Guidance Officer - Mackay District Special School (0.6 FTE)

An exciting opportunity exists for a dedicated and enthusiastic Guidance Officer to join the team at Mackay District Special School. If you are someone who can deliver the vision of our school and create positive relationships between students, teachers and stakeholders, then we would love to hear from you!

About the School

Mackay District Special School has been situated in Beaconsfield since 1987 and quite a few of our students travel daily to and from Sarina and Seaforth, approximately 25 kms each way. In recent times this has now extended to students traveling from Proserpine 100km from the school. With an enrolment growth from 25 to 95 students since 2002 a continual increase in numbers is expected each year.  Students are aged between 5 year and 18 years and all are diagnosed with an intellectual impairment. At Mackay District Special School we believe that children benefit when the important people in their lives all work together and have a shared understanding of their development and their needs.

About the Role

As the Guidance Officer, some of your responsibilities will include:

• Advocate, provide counselling, psychoeducational assessment and individual student support, recommendations and advice to students, teachers and parents concerning educational, behavioural, career development, mental health and family issues.
• Work as part of a multidisciplinary team and facilitate effective working relationships and partnerships with parents, school personnel and external support agencies.
• Conduct activities such as student observation and psychoeducational assessment in order to determine the nature of student learning difficulties, disability, developmental levels or psychological and emotional status in order to make recommendations for educational adjustments and interventions.
• Assist schools in the implementation of student protection, gifted and talented education, behaviour support policies and risk management processes that may involve the development of individualised student plans, including Educational Support Plans. 
• Provide specific support in secondary schools that may include involvement in the process of Senior Education and Training (SET) planning, career development and future pathway options counselling. 
• Balance the ethical issues of privacy and confidentiality for each student with the appropriateness of sharing information with others, and maintain a comprehensive and professional record keeping system that complies with policy and legal requirements of parental and legal access to official records.

A mandatory requirement of this role is:

• Current full registration or current provisional registration with eligibility for full registration, as a teacher in Queensland. For more information please CLICK HERE.
• Teachers working in Education and Care Services (including State Delivered Kindergarten programs) require an exemption card issued by Blue Card Services. For more information please CLICK HERE.

AND one of the following:

• Completed coursework Masters, majoring in guidance and counselling, or an equivalent completed coursework Masters including study in the areas of psychoeducational assessment, counselling and mental health. OR
• General or provisional registration as a psychologist through the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) Psychology Board. OR
• An Australian Psychology Accreditation Council (APAC) accredited four or five year qualification in psychology that will enable general registration as a psychologist following completion of a board approved internship or accredited sequence of study.

Interested? To apply:

• Attach a brief resume including contact details for 2 referees (one of whom should be your current supervisor)
• Attach a maximum 2 page written response outlining your suitability for the role referring to key capabilities 1 - 4, identified in the attached role description.
• Please note: Engagement in this position is subject to the person fully satisfying the COVID-19 vaccination requirements outlined in the attached Candidate Information Fact Sheet 2022. Applicants are asked to submit evidence of their COVID-19 vaccination with their application.

Applications remain current for 12 months from the closing date and may be considered for appointment to identical or similar vacancies within