AddressSchool 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.
The successful candidate will be based at Gilgandra High School and provided with opportunities to work across the lifespan with both primary and High School aged students. Working as a School Counsellor in a NSW public school will enable you to engage with a diversity of students (and school communities) like no other child and adolescent psychologist role can. This is a chance to use your skills to make a real difference in the lives of children and young people at a time in their lives when it matters most.
Gilgandra High School is an inclusive, culturally diverse rural school residing on Wiradjuri, Kamilaroi and Wailwan Land, with a student body of 230, of whom 30% identify as Aboriginal. Gilgandra High School has a strong tradition of academic, agriculture and sporting success, with skilled teachers with a broad range of experience who value academic excellence and cater for all student learning styles and abilities. Gilgandra High school has two Multi-Categorical classes and one Emotional Disturbance class catering for students with special needs. The systems for student behaviour and learning are supported through the Wellbeing Framework and Wellbeing Hub (Bundyi Baayay), underpinning the strong student wellbeing ethos in the school. Students consistently achieve their desired post school options, including university placement, apprenticeships and traineeships. For more information, please visit the school website Gilgandra High School
Selection CriteriaWe are looking for School Counsellors with qualifications in Education and Psychology. To be successful in these roles you will have:
- Teaching qualifications and eligibility for an approval to teach in NSW Department of Education schools
- Be a registered or provisionally registered psychologist, or eligible for registration with the Psychology Board of Australia
- Have demonstrated understanding of the mental health needs of children and young people
- Experience in counselling children and young people using evidence-based interventions
- Experience in cognitive, emotional and behavioural assessment of children and young people
- Well-developed interpersonal, oral and written communication skills, including report writing
- Ability to work collaboratively and liaise with key stakeholders to enhance outcomes for children and young people
- Knowledge of and commitment to the Department's Aboriginal education policy
- An unconditional full approval to teach is a requirement. If you do not hold a full approval to teach with the NSW Department of Education, you are required to commence the application process at the same time as you apply for this teaching opportunity.
- Ability and willingness to travel between worksites
Special Notes
The successful applicant may be eligible to receive a one-off recruitment payment of $20,000 (Conditions Apply)
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.
Applicants are to include details of their WWCC clearance number as part of this application.
About the NSW Department of Education
The Department of Education is the largest provider of public education in Australia with responsibility for delivering high-quality public education to two-thirds of the NSW student population. We welcome applications from all ages and genders, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, culturally and linguistically diverse groups, the LGBTQIA+ community, veterans, refugees and people with disability. If we can make some adjustments to our recruitment/interview process to better enable you to shine, please contact the Diversity and Inclusion Team (dandi@det.nsw.edu.au) or visit NSW Department of Education Diversity and Inclusion
New merit selection application guidelines for classroom teachers, executives and principals have been introduced to provide greater clarity to applicants and selection panels. The guidelines are located here. To ensure that your application complies with the guideline page limits, your attachments must be in PDF format.
