School Counsellor

**Job Title**:School Counsellor

**Salary grade**:TBC

**Time currently employed p.a.**:Part time

**Responsible to**:DSL (Deputy Headteacher)
Purpose of the job:

- To provide a professional and confidential counselling service to pupils, in order to promote emotional health and well-being and enable them to develop a resilience to help them cope with the difficulties they face
- To work closely with the Deputy Headteacher (DSL), Heads of Year and the Pastoral Care Team in order to coordinate and implement strategies for counselling support

Principal responsibilities:
**Counselling**
- To offer pupils individual counselling and support
- To work with a diverse range of issues including bereavement and loss, transition, eating disorders and self-harm, depression, anger management and erratic behaviour, abuse of any kind, anxiety and fears
- To uphold good practice as described by the BACP ethical guidelines
- To take the lead in professional consultations with staff, parent/carers, general practitioners, psychiatrists, mental health workers, social workers and educational psychologists
- To perform duties within the codes of practice and ethics recommended by the BACP, UKCP or equivalent organisation
- To promote a caring and supportive environment where such concerns may be explored thereby promoting mental and emotional health
- To be alert to trends and patterns of problems and to be willing to identify causes and recommend corrective action
- To attend meetings or discussion sessions with parents/carers if asked and as appropriate within agreed confidentiality guidelines

Safeguarding
- To work with the Designated Safeguarding Lead (Deputy Headteacher) and liaise with external agencies and parents/carers to support pupils and students
- To play an active role in Safeguarding children adhering to school policies
- Working in consultation with other school staff regarding the school child protection policy and related safeguarding documents
- To maintain confidentiality (except in those circumstances, in line with BACP practice, where this should be breached)

Collaboration with school staff/external agencies
- To provide consultation and training to staff whose role it is to support pupils / students in distress
- To liaise with the Heads of Year and other relevant staff e.g. SENDCO, as and when appropriate
- To provide relevant information to the Deputy Headteacher in advance of any Multi-Agency meetings, e.g. Child Protection Reviews / Conferences
- To liaise, where appropriate and with the pupil’s consent, with members of staff
- To network with personnel from other agencies with a view to easing referrals and accessing specialist consultants

Record keeping, reporting and assessment
- To keep suitable case records on counselling in a secure place
- To be responsible for producing an annual report, including writing an annual review that reflects current trends and the counselling services’ performance, and presenting the report to the Senior Leadership Team
- To ensure continued compliance with BACP Registrations and Accreditation schemes
- To undertake regular evaluation and monitoring of all aspects of the clinical delivery of counselling and where appropriate make or recommend changes. This will include reviewing operational policies for the counselling service with the Deputy Headteacher (Inclusion)

Professional development
- To maintain a high level of knowledge and awareness of changes and developments in the fields of counselling and education and their impact on the delivery of counselling
- To be responsible for their Professional Development maintenance and updating knowledge and awareness through Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
- To attend INSET as required and to participate in the school’s annual Performance Appraisal System

Administration
- To hold responsibility for all counselling activities at NLGPS
- To devise and, where appropriate, deliver a programme of training to support and develop the counselling service
- To contribute in any other reasonable fashion to promote the safety and wellbeing of the pupils
- To undertake any other duties reasonably requested by the Deputy Headteacher

Supervision
- To be arranged and undertaken monthly by the school counsellor and charged to the school

Equalities
Be aware of and support differences and ensure that all students have equality of access to opportunities to learn and develop.
Health and Safety
Be aware of and comply with policies and procedures relating to child protection, health and safety and security, confidentiality and data protection; and report all concerns to the appropriate person.
Disclosure and Barring Service
This post is classed as having a high degree of contact with children or vulnerable adults and is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. An enhanced disclosure will be sought through the Disclosure and Barring Service as part of the school’s pre-employment checks.
Job context
Curre