Specialist Practitioner Student – School Nursing

NHS; Reading; On-site; GBP 25,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job description

Passionate about supporting children and ready for the next step in your nursing career?

Train with us to become a fully qualified School Nurse!

Our School Nursing team is delighted to offer an exciting, paid and fully funded opportunity to train as a School Nurse through the Specialist Community Public Health Nursing (SCPHN) course, in partnership with Bucks New University.

If you're a qualified nurse or midwife with a strong interest in public health and school nursing, we'd love to hear from you. Starting in September 2025, this full-time course combines university learning, supervised community practice with Berkshire Healthcare, and study days. The modules are engaging, relevant, and directly linked to practice.

With placements in Wokingham or Reading or West Berkshire, you'll be fully supported by our School Nursing Team and a Community Practice Assessor (CPA).

On completion, you'll gain a Post Graduate Diploma from Bucks New University and the in-depth grounding and required skills to support children's development and give them the best start in life.

Once qualified, you'll join our supportive team as a Band 6 School Nurse. You'll take a substantive post with BHFT for at least two years, subject to vacancies.

Applications for this role will be reviewed on a first-come, first-served basis. We encourage you to apply as soon as possible, as vacancies may close early.

Main duties of the job

To complete the required further education at level 7 in order to provide and maintain a high standard of skilled School Nursing practice for individuals, groups and communities in a variety of settings in accordance with the accredited faculty syllabus.

The specialist practice student School Nurse works under the direction of the CPA, who is a member of the locality School Nursing Team. The student will work with their School Nursing Supervisor's client group under supervision.

To work with CPA and university lecturers to reflect on academic learning and practice, contribute to assessment of progress, plan learning objectives and submit academic coursework according to university deadlines.

To assess and re-assess care needs, develop, implement, and evaluate packages of care in liaison with and under the direct tutelage of the CPA / Supervisor.

About us

Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is a specialist mental health and community health services trust. Rated 'outstanding' by the CQC, we're committed to providing the best possible care to people across Berkshire. As an employer, we're committed to offering an inclusive and compassionate environment where our people share in a sense of belonging and are supported to flourish.

Our values at Berkshire Healthcare are:

• Caring for and about you is our top priority
• Committed to providing good quality, safe services
• Working Together with you to develop innovative solutions

Your wellbeing is important to us. Some of the benefits of working for us include:

• Flexible working options to support work-life balance
• 27 days' annual leave rising with service + opportunity to buy and sell
• Excellent learning and career development opportunities
• 'Cycle to Work' and car leasing scheme including electric vehicles
• Access to a range of wellbeing tools and services
• Discounts at hundreds of popular retailers and restaurants
• Staff networks for race, diversity, disabilities, the environment and armed forces community to support equality
• Generous maternity, paternity, adoption and special leave
• Free parking across Trust sites

Job responsibilities

The must haves for this role:

• Meet the university entrance requirements and be able to evidence the academic ability to study at a minimum of level 6.
• Current NMC Qualification as a nurse or midwife at time of application.
• A passion for and understanding of public health and the School Nursing service.

For further information about the role, please see attached job description and person specification.

We strongly encourage you to review how you meet the criteria in the person specification and write about this point-by-point in your supporting statement for the best chance of being shortlisted.

We’re committed to equal opportunities and welcome applications from all sections of the community. Our commitment to inclusion is reflected in our accreditations: Race Equality Matters Silver Trailblazer, Neurodiversity in Business Corporate Member, Disability Confident Leader, Carer Confident Level 2, and the Armed Forces Covenant Gold Award. Reasonable adjustments will be provided to candidates as needed.

We welcome a conversation about flexibility and any other questions you may have. Please don’t hesitate to call Karen Jacobs on 07823 551367 who’ll be delighted to help.

Please note, we may close this role earlier than the advertised closing date, so please submit your application as soon as possible.

Applications must be made using NHS jobs website. By submitting your application via NHS Jobs, you consent to BHFT sharing your application form with Bucks New University.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Current NMC Qualification as a nurse
• Meet the university entrance requirements - Level 6 qualification (or above) or evidence of previous education and learning to this level
• The applicant must be registered with a PIN at time of application.
• Evidence of completed preceptorship or equivalent post qualification.
• Educated to degree level
• Mentoring qualification or equivalent.

Knowledge and Expertise

• Demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the role of a School Nurse in the context of the wider health team in community settings.
• Knowledge of current legislation and national policies which influence the provision of School Nursing practice
• Awareness of principles of Safeguarding and identification and management of risk within context of School Nurse role
• Awareness of current issues and knowledge of developments for the School Nursing specialist practice pathway
• Demonstrate the ability to support children and families to make informed decisions in relation to their health and well-being
• Understanding of structure and functions of the NHS.
• Excellent interpersonal skills.
• Demonstrate excellent and effective communication skills both written and verbal.
• Ability to work on own initiative as well as part of a team
• Ability to plan, organise and prioritise work.
• Demonstrate ability to adapt to working within a changing environment
• Evidence of appropriate understanding of knowledge and skills required to undertake role
• Enthusiastic and motivated to undertake School Nursing and take substantive employment within BHFT (2 years post course)
• Ability to withstand pressures of undertaking demanding academic study and able to balance with personal commitments
• Demonstrate understanding of Equality and Diversity and implications for service delivery.

Experience

• Evidence of a continuous professional development (CPD) within the last 5 years
• Paediatric experience
• Community Nursing experience
• Demonstration of effective leadership qualities
• Evidence of being a proactive and innovative/reflective practitioner

Analytical and judgmental skills

• Knowledge of quality issues, the audit process and clinical governance
• Academic ability to study independently at degree or postgraduate level
• Competent to use a range of IT systems and databases
• Ability to research/present relevant topics to a range of audiences

Personal skills

• Evidence of effective team working
• Ability to work without direct supervision
• Ability to work flexibly in order to respond to service needs
• Willingness to teach students and colleagues
• Excellent time management and organisational skills
• Ability to form strong professional working relationships
• Car Driver who holds full driving licence with access to a vehicle.
• Ability and willingness to travel across the BHFT footprint of School Nursing services.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.