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.

Crookwell High school is a comprehensive rural high school with strong connections to our local community. It is situated in fertile pastoral country approximately 2.5 hours south west of Sydney, at an elevation of 887 metres. The school population is approximately 210 Students (13 students identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander and 3 students with a language background other than English) and 34 teaching and support staff, with one Multi-Categorical class. Our student leadership teams include our School Captains and Prefects, Sporting House Captains and Student Representative Council. Our local area has a population of approximately 3100 people, with Agriculture being a predominate employment source. Our local community is a very strong supporter of our youth, with many students moving into local employment. Our Year 12 leavers are generally split with 55% going into full-time employment and vocational training, and 45% into tertiary study. Sport and community service are strong motivators for our student body, as well as educational aspirations into rural industries. We are recognised as a Centre for STEM Excellence as well as for our achievements in supporting wellbeing and positive education. For more information, please visit the school website Crookwell 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