Speech and Language Therapist - Early Years Team

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We’re passionate about delivering first-class patient-centred, safe and effective care, whether it is in a hospital setting, in a community clinic or in the patient’s own home. Patients are at the heart of everything we do.

Providing top quality care depends on our ability to employ the best people.

We’re always looking to recruit outstanding people who will go the extra mile to support our patients, colleagues, teams and the Trust. With every new employee we’re hoping to find our future leaders and we’ll support our staff by providing opportunities to develop your career.

With a diverse culture and equally diverse range of opportunities across mental health, community services, addictions, eating disorders, learning disabilities and more – whatever stage of your career you're at, there's always a place for you at CNWL.

Speech and Language Therapist - Early Years Team

NHS AfC: Band 5

Main area Speech and Language Therapy Grade NHS AfC: Band 5 Contract Fixed term: 12 months (Maternity Cover contract) Hours Full time - 37.5 hours per week Job ref 333-G-HC-1659

Site Beaufort House Town Uxbridge Salary £36,943 - £44,900 per annum incl. HCAS (pro rata if PT) Salary period Yearly Closing 23/10/2026 23:59

CNWL (Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust) has almost 8,000 staff providing integrated healthcare to a third of London's population, Milton Keynes and areas beyond. We involve service users, carers, the public, staff and partner organisations in the way that we are run.

Our catchment area spans diverse communities, with over 100 first languages spoken. It contains areas of great affluence as well as areas of much deprivation. We are committed to providing services that meet the needs of the people who use them, and we actively encourage involvement from local people who can help make a difference. We’re proud of our diversity and we continue to undertake new initiatives to advance equality for LGBT+, BME and people with disabilities to promote good relations and understanding between our staff.

We are recognised locally, nationally and internationally for providing high quality, innovative healthcare. We aim to employ only the best people, and our experts are frequently called upon to contribute to national health strategy and policy, and many models of our care have been adapted for use in other countries.

We offer a generous relocation package (subject to eligibility assessment) and flexible working options, including bank assignments for most roles. For more information on these and other benefits of working for us, see our Benefits, Reward and Wellbeing page

Become part of our team. We care for you as much as you care for others.

CNWL NHS Foundation Trust are committed to safeguarding all children and vulnerable adults and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We follow safe recruitment practices to protect children and vulnerable adults.

Job overview

Are you a recently Qualified or soon to be qualified Speech and Language Therapist? Or do you just want to try something new? Are you interested in a fixed Term Maternity Leave post?

Do you love working in Early Years?

We want to invite you to join the incredibly supportive Early Years Speech and Language Therapy Team working in the outer London Borough of Hillingdon.

Have a look at our Hillingdon Talks, Moves and Plays website to see if we would be a good fit for you

Main duties of the job

You will be responsible for providing assessment and therapy to

• To provide a therapy service to pre school children with speech language and communication needs
• To be responsible for providing assessment and diagnosis of children within community clinics and children's centre/family hubs
• To provide coaching and modelling to parents and Early Years staff to support them to develop children's speech language and communication skills
• To provide specialist ongoing therapy through therapy groups and individual therapy sessions
• To provide advice and training to parents and other professionals around early identification intervention and prevention.
• To prioritise the Safeguarding of Vulnerable Children at all times

You will work closely with experienced SLTAPs

Working for our organisation

• Office space to come back to - where you will get informal support, be able to ask questions and talk about your day
• Regular supervision sessions - starting at weekly/fortnightly - and moving gradually to 6 weekly
• Regular buddy sessions to help you settle into the team
• Termly peer supervision meetings where you can discuss difficult cases, share your experiences with other band 5 colleagues
• A busy but manageable caseload
• Opportunities for flexible working where it meets the service needs
• Opportunities to develop your clinical skills through termly study afternoons, shadowing more experienced therapists, membership of a CEN, internal and external training
• Opportunities to work on projects with small groups of more experienced therapists to develop your skills

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• To provide a service to children/young people in Early Years who have aspeech, language or communication need.
• To be responsible for providing assessment, diagnosis & therapy packages
• To train and support Early Years staff & parents, in order for them to implement therapy advice effectively.
• To support with the early identification of children with speech/language/communication needs.
• To prioritise the Safeguarding of Vulnerable Children at all times
• To support the service to achieve Key Performance Indicators and maintain Target Activity Levels
• To take part in quality governance, audits and projects for the team/service
• To contribute to, and provide feedback about, possible developments in the team

Person specification

Qualifications

• Recognised Speech and Language Therapy Degree qualification or equivalent
• Current Health and Care Professions Council licence to practice
• Registered member of Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.
• Further training courses relevant to the post
• Training relevant to the post

Experience

• Experience of working with pre school children as a therapist or therapy student
• Experience of assessing pre school children
• Experience of delivering training/parent workshops
• Experience of working in a multi agency/multi-disciplinary team
• Experience of developing and delivering training
• Experience of providing informal support to less experienced colleagues
• Experience of working with sign or visuals

Skills and Knowledge

• In-depth knowledge of assessment tools, and experience of using them with pre school
• Knowledge of national policies and procedures relevant to pre school age children
• In-depth knowledge of a range of appropriate therapy approaches, and experience in using them with pre school children
• Knowledge of the principles of clinical governance
• Experience of contributing to an audit
• Good knowledge of the roles of other professionals relevant to pre school children
• Good knowledge of standards of record keeping
• Experience of using Systm one as the main electronic record
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills with professionals, children and their families
• Evidence of being a pro-active and supportive team member.
• Good negotiation and problem solving skills
• Good presentation skills; both written and verbal

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

AI can be used as a support tool, not a replacement for the applicant’s own work.Applications must remain personal, accurate, and reflective of the candidate’s real experience.AI-generated content must not misrepresent skills, qualifications, or experience.Over reliance on AI-generated content is discouraged and may diminish the applicant's chances of success.

We monitor applications for any behaviour that could create an unfair advantage, and we check all references carefully. You are likely to be tested on your experience at interview, so be honest and make sure all the information in your application is correct. Please note that the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is prohibited during the interview process.

The successful applicant may have contact with patients or service users. As an NHS Trust we strongly encourage and support vaccination as this remains the best way to protect yourself, your family, your colleagues and of course patients and service users when working on our healthcare settings.

• Due to the high response levels we receive for some vacancies, we may expire any of them prior to the advertised closing date and advise you to submit your application as soon as possible.
• Applications from job seekers who require sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. Before submitting your application and to avoid disappointment please check that you are eligible under the UKVI points based system
• Our Agenda for Change employment contracts are subject to a contractual 13 week probationary period.
• If you are offered a job, information will be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

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