Student Placements

Our October call is now closed, we will have more opportunities next year.

Cambridge Acorn Project is a well-respected therapeutic charity in Cambridgeshire. We do holistic therapeutic work with children and families who have experienced trauma and are facing financial hardship. We are a responsive, justice-focussed charity where children and their families who have lived through adverse experiences can access support quickly and in a way that is meaningful for them.
Responsibilities and Main Duties
• To undertake pieces of therapeutic work with CYP or with CYP and families as agreed with the supervisor.
• To use evidence-based therapeutic interventions with children and families.
• To support with community initiatives, including wellbeing drop-ins or projects.
• To ensure all client case notes, assessments, and any other documentation are completed in accordance with the policies and procedures of Cambridge Acorn Project.
• To attend supervision and clinical supervision at agreed times*
• To carry out any other activities that may reasonably be requested by the management team, drawing on broader skills and knowledge.
• Maintaining confidentiality and boundaries.
• Staying up to date with and adhering to organisational policies, including safeguarding.
*Please note that Cambridge Acorn Projects offers non-clinical group supervision only. Students conducting placement with us remain responsible for ensuring they access clinical supervision in line with the requirements of their student registration. Cambridge Acorn Project offers internal line management and case management supervision but is unable to pay for students’ personal clinical supervision.
- Be confirmed as ‘fit to practice’ for a child placement or a placement working with CYP and adults by a counselling/therapy program course tutor by the end of January 2025.
- Be committed to the aims and values of Cambridge Acorn Project, including a good knowledge of the principles underpinning therapeutic work with CYP as well as social justice and personal liberty.
- Be a current student member of a recognised professional body (e.g., HCPC, BACP, UKCP, BPS, SWE or equivalent) and be committed to continuous personal and professional development.
- High degrees of personal empathy, emotional intelligence, and excellent communication skills in a range of contexts.
- A deep understanding of confidentiality and the ability to set and maintain healthy boundaries in relationships with clients and colleagues.
- High degrees of personal empathy, emotional intelligence, and excellent communication skills in a range of contexts.
- A firm understanding of trauma and the impact on children and families.
- Demonstrate excellent communication skills.
- Be open to change and new challenges, adaptable and flexible in approach, and committed to working in a person-centred.
- A good degree of computer literacy and an understanding of the principles of case recording using a secure system.
- Ability to work both independently and as part of a team.

We are committed to safe and inclusive recruitment.

Safeguarding and safer recruitment process

Safeguarding is at the heart of Cambridge Acorn Project including our safe recruitment processes. We undertake safe recruitment checks on anyone who wants to work with us as we work with children and adults at risk. This means that all our roles which have contact with services users or access to sensitive information, including this position, require an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check as well as two references.

This post involves working directly with children and/or vulnerable adults (as well as the processing of sensitive information connected to this under the Data Protection Act 1998). If you are disqualified from working with children or vulnerable adults, we are unable to offer you any posts that involve working with these groups. Across the UK, it is an offence for an individual who has been barred to apply for a regulated position.

Self-disclosure

If you are shortlisted, we will ask you to complete a self-disclosure form. This will be reviewed before your interview.

The self-disclosure form will ask for any criminal convictions, regulatory body sanctions or disqualifications from working with children or vulnerable adults, as well as any police or social services enquiries undertaken following allegations made against you. We may ask about this during the interview.

Our commitment to diversity and inclusion

Cambridge Acorn Project believes in a world that is equitable, safe, and free from abuse and coercion and we apply these principles to every part of our organisation fostering equality and inclusion in everything we do. We promote a culture of respect and a sense of belonging for all staff, volunteers, and service users where everyone is free to be themselves. We value lived experience, and we welcome applications from people with marginalised identities or experiences. Cambridge Acorn Project is a warm, flexible, and supportive organisation, and we want to work within a diverse collegiate team where everyone’s opinion and experience matters, and everyone has a voice.

Data protection

Cambridge Acorn Project processes data in line with The Data Protection Act 2018 and UK GDPR. For more information, please see our terms of service.