Band 6 Specialist Speech and Language Therapist in Wallington

We are currently recruiting speech and language therapists to support the delivery of statutory speech and language therapy provision across the London Borough of Sutton. In addition to this, we are looking to increase the number of permanent staff within our team. Cognus Therapies are a thriving multidisciplinary team of speech and language therapists, occupational therapists, teachers, practitioners and therapy assistants who support children and young people aged 4‑25 years in mainstream schools, colleges, and specialist settings within the London Borough of Sutton and surrounding boroughs. We work with children and young people with a variety of special educational needs, e.g. Autism, Deafness, Down Syndrome, Developmental Language Disorder, PMLD, MLD, Dyslexia and many more and encourage all our therapists to gain experience and expertise across a range of specialisms.

Main duties of the job:

• We are seeking enthusiastic speech and language therapists to join our friendly and supportive team.
• Collaborative working is an important part of the role.
• This is an exciting opportunity to be part of a dynamic team providing innovative therapy interventions following evidence-based practice and an embedded model of therapy in order to best support the pupils' needs.

About us:

Cognus Therapies is owned by the London Borough of Sutton and forms part of Cognus Limited who are the providers for special educational needs services within the borough. Cognus Therapies provides a robust supervision framework with all posts receiving Managerial and Clinical Supervision. Regular time is allocated for Continuing Professional Development. All applicants are required to hold a registration with the Health Care Professionals Council (HCPC) and the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT). Own transport an advantage but not essential.

Job responsibilities:

• Overseeing and delivering provision for pupils with speech and language needs in mainstream settings and/or Specialist SEND provisions/bases/Post-16.
• Liaising with Head Teachers, SEND Co-ordinators, staff and parents to promote best outcomes.

GRADE/PAY: Band 6 Paediatric Speech and Language Therapist, £44,660.21 to £53,046.29 FTE per annum inclusive of HCAS. Contract for either full time or pro-rata/term time only plus 2-4 weeks.

LOCATIONS: London Borough of Sutton and surrounding areas.

JOB SUMMARY:

Working within a multidisciplinary team of speech therapists and occupational therapists, the post holder will have the opportunity to work in local schools and colleges across the 4 to 25 years age range or with a smaller age range within this. Advising and supporting local schools/settings with children and young people with Speech, Language & Communication Needs (SLCN) including a possible cohort with ASD or PMLD and SLCN; to manage their caseload to ensure that intended outcomes are delivered within agreed service standards. Raising awareness of the needs of and strategies available for children and young people with SLCN.

PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTABILITIES:

• To personally undertake a caseload of referrals to include visiting and assessing children and young people with SLCN.
• To appropriately identify service provision in line with child and young persons' needs at specialist, targeted or universal level of support.
• Delivery of specialist programmes on an individual and/or small group basis.
• Offering advice to parents and carers as well as teaching staff at a targeted or universal level.
• Maintaining children's/young people's records to a high standard.

Specific Duties:

• To advise and support school staff on the education of children and young people with SLCN including screening and prioritising new referrals in order to determine the need and level of therapy provision required in line with service criteria.
• At the point of referral, gathering relevant information regarding previous and current input from health and social care services.
• Carrying out a range of non-standardised and standardised assessments and interpreting a range of factors relating to the child or young person's condition; focusing on access to education.
• Providing reports to referrers and other agencies involved in the child/young person's care and advice on appropriate differentiation and access to the curriculum.
• Plan, create and deliver a wide range of tailored interventions and/or therapy programmes where direct SaLT input is indicated and effectively hand over prescribed programmes through training and modelling with teaching staff, parents and carers.
• To maintain effective liaison with all partners e.g. parents/carers, professionals in Education, Health, Social Care and other Services with particular regard to Safeguarding and best practice.
• To monitor and record child or young person's progress and effectiveness of intervention through goal setting, outcome measurement and evaluation of practice and to communicate these with key stakeholders.
• Collaboration with a range of partner agencies to create effective transition support for specific children and young people.
• Promotion of effective inclusion of children and young people into all aspects of the school curriculum.
• To attend and contribute to team meetings as required.

Training and Development Responsibility:

• To be aware of changing trends in treatment and promote Evidence Based Practice; embedding this into own specialist area of work in order to provide the highest standard of care to service users.
• Embedding legislative change and key developments relating to improved outcomes for children and young people with SLCN.
• To participate in clinical audit, service delivery activities and research programmes as required.
• To engage with continual professional development as identified through managerial and clinical supervision and appraisal, including attending training and courses as agreed.
• To comply with the Cognus Limited mandatory training requirements.
• As part of the therapies team to plan, deliver and evaluate training sessions for schools and educational providers.

GENERIC OBJECTIVES:

• Contribute to Cognus Limited's business objectives at the appropriate level by ensuring every child matters and has access to education and learning opportunities, including:
• Health and safety
• Safeguarding and protection of children
• Equal opportunities and management of diversity
• Data protection
• Outstanding Customer care

GENERAL:

SAFER RECRUITMENT: Cognus is committed to safeguarding and protecting the children and young people that it works with. An offer of employment is subject to safer recruitment practices which include an enhanced DBS check, two professional references acceptable to Cognus Limited, proof of qualifications, proof of right to work in the UK, proof of personal address and employment history covering 5 years and fitness to work with children (occupational health assessment). These checks must have been completed prior to commencement of employment. We have a range of policies and procedures in place which promote safeguarding and safer working practices across the organisation.

PROCESSING OF DATA: You (the employee) consent to the holding and processing of personal data provided by you to the Company for all purposes relating to your employment, but not limited to administering and maintaining personnel records, paying and reviewing salary and other remuneration and benefits, undertaking performance appraisals and reviews, the compulsory Disclosure and Barring Services check (DBS) details in line with its statutory responsibility to safeguard and protect children and vulnerable service users; maintaining sickness and other absence records and taking decisions as to your fitness for work.

CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENT: During the course of your employment, you will have access to and knowledge of Company confidential information and trade secrets. Disclosure of any of this confidential information and/or trade secrets could have serious financial consequences and/or create serious competitive disadvantages for the Company. There may be material damage, financial or otherwise, deliberate or otherwise, to the Company's legitimate business interest. Under the terms of this confidentiality agreement, you agree to keep secret and shall not at any time, either during employment or post-employment, use, communicate or reveal to any person any trade secret or confidential information relating to the Company or any Associated Company.

This job description and person specification outlines the summary of key accountabilities and is not an exhaustive list of duties and is subject to periodical review and changes in line with the business needs.

Person Specification Qualifications:

• Educated to degree level or equivalent
• Relevant qualifications including registration with HCPC
• Ability to prioritise and deliver results to high standards
• Excellent organisational skills
• Leads others by setting a positive example in line with company values and acts as a role model
• Experience as a paediatric speech and language therapist
• Adherence to RCSLT and HCPC policies and procedures
• Is decisive with problem-solving skills
• Is committed to safeguarding and protection of children
• Honours and upholds the Company's Equal Opportunity Policy, Dignity at Work Policy, Safeguarding and Protection of Children, Health and Safety and Data Protection Policy at all times

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.