Trainee Systemic Family Practitioner: Children and Young People

Job Title: Trainee Systemic Family Practitioner – Conduct Disorder and Depression/Self Harm Pathway (Further Information here)

Working Hours: Full time. Working pattern to be negotiated and fixed on appointment, the service operates Monday to Friday during typical office hours with one evening shift per week including 2 university days. 35 hours per week

Pay: NHS Band 5

Contract: 12 Month Fixed Term (Until Jan 27) with intention to extend dependent on funding.

Holidays: 28 days including statutory holidays with an extra day off on/around your birthday.

Start Date: January 2026

Employed by: Northorpe Hall (Kirklees)

Location: Northorpe Hall Child + Family Trust, 53 Northorpe Ln, Mirfield WF14 0QL with a   requirement to work in schools & community venues

Disclosure and Barring Service Certificate: Due to the nature of the work, this   post will be subject to an enhanced DBS check.

Overview:

Applications are sought for a trainee Systemic Family Practitioner (SFP) in Kirklees (1 vacancy). This is a paid full time role with employment (subject to funding) on successful completion of a 1 year training course. The trainee will learn skills in providing systemic family practice and manage a small caseload whilst becoming an embedded member of the organisation.

The trainee will be based in Kirklees and will be employed, supported, and clinically supervised by the local provider of early intervention children & young people’s mental health services (Northorpe Hall in Kirklees). The trainee will have opportunities to link together for peer support with the SFP trainee in Calderdale.

The trainee will be based in Mirfield (Northorpe Hall) with some work with children, young people and families taking place in schools and community venues. Some home working may be required.

Northorpe Hall will also provide access to suitable clients, venues, links to schools, IT equipment, peer support, access to secure patient management systems etc.

The training course is provided by Greater Manchester Psychological Therapies Training Centre in Prestwich. Delivery is a blend of online and face to face.

Shortlisted candidates will be asked to complete a short written assignment in order to demonstrate their academic suitability for the training.

Applicants need to be able to start the Post Graduate training programme taught academic dates in early January 2026 and commit to attendance at all university based taught and self-study days required by Manchester University.

You will work in the service for the remaining days of the week using your newly developed skills to ensure you gain the necessary clinical practice hours to fulfil the academic programme. This is 200 hours of modality and case specific practice for the full time courses.

Job Purpose

This is a training role within the Psychological Trainings Programme. The post-holder will work within Northorpe Hall as part of a multi-disciplinary team delivering, under supervision, high-quality; outcome –informed, focused, and evidence-based interventions for children and young people within the competency framework of their therapeutic modality.

Psychological Trainings

Psychological Trainings is a service transformation programme delivered by Health Education England and partners that aims to improve existing children and young people’s Mental Health Services (CYPMHS) working in the community. SFPs will play a key role in providing mental health and wellbeing support for children and young people.

Training

The Postgraduate training programme is validated in partnership with the Division of Psychology and Mental Health, School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, at The University of Manchester.

The training programme for this post is 12 months in duration and will consist of academic and supervised practice learning across mental health services.

Delivery of the programme will be provided through a combination of taught days provided by the Psychological Therapies Training Centre, independent self-guided study days, and experience gained in wellbeing and mainstream mental health services.

During training, the post-holder will work under supervision to gain experience across healthcare settings to enable them to gain the level of competence required to deliver high-quality, evidence-based early interventions for children and young people experiencing mild to moderate mental health problems.

On successful completion of training, the SFP will be equipped with the necessary skills, knowledge and capabilities to work as a qualified SFP as an autonomous and responsible practitioner within their scope of practice, alongside colleagues.

The training and service experience will equip the post holder with the necessary knowledge, attitude and capabilities to operate effectively in an inclusive, value driven way.

The post holder will attend all university based taught and self-study days required by the education provider, as specified within the agreed national curriculum and work in the service for the remaining days of the week using their newly developed skills.

Evidence shows that Systemic Family Practitioner training is most effective when the trainees are integrated fully within Children & Young People’s Mental Health Services and linked to the Psychological Trainings Collaborative, which brings a valuable organisational infrastructure. Therefore, the trainee will be based within Northorpe Hall, an established provider of mental health services.

Northorpe Hall Child + Family Trust (https://www.northorpe.com) is a local independent charity working to improve the mental health and emotional well-being of children and young people (5 - 25) in Kirklees. We deliver a wide range of individual and group-based support services and evidence based therapeutic interventions for children and young people including provision for children with special educational needs. The Trust offers a range of family and parent/carer focussed interventions and support. They work closely with NHS and Kirklees Council health and care services.

Major Duties

1. To work as part of Northorpe Hall to offer timely, accessible and effective therapeutic interventions to children and young people.

2. To provide assessment, interventions, therapy to children, young people with the most severe, complex and persistent mental health problems, including those who are      severely mentally ill or at suicidal risk and where appropriate, families as both an autonomous practitioner and as part of a multidisciplinary team in a variety of settings to address need.

3. To identify and report safeguarding incidents, in line with relevant policies and procedures.

4. To be committed to a quality approach for patient care.

5. The post-holder will demonstrate high levels of concentration and provide sustained effort in assessment of complex family issues.

6. To manage busy caseloads; ensuring effective communication with families,      professionals, staff, CYPs and more.

7. To operate within the clinical and case management supervision framework and engage effectively with clinical supervision on a weekly basis.

8. To work during Northorpe Hall hours and support our ‘buddy’ system where appropriate on one evening session a week.

9. To use a range of IT systems including patient record systems, ensuring high quality data is collected appropriately, kept securely and confidentially

10. To work in an innovative and child, young person and family centred way, in a culture of continuous improvement and learning.

11. To engage and manage your educational responsibilities and ensure all deadlines are met.

12. To demonstrate continued practice development and engage in annual appraisal.

In addition to these functions the post holder is expected to:

In agreement with their line manager carry out such other duties as may be reasonably expected in accordance with the grade of the post.

This job description does not provide an exhaustive list of duties and may be reviewed in conjunction with the post holder in light of service development.