Job Description

North Cumbria Mental Health Support Teams Trainee Education Mental Health Practitioner (EMHP) / Qualified EMHP
North Cumbria Mental Health Support Teams Trainee Education Mental Health Practitioner (EMHP) / Qualified EMHP~ 2 positions
Come and join our team in North Cumbria.
We are looking for 2 practitioners with the vision and expertise to make a difference to the lives of children and young people. The successful candidates will be employed on a full-time basis as recruit-to-train EMHPs or qualified EMHPs depending on qualifications.
The practitioners will be based in our West locality team and working in schools in Whitehaven, Workington , Maryport, Cockermouth area. The service bases are situated in Carlisle, Cockermouth and Workington.
In line with the government's priority to increase access and availability of mental health and wellbeing support for children and young people, opportunities have arisen for 2 Qualified/Trainee Education Mental Health Practitioners (EMHPs) to deliver evidence-based early interventions for children and young people as part of the North Cumbria Mental Health Support Team.
Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) are a national programme jointly delivered with the Department for Education, NHS England and Health Education 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 partner in the locally system to co-design and evaluate the support offer required.
All applicants must demonstrate in their application their ability to work at degree level and have relevant experience in child development, emotional wellbeing and mental health. For those applying for trainee positions it is a condition of the role that you will attend University, which is funded by Barnardos and complete the course.
Please make sure you read the additional Information Page along with the job description for this post.
When completing your application please refer to your skills knowledge and experience in relation to the Person Specification, and Additional Information document (if applicable). This should be done with an understanding of the context of the service described.
Interviews are to be held on 8th October 2025 . The interview will be face to face and held at the Carlisle base. It is important to consider if you are able to attend the interview in person prior to applying for the role.
For further information, please contact:
Ruth Henry Children's Service Manager Mobile 07858193278
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.
Pay & Reward Framework
We know that our colleagues go above and beyond in delivering our vital work, driven by their passion and commitment to Barnardo's . 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 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.
Benefits
Workplace Offer: What it means for you
The world of work has changed. We are understanding of what works best for our colleagues both current and future as we look to embrace this new way of working. 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, at one of our Collaboration Hubs or any combination of these.

• 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 HolidayPlus 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
About Barnardo's
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.

Skills Required