Additional Information
Moving Mindsets, Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs)
South Cumbria locality
An opportunity has arisen for a senior supervising practitioner to join the Moving Mindsets Mental Health Support Teams (MHST) in South Cumbria.
We wish to employ people who enjoy working therapeutically with children and young people in schools, and who want to make a difference to their emotional and mental wellbeing.
We're seeking a practitioner who has direct experience of working with evidence-based therapies in child mental health. The role involves providing therapeutic support to children, young people and their parent-carers and working in partnership with education settings. It also involves providing supervision to a small number of Education Mental Health Practitioners (EMHPs) who work in the service.
The NHS Healthier Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB) commissioned Barnardo's in 2020 to provide the Moving Mindsets MHST's in South Cumbria.
The service has an office base in Kendal and in Barrow. The team is made up of the following roles:
Moving Mindsets South Cumbria:
1 x 0.5 – Children's Service Manager
1 x Team Manager
1 x Clinical Lead
3.5 x Senior Practitioners
8 x Education Mental Health Practitioners
1.5 x Admin
The practitioner in this role will work in schools across South Lakes and the Furness areas covering Barrow, Millom Dalton.
The office base for the service is located at the following address':
South Cumbria MHST is situated at Stricklandgate House, 92 Stricklandgate, Kendal, LA9 4PU
And
The Hub at Project John, 20-24 Cavendish Street, Barrow in Furness, LA14 1SB
The South Cumbria MHST works with 22 education settings which include 15 secondary schools, 2 higher education colleges, 3 special education schools and 1 pupil referral unit (PRU) across the community.
Role Summary
We're seeking an experienced mental health practitioner to work collaboratively with education settings, with children, young people and their families and the care community that support them.
The post-holder will undertake direct clinical work under supervision across a range of education settings to deliver high-quality, evidence-based early interventions for children and young people experiencing mild to moderate mental health needs.
We wish to appoint a mental health practitioner with the necessary skills, knowledge, and capabilities to work autonomously and responsibly within their scope of practice, alongside education colleagues.
Senior Practitioner's play a key role as members of the Mental Health Support Teams, supporting safe and effective practice, and enabling
whole school & college approach to promote positive mental health and wellbeing. They work collaboratively with schools, families and partner agencies to ensure that children and young people receive the right support at the right time.
The post holder will provide clinical skills and/or clinical case management supervision for a small number of Education Mental Health Practitioners (EMHP's) working in the service. They will be required to attend supervisor training to enable their ability to work as EMHP supervisors (if not already completed).
They will need to be either already qualified in a higher-level evidence-based therapy or will be required to attend relevant therapeutic training for the role (see Essential Criteria). Applicants who are qualified EMHP's will be supported to join the Senior Wellbeing Practitioner course with Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Trust (GMMH) Psychological Therapies Training Centre and the University of Manchester.
The post holders will be clinically supervised by the Clinical Lead, they will report to the Team Manager and will be accountable to the Children's Service Manager.
Principal Accountabilities:
- Consultation with Education (providing advice, guidance and joint planning to support early intervention)
- Assessment and Formulation with Children and Young People (including risk-informed formulation and intervention planning)
- Evidence Based Therapy (delivering outcome-focused interventions within MHST remit)
- Working with Parents and Carers (supporting engagement, psychoeducation and collaborative care planning)
- Linking with Specialist Services (supporting smooth pathways and escalation where thresholds are met)
- Clinical Skills and Clinical Case Management Supervision (supporting EMHPs with formulation, outcomes review, and appropriate escalation of risk/complexity)
- Whole School Approach (supporting wellbeing planning, staff training/psychoeducation and prevention activity)
Qualifications and Training
Essential Criteria
- Graduate qualification in an evidence-based therapy e.g. senior wellbeing practitioner, cognitive behaviour therapy, education mental health practitioner - or ability to attend identified training once in employment
- Appropriate and valid UK professional registration with BABCP or British Psychological Society (with accreditation where appropriate)
- Clinical supervision training/qualification (e.g. CYP IAPT Supervision Skills) or ability to attend identified training once in employment
- Minimum of 24 months post qualification experience working with children's mental health
Desirable Criteria
- Relevant core professional qualification (minimum Diploma / Degree) e.g. mental health nursing, social work, occupational therapy, psychology (health or education), teaching
- Appropriate and valid UK professional registration e.g. social work, nursing, occupational health, psychology, teaching
- Experience of working in child mental health services and/or education
MHST Background
Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) are a national programme jointly delivered with the Department for Education and NHS England. The programme has three core functions:
- Delivering evidence-based interventions for children and young people with mild to moderate mental health needs
- Supporting the senior mental health lead in each education setting to introduce or develop their whole school/college approach
- Giving timely advice to school and college staff, and liaising with external specialist services, to help children and young people to get the right support and stay in education
MHST's support the promotion of wellbeing and good mental health with particular focus on early intervention. They work with existing social, emotional, mental health and wellbeing support within education settings, building relationships with each education setting and with children, young people, parent-carers, and partners in the locally system to co-design and evaluate the support offer required.
Completing your application
Please refer to the included Job Description and be aware that Barnardo's use generic Job Descriptions for their Children's Services posts. When completing the application form please provide evidence to demonstrate how your skills, experience and qualifications meet the essential requirements detailed below:
Working for Barnardo's
Barnardo's has been providing services to some of the most vulnerable children across the UK for over 150 years. We work in partnership with children's social care and health partners enabling the delivery of integrated health and social care services in several areas. We recognise that to really transform children's life chances, they need sustained interventions that meet the diversity of their needs and that
participation and co— production must a key component of any service. If you enjoy pushing the boundaries of what works; working closely with other agencies to innovate and create; have the clinical expertise to lead on this project and want to work with children and young people and their families to deliver services that truly meet their needs, then we would like to hear from you.
We welcome enquiries from people interested in this role and are happy to facilitate visits or online meetings prior to interviews.
For further information, please contact:
Amy Armstrong, Team Manager –
Email: amy.armstrong@barnardos.org.uk
Mobile:
Or
Rebecca Preston, Clinical Lead
Email: rebecca.preston@barnardos.org.uk
Mobile: 07759 118 798
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
values
People & Culture
Workplace Offer: What it means for you
- The ability to buy up to another 5 days annual leave via our Buy Your Leave scheme
- Service related sick pay from day 1
- Cycle2work scheme
- Interest free season ticket loans
- 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
- Reference number:23068
- Job Title:Senior Practitioner
- Location:Barrow
- Locality:South Cumbria
- Contract type:Permanent
- Hours:37
- Salary:£35,564.56 - £43,906.09
- Closing Date:14 June 2026
- Interview Date:22nd June 2026