School Counsellor (Boksburg Primary)

Nova Pioneer is looking for a Registered School Counselor to provide social wellness, psychological, and learning support to students across our Nova Pioneer South Africa schools. The School Psychologist will help to implement a comprehensive school psychology program in collaboration with teachers and Deans that addresses the academic and personal development needs of our students.

ABOUT NOVA PIONEER

Imagine a world in which every young person across Africa attends a school that truly sets them up for success in the 21st century. A school that cares about individual students and allows them to explore the world around them. A school that focuses more on developing skills than on memorizing content. At Nova Pioneer, we have done more than just imagine this future, we are bringing it to life. Nova Pioneer is a pan-African, independent network of schools offering high-quality, accessible education from pre-primary through secondary school. Nova Pioneer uses a unique, enquiry-based learning approach that encourages students to ask “why” instead of telling them the “what”. It allows them to form their own thinking through exploration, investigation and collaboration. Nova Pioneer currently has 14 schools in South Africa and Kenya with a vision to launch 100 schools and reach tens of thousands of students across the African continent in the next decade. To learn more, visit www.novapioneer.com.

ABOUT THE ROLE

Nova Pioneer is looking for a Registered School Counselor! As the Counselor, you will have the opportunity to help craft a vision and strategy for student wellness and academic counselling development in our schools. You will be required to travel to the different campuses in the Nova Pioneer South Africa network, however, your primary base will be at our Paulshof Campus.

As the Registered School Counsellor, you will have the opportunity to:

• Model, live and lead the Nova Culture
• Collaboratively develop a Comprehensive School Counseling Policy with the Principal
• Deliver a Comprehensive School Counselling Program
• Develop and maintain a written plan for effective delivery of the school counseling program based on best practice approaches and in line with the school’s ethos.
• Communicate the goals of the comprehensive school counseling policy to education stakeholders (i.e., administrators, teachers, students, parents, and community/business leaders).
• Maintain current and appropriate resources for education stakeholders.
• Provide direct services through the Guidance Curriculum, Individual Student Planning and Preventive and Responsive Services, and most remaining time in program management, system support, and accountability
• Use data to develop comprehensive programs that meet student needs.
• Provide leadership and collaborate with other educators in the school-wide integration of best practice in counselling.
• Implement appropriate and prevention-oriented group activities to meet student needs and school goals.
• Plug-into the life skills programme as guided by the office of the Director of Academics and/ or the Principal to support with execution
• Assist all students, individually or in groups, with developing academic, career and personal/social skills, goals, and plans.
• Make use of data to devise interventions, in consultation with the Principal.
• Provide individual and group counseling to students with identified concerns and needs.
• Implement an effective referral and follow-up process as needed.
• Accurately and appropriately use assessment procedures for determining and structuring individual and group counseling services. Consult the Principal if there is the need to invite an external service provider for the whole school, or for students, or for members of staff.
• Provide appropriate information to school personnel related to the comprehensive school counseling program.
• Assist teachers, parents/guardians, and other stakeholders in interpreting and understanding student data.
• Participate in professional development activities to improve knowledge and skills.
• Use available technology resources to enhance the school counseling program.
• Adhere to laws, policies, procedures, and ethical standards of the school counseling profession.
• Collaborate with parents/guardians and educators to assist students with educational, career, and life planning.
• Conduct a yearly audit to review the counselling needs and trends in the school, and the extent to which the Counselling programme in the school is effective in its implementation, based on the data collected and analysed.
• Prepare the results of such analysis in a manner that makes it possible to share the information with different stakeholders: students, teachers, network, parents and guardians.
• Plan and deliver routine wellness sessions for parents.
• Collaborate with the Learning Design team to incorporate therapy content in the lesson
• Ability to collaborate with the school nurse and other health professionals in case of referrals.

ABOUT YOU

1. You are an HPCSA- registered educational, counseling, or clinical psychologist
2. You have Professional Training in Counselling- Higher National Diploma or Honours Degree in Psychology
3. You have between 3 - 5 years of experience in institutional counselling
4. You are experienced in using assessment tools to determine and structure individual and group counselling.
5. You are passionate about student welfare and want to help them tackle life’s different challenges
6. You have previously counselled children/ teens
7. You are a great communicator: You are able to provide a clear and persuasive pitch to anyone and have excellent written and verbal communication skills.
8. ​You are results-driven, goal-oriented, move fast, and take ownership of work.
9. You have an exceptional ability to think strategically, and yet you sweat the small stuff—people see you as unusually detail-oriented and conscientious
10. You can exercise discretion in handling sensitive matters
11. You have a flexible and adaptable approach to work
12. You are proactive and have an enthusiastic approach to work
13. You are excited about our organizational culture—and in particular, you are fired up to challenge yourself by embracing mutual vulnerability and a firehose of feedback

HOW TO APPLY

Does working at Nova Pioneer excite you? If so, then apply now!

To apply, please complete the form on the right-hand side of this page. We cannot process applications that are emailed to us.

Please note: Where a copy of your resume is required, copying and pasting from a formatted document e.g. Microsoft Word may not result in the formatting transferring correctly to the final resume. You are encouraged to attach your resume in Microsoft Word® or PDF format to protect formatting.

All applications will be reviewed and applicants notified of the next steps within a week of this closing date. There are a series of stages in the Nova Pioneer interview process and candidates will be moved forward in the process depending on their success in the previous stage. The process is as follows:

• Phone interview: a short conversation to understand your skills and experience a little better.
• Practical demonstration of what you can do: you will complete a written task or a demonstration related to the role you are applying for.
• In-person interviews: at this point, you will visit one of our schools to meet the team and participate in a series of in-person interviews.
• Final interview: you’ll have a final conversation with the hiring manager before decisions are made.

WORKING AT NOVA PIONEER

Nova Pioneer is committed to the achievement and maintenance of diversity and equity in employment. Nova Pioneer is a place where our people experience tremendous growth, fast! We invest heavily in the growth of our people because it leads to greater mastery in both us and our students. “Novaneers” work harder and work longer hours than most schools but as a result, the growth they experience is extraordinary. We offer consistent and ongoing personal development and provide clear career pathways that ensure that our people are always achieving their personal and professional best. Nova Pioneer has a highly energetic, entrepreneurial environment where our people get to bring their creative and innovative ideas to life. We look for people who are flexible and who are able to adapt and respond quickly to adversity with a positive, can-do attitude (there are no problems, only solutions!). We welcome challenges and roll with the punches because it makes us, and our students, better. There is no problem too big for us! We work hard but we also have a lot of fun together. We bring infectious energy and enthusiasm to everything we do because joy fuels the hardest work and learning. Read more about our culture principles here.

Please Note:

• Nova Pioneer may appoint and/or expire the posting of this advertisement at their own discretion.
• If you have not been contacted within 30 days of the closing date of this advertisement please consider your application as unsuccessful.

Nova Pioneer, in line with the POPIA (Protection of Personal Information Act) will attempt to ensure the confidentiality of all applicants for this role. All reasonable measurements will be in place to protect personal information but it will be used for recruitment and employment purposes. By submitting your application with Nova Pioneer, you are recognising and accepting this disclaimer.

Nova Pioneer will never request an application fee from candidates. If you are contacted with a request to pay a fee from someone claiming to be a Nova Pioneer Talent or Recruitment representative, please do not pay them and report it to us immediately on talent.ke@novapioneer.com or talent.sa@novapioneer.com.