Educational Mental Health Practitioner (EMHP)

Job summary

Are you interested in a career as a CBT Practitioner? Would you like to be involved in Newham’s Mental Health Support Team (MHST) delivering support to pupils, their families and teaching staff in education environments across the borough?

In line with the government’s priority to increase access and availability of mental health and wellbeing support for children and young people, the Education Mental Health Practitioner (EMHP) role is an exciting opportunity to deliver evidence-based early interventions, working across both educational settings and healthcare sectors in England.

The training programme for this post will consist of academic and supervised practice learning across mental health services and educational settings, such as primary and secondary schools, and further education colleges.Delivery of the programme will be provided through a combination of taught days within UCL in collaboration with The Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families, independent self-guided study days, and experience gained in the Wellbeing in Newham Schools Team.

Anyone applying for this role also needs to secure a place on the Educational Mental Health Practitioner PG Dip course at UCL. You are required to make a separate application for the university course. Please complete your course application as soon as possible as the role can only be offered to those who have been accepted onto the training course.

Main duties of the job

A Trainee Education Mental Health Practitioner will be expected to work under supervision as part of a dynamic mental health team in a creative environment where evidence-based interventions, new ideas, ways of working and supporting children and young people (CYP) are actively encouraged. This approach requires flexibility and adaptability, and above all a passion for working with CYP in educational settings. Over the course of the training year, the post-holder will, under supervision, develop knowledge and practice skills to employ a range of evidence-based interventions for common mental health problems via direct individual and group support for children, young people, and their parents, in line with the university expectations.

The Trainee Education Mental Health Practitioner role will:

• Work closely alongside a team of mental health professionals delivering a wide range of evidence informed interventions, under supervision.
• Develop and practice evidence-based skills under supervision to work directly with children, young people, and families.
• Develop and practice evidence-based skills under supervision to carry out holistic and child-centered mental health assessments, including risk assessments.

Person Specification

Education/ Qualification/ Training

Essential

• Undergraduate degree, upper second class or above, in Psychology or related subject
• Successfully secured a training place on EMHP course at UCL/Anna Freud (PG Dip Educational Mental Health Practitioner).

Experience

Essential

• Previous experience of working with children and young people in either a health or educational setting

Desirable

• Work in a multi-cultural setting, including working with interpreters
• An enthusiasm for brief interventions in schools
• Experience of providing a culturally sensitive service
• Experience of working in a culturally diverse Inner city area

Knowledge and Skills

Essential

• Knowledge of the educational system in England.
• Knowledge of children and young people gained through academic study in child development, child wellbeing or mental health.
• An interest of developing some area of expertise
• Ability to form excellent working relationships with colleagues and work flexibly with others in multidisciplinary and multi-agency settings
• Knowledge and skills in effective communication, orally and in writing, complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS (e.g. schools)
• Basic computer skills
• Ability to recognise own limits and seek support re supervision as appropriate.
• The ability to empathise in a complex sensitive or emotional environment.
• Ability to learn in a variety of settings and using a variety of learning methods
• Ability to study as a self-motivated learner who can formulate their own progress towards learning objectives and negotiate pathways to achievement with supervisory teams

Desirable

• Knowledge of evidence informed interventions for low mood, self-harm, anxiety and common behaviour problems in young children in education settings
• Presentation/ teaching skills
• Keyboard skills

Other

Essential

• Commitment to equal opportunities
• Full, enhanced and current satisfactory DBS disclosure for the role
• Ability to personally manage a sensitive, traumatic and potentially emotionally distressing caseload
• Able to travel to meet the requirements of the post
• Excellent time management and organisational skills oSelf-motivated, assertive and flexible.
• Freedom to act:  Physical effort: Confined sitting position (therapy); travelling within community. Mental effort: writing reports; planning teaching; concentrating for therapy sessions /clinical supervision; managing psychiatric emergencies. Emotional effort: Dealing with families in breakdown; experiencing trauma and abuse; occasional patient complaints; conveying of unwelcome news Working conditions: Occasional verbal and physical abuse; unpredictable clinical scenarios eg. emergency home visits; travel in community all weathers.

Desirable

• Able to meet the physical requirements of the role after reasonable adjustments have been made for any illness or disability

Closing Date: 14 August 2026