Assistant EMHP

Assistant Education Mental Health Practitioner 

Fixed term to January 2027

North Cumbria Mental Health Support Teams (MHST)

Have you got experience of working with children and young people and are interested in working in schools  with children to support their mental health and wellbeing. This role could be for you.

 We have an exciting opportunity  as an Assistant Education Mental Health Practitioner  for a fixed term contract  in our East locality team. This post will be   a great development opportunity especially if you are interested in a career in working with children and young people and supporting their mental health and wellbeing such as in roles such as  an Education Mental Health Practitioner (EMHP).

In the East Area this will involves working in schools in Carlisle, Aspatria, Wigton, Penrith, Kirby Stephen and  Appleby.

The postholder will be supporting the MHST'S provision of a high-quality service to students (and their families) experiencing mild to moderate mental health difficulties.

The role will support the delivery of whole school approach to mental health with the team in schools and work alongside trained practitioners in CBT who lead the therapeutic group interventions.

It will involve contributing to locating, preparing and utilising resources for whole school approach.

This may involve facilitating school assemblies, whole class or small groups using whole school approach resources.

When completing your application please refer to your skills knowledge and experience in relation to the Person Specification, Job Description and Additional Information document. This should be done with an understanding of the context of the service described.

Please note due to the high volume of applications for some posts, this advert might close before the displayed closing date. We recommend that you apply for this role as soon as possible.

We know that our colleagues go above and beyond in delivering our vital work, driven by their passion and commitment to Barnardo's values.  We also know that we can only realise our ambitions and achieve better outcomes for more children, thanks to the talent, hard work and creativity of our people. 

For all these reasons, we are committed to a new approach to pay and reward, to ensure it is fair, attractive and progressive, which was rolled out in April 2023. This is a positive change for the charity, and a part of our People & Culture Strategy. It will assist us in supporting colleagues to belong, thrive and grow in their colleague journey at Barnardo's and in time will offer clear routes of progression for colleagues in both their career and their pay. 

Whilst the full pay band and salary range is advertised, our approach to starting salaries is to appoint between the minimum to mid-point of the pay band – this ensures that pay steps are available to reward our colleagues annually based on their contribution to excellence and alignment to our values and behaviours.  More details on Barnardo's pay framework can be found upon application. 

Workplace Offer: What it means for you

Our hybrid working initiative is based on trust, flexibility and empowerment. We understand our workplace offer means different things to different people, and we encourage those conversations. This may mean working at one of our stores, services, working at home, in the community, at one of our Collaboration Hubs or depending on the role any combination of these. Please read through the advert carefully to understand the remits of hybrid working that will be specific to the role.

• Barnardo's believe in creating equality of opportunity in the workplace and supporting people to manage their work-life balance; we are therefore open to offering flexible working arrangements.
• Annual Leave entitlement for full-time colleagues is 26 days per annum, increasing to 27 days per annum, after 3 years Barnardo's service, 29 days per annum, after 5 years Barnardo's service and 30 days per annum, after 7 years Barnardo's service. Those working less than full time are entitled to the same level of holiday pro rata
• The ability to buy up to another 5 days annual leave via our Buy Your Leave scheme
• A host of family friendly leave options including company Maternity Paternity and Adoption pay; together with all family additional leave options
• Service related sick pay from day 1
• Access to a Group Personal Pension with a matched 4% or 6% contribution from Barnardo's. Ability to pay via salary sacrifice to garner both tax and NI savings on your own contribution
• Death in service cover of 4x annual earnings for all staff contributing to our Group Personal Pension
• Cycle2work scheme
• Interest free season ticket loans
• Discounts and cashback from at high street shops including major supermarkets, cinemas, gyms, leisure/theme parks, holidays and much more via our Benefit Portal
• 20% discount at Barnardo's stores
• Opportunity to purchase a health cash plan to claim towards dental, glasses, therapy etc
• Free access to round the clock employee assistance program for advice and support
• Access to Barnardo's Learning and Development offer

*T&C's apply based on contract

We are committed to being an inclusive employer and cultivating a culture where everyone can belong and thrive through inclusion and connectivity. We want our workforce to be reflective of the communities we work with, and for equality, diversity and inclusion to be embedded in everything we do. We are a Disability Confident Leader, are progressing our ambition to be an anti-racist organisation with Anti-Racism Commitments and actions in place and have networks for colleagues who are disabled, LGBT+, Black and Minoritised Ethnic and Women. We particularly encourage applications from Black and Minoritised Ethnic and/or disabled candidates who are currently underrepresented in our workforce. For disabled applicants, we offer reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process.

• Reference number:22581
• Job Title:Assistant EMHP
• Location:Carlisle
• Locality:Carlisle and Eden
• Contract type:Fixed term
• End date:March 2027
• Hours:37
• Salary:£24,242.40 - £25,992.40 (FTE)
• Closing Date:31 March 2026
• Interview Date:April 2026

Benefits

Vacancy Alerts

Additional Info

• Information Sheet for Applicants Applying for Positions Working with Children and Vulnerable Adults (updated July 2021).pdf (107.00 KB)
• Barnardo's Workplace Offer Visual Summary.pdf (27.58 KB)
• Project Worker 1 - MHST (Y1400) - Children's Services - Job Description & Person Specification.pdf (0.53 MB)
• Recruitment of Ex-Offenders Policy Dec 2024.pdf (164.07 KB)
• Additional info Assistant EMHP_Feb 2026.pdf (164.17 KB)