Joining #TeamNELFT means you’ll become part of a welcoming and supportive working environment. We’re CQC rated Good, and we want you to join us on the journey towards an Outstanding rating. NELFT has sites across North East London, Essex, Kent and Medway. We provide community and mental healthcare services to adults and children within these areas.

The Trust has award winning equality and diversity initiatives and staff health and wellbeing activities. We invest heavily in your development, because when you are valued and supported, we provide the best care to our patients. We are a Level 3 Disability Confident Leader, have been featured in the Working Families Top 10 Employers benchmark for three consecutive years, and we have achieved a Carers UK Level 1 Accreditation. Along with our staff networks and training opportunities, we work hard to embed a just and compassionate culture here at NELFT.

Find out more about NELFT careers and what makes our Trust a great place to work, in this video

Job overview

We are looking for a qualified Education Mental Health Practitioner/ Children's Wellbeing Practitioner to join our fast-growing Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) in Waltham Forest.

The Waltham Forest MHST was established in 2021 and is a service designed to support children and young people with mild to moderate mental health and emotional wellbeing difficulties within education settings. We are a multidisciplinary team made up of Education Mental Health Practitioners, Children's Wellbeing Practitioners, Peer Support Workers, Senior Supervisors and Senior Wellbeing Practitioners. There are opportunities for career progression within the team. 

MHSTs aims to:

Support children and young people with mild to moderate mental health problems through evidence-based interventions Support schools in developing their whole school approach to mental health Provide timely advice to school staff and to liaise with other services to help children and young people get the right help and stay in education.

Main duties of the job

The successful candidate will work in partnership with schools, to support children, young people experiencing mild to moderate mental health difficulties and their families in the self-management of presenting difficulties.

They will work in partnership with schools, children, young people, and families in the development of plans for the intervention and agreed outcomes.

Candidates will work as autonomous and responsible practitioners within their scope of practice, alongside education colleagues. They will be experienced in the delivery of interventions to support CYP in primary, secondary and higher education settings.

The candidate will complete robust assessments, risk assessments, care plans and reviews.

They will be proficient in using ROMs and clinical tools to gather feedback and guide clinical practice, with opportunities for service provision planning and mapping with schools to inform the delivery of support to CYP.

The post holder will join an established team and will be supported to work alongside other EMHPs/CWPs in educational settings, as well as working alongside Senior Practitioners to support learning and development. There will be opportunities for individual work, group work and consultation.

Working for our organisation

Probationary Period

This post will be subject to a probationary period. Internal applicants are exempt from the probationary period (unless you are an internal applicant currently part way through a probationary period or currently a bank member of staff).

Starting with NELFT

NELFT place a great deal of importance on new starters being properly welcomed and inducted into the Trust. All new starters will join the Trust on the first Monday of each month and will undertake a comprehensive induction of up to two weeks which will include mandatory training, systems training and the allocation of equipment. As part of the process new starters will have the opportunity to also meet the executive team, senior managers and attend a number of drop in sessions focusing in engagement, health and wellbeing and key processes. The induction will be held at our head office in Rainham, Essex.

High Cost Area Supplement – London

This post also attracts payment for High Cost Area Supplement of 15% of the basic salary (minimum payment of £4,313 and a maximum payment of £5,436 per annum pro rata).

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please refer to the attached job description and person specification for further details on this vacancy.

Certificates of Sponsorship

 Although we are a registered sponsor organisation, we are unable to offer sponsorship for all job roles. Please check your eligibility under the UKVI points based system

 Use of AI

Applications for this role should be written by the applicant. If artificial intelligence (AI) programmes are used then the application may be rejected due to this document being an important part of the assessment process. This does not prevent applicants seeking appropriate support with applications should they need to for the purposes of any declared disability.

Person specification

Essential

Essential criteria

Low Intensity CBT qualification

Desirable criteria

1 year qualified experience Working with children

Experience of working with children and young people

Essential criteria

Experience of working with children and young people to support emotional wellbeing and mental health

Essential

Essential criteria

1 year qualified experience

Essential

Essential criteria

Has relevant registration or working towards

Benefits

We believe in bringing your authentic and best self to work, in order to deliver the best care to our patients. We are committed to supporting our employees holistically. Here is a snapshot of what is on offer at NELFT:

A long-standing and award-winning approach to equality and diversity with supportive networks for ethnic minority staff, staff with disabilities or long term/chronic conditions and LGBT staff. A commitment to supporting colleagues to achieve a work life balance, through flexible working opportunities and our effortsto support our working parents and carers. This has resulted in us being recognised as a ‘Top 10 Family Friendly Employer’ from the Working Families Charity. Proactive health and wellbeing support, including access to our employee assistance programme, staff psychological support, individual wellbeing conversations and a network of health and wellbeing ambassadors. Detailed information about our wellbeing and benefits offer can be found in this link.

As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us and for our patients, and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement whether that’s a job share, part time hours or another flexible pattern.