NA18070 TEMPORARY PART-TIME PSYCHOLOGY ASSISTANT (REQUIRED 4 DAYS A WEEK MATERNITY COVER) CHILDEREN & YOUNG PEOPLES SERVICES, EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY, OMAGH Candidate Information Pack
Background and Context The Education Authority (EA) wants every child to have an outstanding education. The EA was established under the Education Act (Northern Ireland) 2014 and became operational on 1 April 2015. It is a nondepartmental public body sponsored by the Department of Education and the Department for the Economy. The EA is responsible for ensuring that high quality primary and secondary education services are available to meet the needs of children and young people, and for support for the provision of efficient and effective youth services. These services were previously delivered by five Education and Library Boards (ELBs). The organisation employs over 39,000 people across Northern Ireland in a wide variety of roles including teachers in controlled schools, school-based support staff and staff in administrative headquarters. The work we do impacts the lives of tens of thousands of children, young people and their families every day. The services we provide are essential in supporting, encouraging and facilitating learning within our communities to develop generations of young people who are equipped to succeed in life and work in the modern world. As a public sector organisation, we must continue to deliver these vital services in a challenging environment of increasing financial pressure and under intense public scrutiny. Future Challenges and Opportunities Recent focus has been on transition from the former ELBs to a single authority. Looking forward, this focus moves from transition to transformation. Emerging from the five ELBs our aim is to build a new organisation which is focused on meeting the needs of all our young people equally, removing barriers to learning and ensuring equality of access to excellent education services so that every child can develop to his or her full potential. Work is underway to develop a strategic plan for the period 2017 2027. This will provide a framework for the authority s activities and will guide the organisation through its transformation journey. The EA in all its activities will endeavour to support the Programme for Government to improve educational outcomes; reduce educational inequality; improve the quality of education and the skills profile of the population. The EA also recognises the fundamental role it has in other NI Executive priorities such as the economy and the wider success of Northern Ireland. These are exciting and challenging times for EA as we continue the process of transformation and seek fundamentally to transform education administration for the benefit of future generations of children and young people.
TEMPORARY PART-TIME PSYCHOLOGY ASSISTANT (REQUIRED 4 DAYS A WEEK MATERNITY COVER) CHILDEREN & YOUNG PEOPLES SERVICES, EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY, OMAGH Disclosure of Criminal Background If you have applied for a post that involves regulated activity under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups (NI) Order 2007, the Education Authority will be required to undertake an Enhanced Disclosure of Criminal Background. Please note that due to proposals set out in the Department of Education s Budget, you WILL be expected to meet the cost of an Enhanced Disclosure Certificate, which is 33. Further details in relation to legislative requirements can be accessed on www.nidirect.gov.uk/vetting or www.accessni.org.uk. JOB DESCRIPTION DEPARTMENT: POST TITLE: RESPONSIBLE TO: Children and Young People s Services Directorate/Educational Psychology Service Psychology Assistant Designated line management within Educational Psychology Service JOB PURPOSE The psychologist assistant will contribute to the Education Authorities responsibilities for children with special educational needs. They will be expected to contribute to the provision and development of an effective and high quality Educational Psychology Service in the Education Authority. The psychology assistant will be expected to provide an educational psychology service under the supervision of a senior educational psychologist, relating to assessment and intervention for children who may have special educational needs. Such duties may include carrying out observations of a child s behaviour in class; supporting the implementation of agreed intervention programmes in a classroom or home based context under the direction of the Educational Psychology Service. 1 DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES 2 The Psychology Assistant s main duties will be to contribute positively and in a complementary way to service delivery of the Educational Psychology Service, working under the supervision of an Educational Psychologist they will assist with: i The assessment of children who have been referred to the Service.
ii The communication of the results of assessments to teachers, parents and relevant others. iii The provision of advice to teachers, parents and relevant others on the educational needs of the children concerned. iv The recording of the results of the assessments and the advice given. v The implementation of agreed intervention programmes for children who may have special educational needs. vi The monitoring and evaluation of the effectiveness of Stage 3 and 5 interventions. 3 The Psychology Assistant will: i ii Provide a professional standard of intervention in schools, as directed by the supervising educational psychologist. Contribute to the knowledge and understanding of schools in the area of psychology, child development and special educational needs. iii Assist schools in developing appropriate policies and procedures. iv Participate in research and development of areas of work or in working groups as required by Principal Educational Psychologist. v Liaise with other agencies and professionals in relation to the collection of pupil s data or monitoring of progress. vi Develop special skills, interests and expertise, by taking advantage of the programme of Continuing Professional Development. vii Psychology Assistants must complete training and be awarded the British Psychological Society Certificate of Competence in Educational Testing (Test User Level). This training will be arranged by the EA. The EA reserves the right to terminate the employment contract if the Psychology Assistant is not awarded this certificate. Qualifications and Experience Essential: hold an honours degree in psychology (2:1 or above) have a minimum of six months experience of working with children in an education, youth or health and social services setting Desirable: have previous experience of working with children with special educational needs have paid employment working with children with special educational needs Applicants should preferably have access to a car. A motor mileage allowance is payable in respect of authorised journeys undertaken in carrying out the duties of the post
Knowledge, Skills, Personal Qualities Knowledge of data management systems Knowledge of appropriate ICT software packages (for example, Microsoft Word, Access, Excel, etc) Ability to record information accurately and produce written information in a clear and organised format Ability to analyse information, and to plan and organise work, and work to deadlines Good interpersonal and communication skills when engaging with parents and professionals and working with young people Ability to work independently and with initiative, under the supervision of a Senior Educational Psychologist Ability to work as part of a team Flexibility Self-Confidence Empathy Sensitivity Enthusiasm Perseverance Please note the onus is on candidates to provide sufficient detailed information on their application forms in order to demonstrate how they meet each of the criteria. Failure to do so may result in a candidate not being shortlisted since Selection Panels cannot make assumptions in the absence of essential information. Terms and Conditions of Service The main terms and conditions of employment are those for Psychology Assistants as laid down by the Joint Negotiating Council for the Education Authority (NI) and are drawn mainly from the conditions of service of the National Joint Council for Local Authorities staff. Salary Scale The salary scale for the post is 18,070-22,658 per annum. Hours of Work 28.80 Hours Per Week. Annual Leave Entitlement Entitlement to annual leave is 21 days in a full holiday year in addition to 12 public and extra statutory holidays. Entitlement to leave in the first year of employment is pro-rata to the number of months completed. General Conditions of Appointment Appointments are subject to (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) the Contracts of Employment and Redundancy Payments Act 1965 as amended and in particular the statutory provisions relating to termination of employment and the period of notice; the provisions of the Local Government Superannuation Act (NI) for the time being in force; production of satisfactory completion of all pre-employment checks; probationary period of six months; sickness and maternity benefit regulations as incorporated in the EA Scheme for Sickness Allowance, details of which are available on request from the Human Resources Department;
(f) the condition that no other employment is entered into during the period of employment by the EA and that no employment by or in the service of another person or body should be undertaken except with express approval of the EA. Canvassing and Referees Canvassing directly or indirectly will entail disqualification. Referees should not include any officer or member of the Recruitment and Selection Panel. Posts involving work in educational institutions are subject to the provisions of the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups (NI) Order 2007 JUNE 2018