School Counsellor

**Position Information**:
School counsellors are an essential part of the department’s School Counselling Service.

They provide counselling and psychological assessment of students to complement and enhance the work of teachers to strengthen student learning and wellbeing outcomes, and they help families understand and manage their children’s learning and mental health needs. This is a truly collegiate role offering unique challenges and opportunities - both in your professional development and your ability to make an impact on the lives of children and young people.

School counsellors receive regular, individual professional supervision with the Senior Psychologist Education and participate in group and peer supervision as a member of the broader district school counselling team. You will most likely be collaborating with a number of school communities and colleagues, as well as outside agencies, with the opportunity to use and expand the full range of your skills and expertise as part of a supportive, multidisciplinary team.

School counsellors are provided with regular opportunities to participate in continuing professional development and the NSW Department of Education will support you to complete or maintain your registration with the Psychology Board of Australia. Other benefits include school holiday leave, travel allowances and health and wellbeing benefits such as our Fitness Passport program. The department will also cover your indemnity insurance as a psychologist.

Pennant Hills High School is a large, coeducational, comprehensive high school with an enrolment of 1,100 students, including 31% from non-English speaking backgrounds and thirteen students who identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander. There are academically selected classes in Stage 4. The school has a proud tradition of high achievement in academic, sporting and cultural pursuits, and there is a broad curriculum choice across all stages. Extensive curriculum enrichment programs ensure high levels of student engagement. Strong, positive relationships exist between staff, students and the community, ensuring a stimulating and rich learning environment in which students are supported and encouraged to achieve their personal best. The school has implemented a Positive Behaviour For Learning (PBL) program based on the established core values of responsibility, integrity and achievement. A strong commitment to developing student leadership capacity is evident through an active Student Leadership Council. A Special Education Unit caters for students with a mild or moderate intellectual disability. There is a strong culture of inclusivity of students with a disability throughout the school. A community of schools initiative fosters strong links with local partner primary schools. School counsellors are an essential part of the department’s School Counselling Service and are an extremely important part of the Pennant Hills High Schools’ Wellbeing Team. For more information, please visit the school website Pennant Hills High School.

**Selection Criteria**:

- Experience in counselling using evidence-based interventions with a demonstrated understanding of the mental health needs of children and young people.
- Experience in the psychological assessment of children and young people, including case formulation and report writing.
- Demonstrated ability to collaborate with key stakeholders to improve the learning and wellbeing outcomes of children and young people including students from diverse backgrounds and needs.

**Conditions**:

- Be a registered or provisionally registered psychologist, or eligible for registration with the Psychology Board of Australia.
- Ability and willingness to travel between worksites.

**Special Notes**:
Successful applicants will be provided with a Departmental induction program, ongoing professional learning and professional supervision.
Find out more about working in the school counselling service. Visit the Department’s School Counselling Service pages to discover more about working as a school psychologist or school counsellor in NSW public schools.

**About the NSW Department of Education