About The Service
Cardiff Parenting Services are strategically led by a Principal Educational Psychologist. We are proud to have 8 more educational psychologists as part of these services and are excited to be looking for an enthusiastic Educational Psychologist to cover a maternity leave.
Parents Plus (0-5) and Parents First (5-18) are the psychology-led parenting services within Cardiff Parenting. The current post is intended to sit within the Parents Plus team, specifically working with parents who are pregnant or parents or carers who have an infant or child in the early years.
Parents Plus is led by a Senior Educational Psychologist. The successful candidate will support the Senior Educational Psychologist with the input of psychology both to the team and the wider workforce.
The Parents Plus team is made up of other Educational Psychologists and highly skilled early years parenting practitioners, who carry out targeted and specialised bespoke work with parents, carers and young children in the home. These interventions are personalised and are co-formulated and clinically supervised by the educational psychologists. The psychologists in the team also provide consultation and training to the team and to the wider organisation.
We have office bases across Cardiff, and also have equipment to work remotely.
You can learn more about elements of Early Help by visiting the website www.cardifffamilies.co.uk.
Information about our Parenting Services can be found online:
Cardiff Parenting 0-18 - Cardiff Family Advice and Support : Cardiff Family Advice and Support (cardifffamilies.co.uk)
We also post on our Twitter and Facebook pages – search for Cardiff Parenting – Rhianta Caerdydd to find out more.
After working with us, parents have said:
"We’re connecting and having fun together and our bond is stronger than ever’.
About the job
The Educational Psychologist in the Parents Plus Service has a role in applying psychology to inform personalised pieces of work with parents and carers and their babies and infants across Cardiff.
The Educational Psychologist makes an initial observation and assessment of the parent and child’s unique strengths, circumstances, and possible areas for change, during an initial home visit. Personalised targets for change are co-constructed with the parent during this session and the tailored piece of work is formulated by the EP and the Psychology-Led Practitioner. The practitioner carries out the intervention in the family home with regular supervision from the EP.
The main role of the EP will be:
- To promote the confidence, efforts and capacity of the parents and carers we work with to support parent-child interactions and relationships and meet their baby or child’s unique developmental needs.
- To contribute to improving outcomes for babies and children by promoting their growth, development, learning and wellbeing.
- To assess, co-formulate and supervise the psychology-informed parent-child interventions that are delivered by the practitioners within the team.
- To carry out individual pieces of casework, using approaches that have been shown to improve parent-child interactions and relationships (e.g. Video Interaction Guidance).
- To engage in consultation and training to promote a psychological approach within the team and wider Early Help services.
- To undertake relevant psychological research and dissemination.
You will be supported with ongoing professional development opportunities and will be provided with a telephone, personal computer and the resources and support required to feel confident and safe in your role.
Our staff retention is high and our colleagues say:
“As a psychologist, contributing to a change process over time is hugely satisfying. Being able to spend time having in depth discussions using a problem solving framework, planning interventions followed by ongoing review and hypothesis testing, allows time to think about and apply psychology”.
“Having worked as a school EP for a number of years, moving to work in a different context was a risk, however the organisational ethos and support is extremely positive. The CPD opportunities are excellent and time is given for growth and development.”
“Working in this lovely supportive team gives me the opportunity as an EP to apply psychology, at all different levels, on a daily basis, and make a difference to children and families”.
What We Are Looking For From You
We are looking for a suitably qualified and HCPC registered Educational Psychologist, who:
- Is keen to gain experience of working as an applied psychologist within the community.
- Would like to develop a specialist knowledge in working with families in the Early Years.
- Has an interest in applying attachment and relational approaches to their practice.
- Is keen to utilise and provide supervision to explore ideas and offer psychological input to an established and committed team.
- Is willing and able to design and deliver training and offer consultation to promote attachment and relational approaches in the wider Early Help Service.
We are happy to accept applications from newly qualified EPs, and from experienced EPs who may be looking for a new professional role or secondment. Some flexibility will be required in order to meet the needs of working families. We welcome applications form those wishing to work full or part-time hours.
Additional information
Salary Range: 1-6 plus up to 3 SPA (£43,483 - £53,995 up to £59,807)
If you would like to discuss the post prior to application, we welcome a discussion! Please contact Angharad Jones (Senior Educational Psychologist & Parents Plus Lead) Angharad.Jones@cardiff.gov.uk
This vacancy is suitable for post share.
The post is temporary until 31st March 2026, to cover maternity leave, or until the return of the substantive post holder, if that is sooner. The post is subject to Welsh Government grant funding. Subject to approval, the post could be extended to cover the duration of the maternity period, which is anticipated to start in November 2025.
Internal candidates who wish to apply for this position on a secondment basis must obtain approval prior to application using Form SEC1 (4.C.081). Requests may only be approved by the relevant Director/ Assistant Director/ Chief Officer or senior nominated officer graded no lower than OM2 or in the case of schools based staff the Headteacher / Governing Body.
This post is subject to an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check.
Safeguarding and Child Protection are key priorities for the Council. We aim to support children and vulnerable adults to ensure they are as safe as they can possibly be. Our services and schools are committed to ensuring the safety and protection of all children and vulnerable adults, and will take action to safeguard their well-being, and acknowledge that children and vulnerable adults have a right to protection. This is supported in the general ethos of the Council and all schools.
We understand you might use AI and other resources for your application; however, please ensure all information you provide is factually accurate, truthful, original and does not include ideas or work that is not your own.
We welcome applications in both English and Welsh. Applications received in Welsh will not be treated less favourably than English applications.
Please note the Council does not accept CV’s. When completing the supporting information section of your application, please ensure you refer to the below located on our website:
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