Occupational Therapy Assistant in Great Missenden

The Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA) is a crucial support role, working directly under the supervision and guidance of the Occupational Therapist (OT) and Head of Childrens Services. The OTA's primary function is to implement the individualised therapeutic plans and strategies developed by the OT, which are essential for supporting the complex neurological and sensory needs of the children and young people at Redbourn Park. Using a trauma-informed lens, the OTA helps translate the OT's vision into consistent, practical, day-to-day support, focusing on emotional regulation and functional independence.

Children with complex needs, including autism and trauma, often require consistent, expert-led support to navigate sensory challenges and emotional dysregulation. The OTA ensures that the therapeutic strategies designed by the OT are delivered reliably across the school environment, helping to stabilise the child's nervous system. This support bridges the gap between the therapeutic plan and the child's access to learning and play, preventing sensory processing difficulties or emotional triggers from becoming barriers to their development.

The OTA is there to support the delivery of functional independence and emotional regulation by implementing the OT's recommendations across three core pillars:

• Sensory Strategy Implementation: Carrying out prescribed "sensory diets" specific movements, activities, or environmental adjustments (like developing and supporting the use of calm spaces) to help children maintain focus and a regulated state.
• Environmental Support: Assisting with the modification and maintenance of physical spaces to ensure they align with the OT's specifications, reducing "sensory overload" and sustaining predictable, safe, and trauma-mitigating environments.
• Skill Facilitation: Supporting children in activities that build foundational "Occupations" of childhood, including self-care, fine and gross motor skills, and essential social-emotional skills like turn-taking, play, and emotional awareness, as directed by the OT.

About Redbourn Park: Redbourn Park is a specialist organisation supporting children and young people with complex needs, particularly autism, trauma, and social, emotional, and mental health difficulties. We exist for pupils who have often struggled elsewhere and need more than standard education can offer. Our work brings together education, therapy, care, and leadership under one clear purpose: to create safe, consistent environments where children can regulate, learn, and succeed. We are values-driven, relational in our approach, and uncompromising on standards. Empathy matters here but so does accountability, structure, and doing what we say we will do. Everyone at Redbourn Park, regardless of role, shares responsibility for modelling calm, professionalism, and ambition. We believe people thrive when expectations are clear, relationships are strong, and purpose is shared—and that belief shapes how we work with pupils, families, and each other every day.

Key Responsibilities:

• Direct Therapeutic Interventions: Responsible for delivering bespoke sessional plans to promote progress and development, leading structured movement sessions and sensory circuits, working 1:1 or in small groups to support the development of fine or gross motor skills, self-care, life skills and independence, teaching skills to support emotional regulation, including developing and promoting key strategies.
• Environmental & Equipment Management: Supporting teachers by advising on adjustments to the classrooms and wider school environment to reduce triggers, such as setting up "low arousal" areas, ordering and maintaining specialist equipment like weighted blankets, wobble cushions, or sloping desks, making visual supports (like "First/Then" boards) or tactile resources (like "fiddle boxes") tailored to a specific child's sensory preferences and in line with their OT profile.
• Collaboration & Communication: Supporting therapeutic and universal approaches across the school, demonstrating key skills and strategies, monitoring child development and reporting on progress and challenges, to review OT input with the OT and teacher and adjust plans accordingly, acting as a bridge between the clinical OT team and the classroom staff to ensure a consistent approach.
• Monitoring and Admin: Updating progress notes and target evidence, contributing data for Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) reviews.

Skills & Experience:

• Essential: Relevant experience or qualifications for the role, strong communication and organisational skills, ability to manage workload, prioritise effectively, and meet deadlines, emotional resilience to work with children who require support when emotionally distressed and the ability to remain calm in high-stress moments, observational skills to notice subtle progress and changes in body language or breathing that might signal increasing levels of distress, ability to shift own communication style as needed, utilising low arousal techniques.
• Desirable: Experience in a similar environment or sector, additional training or specialist knowledge relevant to the role, creativity and the ability to plan and deliver engaging sessions, physical stamina - the role is fast paced and requires someone to move with the child in a range of ways, and between multiple sessions, both planned and adhoc, throughout the school day.

Personal Attributes:

• Reliable, professional, and accountable.
• Proactive and solution-focused.
• Able to work independently while contributing positively to a team.

What We Offer:

• Clear expectations and support to do the job well.
• Opportunities for development and progression.
• A professional, values-driven working environment.