Assistant Educational Psychologist

These posts are being advertised as part of a consideration of the longer term operational and strategic capacity of the LA EPS to meet local statutory and non-statutory needs.

Our EPs like working in Medway because:

• Of our flexible ways of working;
• We have protected workloads;
• We work in a small geographical area;
• We develop close working relationships as a link psychologist with a small patch of schools;
• We are able to deliver a range of traded, core, and statutory work;
• We are a supportive team with regular opportunities for meeting in person;
• We are forward thinking and outward looking;
• We have excellent administration support; and
• It is conveniently located to quickly access the city life of London without the living expense of inner London, and easy access to adventures in Europe, and the stunning English coastline and countryside.

Our EP service ways of working align with the core service values of our Children’s Services. We:

M-Motivate, support, encourage and develop our staff

E-Empower children, families and colleagues

D-Deliver high quality services

W-Work collaboratively with families and partners

A-Are Ambitious for our children, young people and families, and our staff, and believe

Y-Your voice is vital to shaping our service.

Our commitment to ourselves, each other, and the quality of our work means that we: 

• have an approach to work allocation that strives for equitable distribution and a realistic workload;
• work with individual strengths and interests where at all possible;
• create opportunities for co-working;
• provide and protect regular supervision, through line management and peer approaches;
• have an enhanced supervision offer for recently qualified EPs, alongside adjustments in workload and support for tribunal related work during the first year of qualified practice;
• considered staff well being to be of paramount importance;
• have an established cycle of service development and a commitment to CPD; and
• EPs are actively encouraged to contribute to the progression of the service and to obtain SPA points.

We are a supportive and collaborative team with a range of experiences and interests. We are enthusiastic about applying psychology, valuing practice-based and evidence-based approaches.  Several members of the team are accredited VIG practitioners and others hold qualifications in CBT. We are passionate about inclusion and value working at systems level through training and research and directly with children, young people and their families. 

We provide a termly consultation service to every school and academy through a link psychologist, provide an EBSA home-school video consultation service, and centrally available training, ELSA and MeLSA, in addition to school-based traded work and the usual statutory work.

Our traded service is already working with the majority of our educational settings who purchase EP time for assessments, interventions, therapeutic work, training and systemic work. Our ELSA training and supervision offer is strong and has received the national quality award. We have expanded our EBSA consultation service through public health funding and our training and support work with the Virtual School.We continue to explore new opportunities with other partners within Health and Social Care, which align with our vision of being a community resource. 

We have good links with Doctoral Training Programmes in the region, supporting the Doctorate selection process, thesis examinations, University training sessions, and we host placements for Trainee Educational Psychologists. We value the contribution trainees make to our service and harness the innovation those placements bring.

Medway is a unitary authority accessible from London and the Southeast of England. The Channel ports are just 40 minutes’ drive in neighbouring Kent and London St Pancras is 40 minutes by high-speed train from historic Rochester. Our EPS serves a diverse community in and around Chatham, Gillingham, Rainham, Rochester and Strood. We work centrally from the Medway Council Offices at Gun Wharf in Chatham, and from home. Posts come with essential car user allowance.

We are an outward looking service, engaging at regional and national level. This is an exciting time to come and join us. 

Medway is a flexible employer who encourages conversations about ways of working to benefit you. If you are interested in what we are trying to achieve, like the sound of the way we work, and are curious about the difference you could make to our team, please do get in touch to begin the conversation.

Offers of appointment will be subject to an Enhanced Disclosure application to the Disclosure and Barring Service and registration with the Health and Care Professionals Council. 

Please call Fiona Alexander, Principal Educational Psychologist or Sophie Curra, Senior Educational Psychologist on 01634 335647 or email  education.psychology@medway.gov.uk 

Closing date: noon, 27th June 2025

Interviews: Interview dates will be confirmed with shortlisted applicants, likely to be w/b 7th July 2025

In return we will offer you:  

• Generous annual leave entitlement
• Generous local government pension scheme package
• Access to wider training and development qualifications
• Flexible working scheme
• Travel plan discounts
• Access to CAREFIRST advice & counselling service
• Employee discount scheme for national and local retailers

Career Progression Frameworks (CPF) have been introduced for all roles at Medway Council. These frameworks provide a mechanism for employees to take ownership of their development within their post and be rewarded accordingly. This means that the salary you will be offered will be at level A unless, based on an assessment against the CPF criteria, you demonstrate that you are meeting the criteria of level B or C. There will be further opportunity once in post to progress from level A to B, and B to C.

When writing your application, it is important to ensure you identify your suitability against the requirements of the job profile, as this information will be used for shortlisting and may contribute to the CPF assessment. Your application may be rejected if the minimum required criteria is not met. Further information relating to the requirements for this role can be found in the CPF Guidance document attached.

The person specification of a job profile is split into three levels:

Level A details the essential criteria that all applicants must be able to demonstrate through their application and interview.

Level B details the developed competencies that an individual who is practised in this role would be able to demonstrate and will be a progression of knowledge, experience and skills from level A.

Level C requires the highest level of competence and applicants would need to fully meet and demonstrate all aspects of the job profile, including qualifications, knowledge, skills and experience.

You can demonstrate knowledge, experience and skills to allow you to perform within this role.  You will identify, through application, how you meet the elements detailed within the person specification, at either Level A, B or C.    You will be supported to develop in your role through induction, probation and a supportive Performance Appraisal and Career Conversation. Through your induction you will be introduced to the Career Progression Framework (CPF), which will help you to identify your areas of strength and any development needs.

Our organisation:

Medway is a unitary authority in the South East of England, made up of the towns of Strood, Rochester, Chatham, Gillingham and Rainham and more rural areas, including the Hoo Peninsula.

Situated in Kent in the South-East of England, the area has plenty of green spaces, excellent facilities and easy access to the national motorway and rail networks, facilitating superb transport links to London.

We provide all local Government services for a quarter of a million people, looking after education, environment, social care, housing, planning, business and much more - everything from frontline services such as rubbish collection and events like the Dickens Festival to work that goes on behind the scenes to ensure services in Medway run smoothly and cost effectively.

Working at Medway Council means that you get to be part of this journey working alongside talented, professional colleagues to drive forward change to transform the lives of our residents and the communities they live in.

Important Information-

Applicants must be able to demonstrate all essential requirements as listed in the job profile

Equal Opportunities Commitment Statement

Medway Council is committed to creating an inclusive work environment with a diverse workforce. All appropriately qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, disability or age

For further information please refer to the Medway information pack available as a download or to view online

Please be advised that if you are not contacted within 3 weeks of the advert closing date then you have not been shortlisted.  All recruitment correspondence, including interview letters and contracts of employment will usually be sent out via email.

Please visit http://www.mindfulemployer.net/ for information on how Medway Council put good practices in place to ensure employees and job applicants who declare mental health issues receive the right level of support.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy at any time prior to the closing date.

If you are not contacted within 3 weeks of the advert closing date then you have not been shortlisted.

All recruitment correspondence, including interview letters and contracts of employment will usually be sent out via email, if you require documentation/correspondence in different format such as braille or large print, please contact the Resourcing Team on 01634 332878.