About The Service
Cardiff Parenting Services are strategically led by a Senior Educational Psychologist. We are proud to have 7 more educational psychologists as part of these services and are excited to be looking for another educational psychologist to join our growing team.
Parents Plus and Parents First 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 who have an infant or child in the early years. There can be an opportunity to work across the full age range 0-18, undertaking work in Parents First.
Parents Plus is led by a Specialist Educational Psychologist. The successful candidate will support the Specialist 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 and young children in the home. These interventions are bespoke 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 Parents Plus has a role in applying psychology to inform personalised pieces of work with parents 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 personalised piece of work is formulated by the EP and the Parents Plus 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 assess, co-formulate and supervise the psychology informed parent-child interventions that are delivered by by the practitioners within the team.
- To carry out individual pieces of casework, using approached that have shown to improve parent-child interactions and relationships (e.g., VIG).
- To engage in consultation and training to promote a psychological approach within the team and wider Early Help services.
- To promote the confidence, efforts and capacity of the parents we work with to support parent-child interactions and relationships and meet their child’s unique developmental needs.
- To contribute to improving outcomes for children by promoting their growth, development, learning and well-being.
- To undertake relevant psychological research and dissemination
You will be supported with ongoing professional development opportunities. You 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/specialism 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 a committed team.
- Is willing and able to design and deliver training and consultation to contribute to the wider Early Help Service.
We are happy to accept applications from Trainee EPs who will qualify in 2023, 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: Soulbury A 1-6 plus up to 3 SPA (£38,865 - £54,179 per annum)
Interviews are planned for July 24th
If you would like to discuss the post prior to application, we welcome a discussion! Please contact Sarah Fitzgibbon (Senior Educational Psychologist & Parenting Services Manager) sarah.fitzgibbon@cardiff.gov.uk
The post is temporary until 31st March 2024. The post is subject to Welsh Government grant funding.
This post is subject to Disclosure and Barring Service Enhanced checks.
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.
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.
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:
Important information you need read in order to complete your application:-
Additional Information:-
Attachments