Mental Health jobs in West Yorkshire

Duchy College comprises of our Pre School (2-5) Prep School (ages 5-11) and Senior School (11-18) and are a family of leading independent schools for children from 2 - 18 years of age. The schools are united by a shared ethos to develop a passion for learning and encourage individuality. Our pupils are encouraged to embrace challenge, discover their talents, to respect themselves and others and to understand the wider world.

The school enjoys an internationally recognised reputation for excellent pastoral support, academic success, extra-curricular opportunities and boutique-style boarding. The boarding community comprises around one third of the school community and underpins the school’s ethos. The school has a vibrant culture of inclusivity and support, both from the staff and the pupils themselves.

The Wellbeing Lead will champion our commitment to delivering excellent outcomes in whole school mental health and wellbeing. The individual will take a co-ordinated and evidence-informed approach to mental health in the School and work closely with pupils who require mental health support, to improve pupil emotional health and wellbeing. This is a frontline role in supporting and working with pupils, alongside the Leadership Teams and the Wellness Centre staff. The post holder is a significant part of the Designated Safeguarding Lead Team.

The successful candidate will:

• Have previous experience in mental health support for young people;
• Have undertaken completed the Senior Mental Health Lead Training course; and
• Be a highly motivated and positive individual who is passionate about mental health and wellbeing
• Have previous experience as either DSL or DDSL.

Please note that this is a non-teaching role.

For an informal chat about the position, please contact our HR team on 01423 504543.

Job Title:

Wellbeing Lead (Designated Senior Mental Health Lead)

Responsible to:

The Principal

Direct involvement with:

Pupils, Wellness Centre staff, Heads of School, boarding staff, teaching staff and external agencies

Hours:

Part time - 30 hours across 5 days increasing to full-time hours if/as needed.

The role is term-time only plus INSET days (usually six days each year)

Salary:

Reflective of experience and qualifications

Comprehensive benefits package

Job Summary:

The Wellbeing Lead is responsible for leading, coordinating and championing our commitment to delivering excellent outcomes in whole school mental health and wellbeing. The individual will take a co-ordinated and evidence-informed approach to mental health and wellbeing in the School and work closely with pupils who require mental health support, in order to improve pupil emotional health and wellbeing. This is a frontline role in supporting and working with pupils, alongside the Principal and the Flourish pastoral team.

Core Responsibilities:

• Be a key member (DDSL) of the Designated Safeguarding Lead team;
• Will have up-to-date knowledge and experience and maintain an accurate understanding of the landscape of best practice in school mental health and wellbeing;
• Work with the pastoral leads to develop an effective early intervention and prevention strategy that enables all pupils to access support for their mental health and wellbeing;
• Maintain a clear process to identify those who may need additional support; identify pupils at risk of, or showing signs of, mental health difficulties; and coordinate the mental health needs of pupils, overseeing delivery of School interventions, including referral to external services where necessary;
• Meet with pupils across all areas of school who have been identified as needing mental health support or mentoring and who are not accessing School Counsellor sessions;
• Meet weekly with the Principal to discuss concerns beyond the Flourish pastoral meetings, including safeguarding matters;
• Work with the SENCo to provide social, emotional and mental health support for pupils who require it, with or without an EHCP;
• Work with the SENCo to ensure all adults working in the School understand their responsibilities to children whose persistent mental health difficulties mean they need special education provision;
• Work with the pastoral lead to identify gaps in our mental health and wellbeing strategy and help to source relevant external expertise in response to these gaps where no feasible internal solutions exist;
• Have easily accessible systems in place for pupils to seek help if they need it;
• Liaise with the Flourish pastoral team to evaluate the outcome of interventions on pupils’ wellbeing and attainment, in order to understand what is working, and make any necessary changes to ensure effective support is provided;
• Work closely with the Director of PSHE to develop cross-curricular approaches that support pupils through the promotion and protection of wellbeing; and
• Work collaboratively with the pastoral team who can support the implementation of whole school mental health and wellbeing.

Key Duties:

• Attend weekly safeguarding team meetings;
• Liaise with external agencies as required;
• Promote good mental health and emotional wellbeing for pupils and staff alike;
• Implement, sustain, evaluate and continually review and improve a whole school approach to mental health and wellbeing, tailored to the needs of our pupils;
• Audit the current mental health and wellbeing provision to determine and optimise performance of our programme of support for pupil mental health and wellbeing;
• Work closely with pupils who require mental health support and liaise with the Flourish pastoral team about their progress;
• Alongside the pastoral lead and School Nurse, help to coordinate the School’s provision for pupils’ mental health needs;
• Liaise with the Head of PSHE over the School’s PSHE and RSE curriculum to ensure it includes the awareness of developing positive mental health and emotional resilience;
• Gather input from key stakeholders on what advice they would value and what their specific concerns may be;
• Maintain a publicly visible policy that sets out how the school supports pupils’ mental health and wellbeing is maintained;
• Know what local and national help and support is available out of school;
• Report termly to the Pupil Welfare Committee; and
• Alongside the Principal, develop and implement embedded processes that increase positive mental health and wellbeing.

Additional Duties:

• To provide a commitment to safeguarding the welfare of children; and
• To be aware of their responsibilities for health and safety for themselves and others.

Person Specification:

• Previous experience in mental health support for young people;
• Previous Designated Safeguarding Lead/Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead experience;
• Have undertaken successful completion of the Senior Mental Health Lead Training course;
• Highly motivated and positive individual who is passionate about, and will champion, mental health and wellbeing;
• Empathetic individual who can work alongside others in a compassionate and non-judgemental manner;
• Committed to their own ongoing learning and development;
• Clear communicator who can work alongside stakeholders in different contexts;
• Ability to motivate;
• Middle management experience;
• Ability to work co-operatively within a team;
• Resilience to deal with setbacks and adapt as the whole school approach evolves; and
• Ability to organise, manage and communicate about pupil data.

This job description is an indication of what will be required of this role and is subject to change as the post evolves. The post holder will be expected to work flexibly to meet the needs of the school and to undertake any other responsibilities as reasonably requested by the Principal.

Duchy College is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and the successful applicant must be willing to undergo child protection screening appropriate to the post. Please note that the successful applicant will not be allowed to start in school until all pre-employment checks have been completed. The school is an educational charity and equal opportunities employer.

Expected hours: 30.0 per week

Benefits:

• Company pension
• Discounted or free food
• Life insurance
• On-site gym

Ability to commute/relocate:

• Harrogate HG1 2QG: reliably commute or plan to relocate before starting work (preferred)

Work authorisation:

• United Kingdom (preferred)

Work Location: In person