Counsellor (maternity cover)
Counsellor (maternity cover)
SR3 (18—22) (£20,138— £21,519 Actual) £31,537 — £33,699 FTE
27.5hrs per week, 39 weeks per year (Monday—Friday 9.00am—3.00pm)
The Duston School is committed to safeguarding and protecting the welfare of children and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
Closing Date: Friday 18th September 2026
Start Date: Sept 2026
This is a great opportunity to work as part of tour team of professional staff working in our Positive Impact Centre (PIC).
The Ethos within the PIC mirrors that of the school as a whole; the environment is underpinned by the core values;
RESPECT - RESILIENCE - ASPIRATION.
Enabling students to gain the knowledge of themselves to access the knowledge of the wider curriculum. Supporting students across our 7 strands of impact to become successful in any classroom or wider social environment by providing a personalised learning experience.
Strands of Impact:
Alternative Provision ( 12 week full-time programme)
Wellbeing Interventions
Tailored personalised support following a period of absence/suspension
Counselling Service
Further Mental Health Support
Peer Mentoring Programme
EAL Provision
The PIC offers a firm, consistent, safe learning environment in which pupils can work on and develop their full
social, emotional and academic potential. Students will have the opportunity to address challenges and barriers
relating to their current behaviour / attitude and adopt practical strategies, coping mechanisms and explore
different approaches to grow and develop as a confident learner.
We would welcome applications from Newly Qualified Counsellors who have a desire to become BACP registered.
The Counsellor will work within a high-quality counselling service within the school setting as part of the Positive
Impact Centre (PIC). To deliver counselling to students aged 11-18 experiencing a wide range of emotional and
wellbeing concerns. Concerns may include; anger management, self-harm, extreme bullying, bereavement and personal
confidence.
The Counsellor will deliver a counselling service that will enable students to build their resilience to help them cope with the difficulties they face. To administrate the service and manage the waiting list using a referral process to triage for risk and urgency. You will work with the PIC manager as required to report on the progress of the service and
discuss any issues of concern.
Do you want to work in a hugely successful nationally hailed school? Do you want to work in a school that operates on common sense and places people at the centre of all that is does? In joining the Duston School you will be joining a school that is: • Built upon strong values and principles • Places people at the heart of all that it does and a strong positive approach to workload and wellbeing • Heavily over-subscribed • Nationally recognised, heralded and applauded • Served as a Behaviour Hub Lead School • The 27th most improved school nationally, with GCSE and A Level outcomes since 2019 have ensured the school is both locally, regionally and nationally high performing, placing the school in the top 20% of all schools nationally and A Level results in the top 5% of all schools • GCSE and A Level outcomes in 2024 were the best in the school’s history • A school of Character • An Investors in People Gold School and Wellbeing • An Inclusion Quality Mark (IQM) Flagship School and National Champion School • A Global Equality Collective School • The home of ResearchED Northampton • A PKC Curriculum Hub • Ofsted graded as ‘strong’ in all areas • Has its own alternative provision; The Positive Impact Centre (PIC)
The school offers competitive working conditions and packages, including: • Future progression resides at the heart of the school’s ethos • Personalised and bespoke CPD is offered to all staff • Opportunities to attend external CPD courses and visiting other schools are positively encouraged • An enhanced induction programme to support all new staff to the school, with a bespoke package of support for ECT’s. • Westfield Health - Private Health Plan for permanent, salaried employees • On-site car parking • A laptop • A detailed Workload Charters, which sets out the school’s commitment to support all staff with their workload • No emails are sent at weekends nor holidays, we respect as a school the need to rest • Co-planning is a guiding principle upon which our curriculum is built, with the use of workbooks and knowledge organisers across the school • On-site restaurant for staff to use on a daily basis • The lion share of directed meeting time is handed to staff to work on the curriculum • Two faculty away days • 4 traded days (which includes one day off to thank staff for the extra miles that they go) • A priority place for staff children at the school • Face-to-face meetings for all staff with the Principal to discuss your wellbeing, professional development and career aspirations • Membership of the Teachers’ Pension Scheme for teaching staff • Membership of the LGPS Pension Scheme for non-teaching staff For support staff • Generous Holiday entitlement, including bank holidays (or pro-rata of) which increases with service Candidates are welcome to visit the school prior to application
Candidates are welcome to visit the school prior to application
Applying: Please complete an application form (we do not accept a CV alone) along with a letter of application to the Principal. Please email the application form and letter to: jobs@thedustonschool.org If you have not heard from us within two weeks of the closing date, please assume that you have been unsuccessful on this occasion. The Duston School is committed to safeguarding and protecting the welfare of children and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We follow safer recruitment practice and all appointments are subject to satisfactory DBS checks. In addition references will be requested for short listed applicants prior to interview and will form part of the interview process. As users of the disability confident scheme, we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the vacancy/ies. Online searches will be carried out for all shortlisted candidates