Could you be an education mental health practitioner?
Training for a new role to support mental health in schools and colleges gets underway in January 2019.
As part of mental health support teams, education mental health practitioners will work in both education and healthcare settings to support children and young people with mental ill health. The new roles support the Government's priority of increasing access to and availability of mental health and wellbeing support for children and young people.
The year-long course
Successful candidates will be offered a one-year full time education programme through a combination of study with a local university and supervised practice learning, gaining knowledge and experience of both education and mental health services.
Trainees will be supervised and supported to gain the necessary skills and abilities to deliver high-quality, evidence-based early interventions for children and young people experiencing mental health problems within their educational setting, referring them to specialist support as necessary.
The training will be funded initially at the equivalent of Agenda for Change Band 4 and you'll gain academic credit at postgraduate diploma level. Once you've successfully completed the training, you'll be qualified as an Education mental health practitioner and guaranteed a job on Agenda for Change Band 5.
What you'll learn
The year-long course is being run by six collaboratives across the country and applications are underway now for training starting in January 2019.
The course will be divided into six modules so that candidates develop skills and knowledge in areas such as:
- working with children, young people and their parents/carers to support self-management including development of plans for specific interventions and agreeing outcomes
- learning to manage a caseload, gaining the necessary skills to practise a range of interventions such as guided self-help
- preparing and presenting caseload information to supervisors
- working with colleagues to provide better access to specialist mental health services and supporting referrals where required
- supporting colleagues in education to identify and manage issues related to mental health and wellbeing
Entry requirements
Applicants must demonstrate the ability to work at degree level or have an equivalent level of relevant experience, with a proven record of previous learning or formal study in child development, wellbeing or mental health. Experience of working with children and young people and an understanding of the education system in England is highly desirable.
Find a course
The six collaboratives and universities running the course across the country are:
Central and south
North east
North west
London and south east
Midlands
South west
Further information
Look out for advertisements or contact the individual universities for information.