About the Department

The role of the Department of Education is to support Victorians to build prosperous, socially engaged, happy and healthy lives. It does this by supporting lifelong learning and healthy development, strengthening families and helping to equip people with the skills and knowledge for a 21st century economy and society.

About the Division

Schools and Regional Services (SRS) provides central, regional and local expertise, and support critical to driving improved learning and development outcomes. With a diverse workforce, covering a vast range of functions, and geographically spread, SRS has a clear role to deliver better outcomes at the frontline where education, health and development professionals impact children and young people.

Regions provide an interface between the department's central office, schools and service providers, ensuring that learners move seamlessly through the education system and achieve better outcomes and met the department's ambitious Education State targets. Regions also inform policy and program design and implementation. Each region has a School Improvement Division and an Early Childhood and School Support Division which provide region-wide expertise in school improvement and early childhood. These divisions work with area-based teams to support local interventions, practice, and implementation.

About the Role

The position is part time/ongoing 0.6 FTE.

The Department of Education has an exciting opportunity for a psychologist to join the Student Support Services team in the Outer Gippsland Area, based in any of either of our 2 base offices in Sale/Bairnsdale

The successful applicant will be a valuable member of a multidisciplinary team responsible for providing a flexible service across 4 priorities areas of critical incidents, acute issues/complex cases, prevention/capability building and short to medium term intervention. This work will involve a range of assessments, informal assessments and interventions as well as providing significant collaborative networking opportunities with local service providers.

The purpose of Student Support Services (SSS) is to assist children and young people facing a range of barriers to learning to achieve their educational and developmental potential through the provision of a range of strategies and specialised support at individual, group, school and Area levels.

SSS comprise a broad range of Allied Health professionals including psychologists, speech pathologists, social workers and visiting teachers. SSS staff work as part of a multi-disciplinary health and wellbeing team within Areas, focusing on providing group based and individual support, workforce capacity building, and the provision of specialised services.

SSS do vital work in supporting students' health and wellbeing - particularly our most vulnerable students - and are critical to building an excellent education system that reduces the impact of disadvantage.

To be successful in the role you will:

• Provide high level psychological support services to school age students to improve student learning.
• Undertake advanced wellbeing interventions that support students and schools.
• Assist the coordination of student support services within a multi-disciplinary team.
• Contribute to student wellbeing policy development
• Provides leadership, professionally and operationally, within a multi-disciplinary student support team.
• Support teachers in the development of educational programs, particularly in respect to students with additional needs.
• Provide authoritative professional advice in relation to issues involving student wellbeing.
• Collaborate with and provide advice to other student support services team members in respect to complex cases.
• Contribute to the professional development of other occupational therapy support service team members.
• Liaise with community service organisations, DFFH, hospitals, specialist programs and other professionals regarding the support needs for students.

Attributes

Are you motivated to be a part of a team that provides student support services to help them achieve positive educational/developmental outcomes? Can you demonstrate exceptional leadership and interpersonal skills within a multidisciplinary team delivering wellbeing support to school students? Your capacity to assess and navigate complex issues, collaborating with a wide range of stakeholders in the education community and beyond will be pivotal to your success.

Qualifications and Experience

• Ability to provide expert consultation to schools, healthcare providers and families on evidence-based, best practices.
• Knowledge of student wellbeing issues, disability Inclusion, policies and experience working with schools will be highly regarded.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills to work collaboratively with multidisciplinary teams and school leadership team to ensure holistic care, supporting student learning and wellbeing. 
• Demonstrated experience in the initiation, development and implementation of programs, procedures and policies that foster resilience in children and young people to support their educational needs.
• Exceptional planning and organising skills, with an ability to be responsive, taking initiative and accountability for actions.

Mandatory Requirements

• A graduate or post-graduate degree in Psychology or equivalent.
• Full registration as a Psychologist with the Australian Health Practitioners Registration Agency (AHPRA)
• A valid Working with Children Check and full Drivers' License is required for this position.

Further Information

For more details regarding this position please see attached position description for the capabilities to address in application.

The department values diversity and inclusion in all forms - gender, religion, ethnicity, LGBTIQ+, disability and neurodiversity. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. For more information about our work, working for the Department, diversity and inclusion, and our employment conditions visit the Department website and our Diversity and Inclusion page

Applicants requiring adjustments can contact the nominated contact person.

Information about the Department of Education's operations and employment conditions can be located at www.education.vic.gov.au.

For further information pertaining to the role, please contact Louise McCarthy via 0457 126 600 or louise.mccarthy@education.vic.gov.au.

Preferred applicants may be required to complete a police check and may be subject to other pre-employment checks. Information provided to the Department of Education will be treated in the strictest confidence.

Please let us know via phone or email if you require any adjustments to ensure your full participation in the recruitment process or if you need the ad or any attachments in an accessible format (e.g large print) due to any viewing difficulties or other accessibility requirements.

Applications close 11:59pm on 09/10/2024