children presenting with mild anxiety, low mood and behaviours that challenge.

In service, you will initially shadow intervention and assessment sessions; shadow and take part in triage discussions and partake in clinical skills development. You will then be expected to complete initial assessments and deliver interventions for anxiety, low mood and behavioural difficulties with the support of your supervisor. Additionally you will attend regular supervision and training sessions; engage in service development activities and deliver workshops and groups with qualified members of staff.

We expect all our staff to work in an inclusive manner, aiming to make the service accessible to all and therefore we welcome applications from those from a diverse range of backgrounds.