Trainee Children's Wellbeing Practitioner 2023

We currently have 4 trainee Wellbeing Practitioner vacancies in our primary mental health team at Solar, and would love to see if you are one of the people we are looking for. We are looking for vibrant, creative staff that are just as passionate about the emotional wellbeing and mental health of children and young people as we are.

These are exciting roles providing opportunities to develop as a practitioner and learn to deliver evidence based interventions to children and young people in the Solihull area. Solar is a well established, nationally talked about service and we are really excited to be growing our team. This will be part of Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) services providing evidence-based psychological therapies nationally. We have had trainee CWP's in service for the previous 4 years so you will be joining a well established, service based, training team.

Please note that whilst some Trainee Children's Wellbeing Pracitioner courses around the UK are able to offer a permanent post upon completion of the training year - we are unable to do this at Solar. Trainees are always encouraged to apply for posts at the end of the year if we have vacancies, however ongoing employment isn't guaranteed.

Solar are looking for individuals who are highly motivated, adaptable and flexible in their approach. Balancing the demands of the course with the fast paced nature of the role can be difficult, therefore excellent organisational skills and time management are a must. The course involves assignments throughout the year which are expected to be completed outside of your working hours.

In order to be successful in obtaining this role you need to complete a successful interview with Solar, and gain entry onto the Post Graduate Diploma: Children's Wellbeing Practitioner course at the University of Northampton. You will be expected to attend roughly 1-2 working days per week at university and the rest of the working week will be spent at your placement within the service. As you develop your skills as a trainee you will be expected to deliver guided self-help interventions using a variety of mediums including psychoeducational workshops, one to one clinical sessions and telephone interventions. You will learn how to assess for mild to moderate mental health needs, in addition to working on community engagement.

Solar is a partnership project between Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust (BSMHFT) and Barnardo's. We work together to provide emotional wellbeing and mental health services for children and young people in Solihull who are aged between 0-19, based on the principle of children and young people only needing to tell their story once. Solar utilise one clinical record and a single user led care plan, ensuring children and young people shape the service that they receive.

Rated “good” by the CQC in January 2018, the service was peer reviewed by West Midlands Quality Review Service who said they “were impressed with the level of integration across the services - the feedback from service users and their families and carers was that the pathway was seamless between the various services.”

This is an exciting opportunity to be based within a dynamic NHS service, but employed and supported by a charity with a long history of working with and for children and young people (over 150 years!). Solar is a multi-disciplinary service which provides a rich learning environment for all staff. Our work is holistic and evidence based and we actively encourage the participation of children and young people in their assessment, care plan and treatment.

What are the essentials that we need from you

• To be willing to learn interventions and assessment skills for mental health support.
• The ability to travel to University of Northampton every week if needed, and in and around the Solihull area providing clinical sessions
• Experience in working with children and young people
• Experience of planning and delivering interventions to children/young people

What can Barnardos offer you

• 26 days holiday plus bank holidays and the option to purchase 5 days
• Free DBS check (if required)
• 4% or 6% matched pension contribution
• Staff discounts at a variety of places (retail, cinema, theme parks, holidays, hotels)
• Access to ‘Bluelight' discount card
• Paid carers and bereavement leave
• Access to extensive professional training and support via the Barnardo's University
• Access to paid training in house
• A work environment which supports and celebrates their staff via events such as excellence awards
• A work environment dedicated to EDI

Please see all attachments within the job advert for further information about the service, the post and the person specification. Please ensure you read the ‘additional information' sheet, as this tells you more specifically about the role.

Flexibility

Barnardo's believe in creating equality of opportunity in the workplace and supporting people to manage their work-life balance; we are therefore open to offering flexible working arrangements.

About Barnardo's

Barnardo's is committed to having a diverse and inclusive workforce for staff and volunteers. We actively encourage applications from disabled, Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic candidates as they are under-represented within Barnardo's.