Speech and Language Therapist & Occupational Therapist in Stratford

Olive Branch Recruitment is working with a London School based in Stratford in the London Borough of Newham, who are a DfE-registered school, rated Outstanding by Ofsted, supporting SEND young people aged 11–19 with Education, Health and Care Plans, typically for SEMH and/or ASC. They require both a permanent Speech & Language Therapist and Occupational Therapist to join the school. Both roles require HCPC registration.

Job Purpose

The purpose of this role is to provide Speech & Language and OT assessments and interventions to children and young people. The Therapist(s) provides interventions to children with significant trauma and adverse childhood experiences who require input through a nurturing approach and small groups within a primary school setting; you will work closely with Learning Mentors / Therapeutic Education Practitioner (TEP) and Class Teachers to meet the needs of the young people they work with and support them to engage in learning. Additionally, the role provides interventions to pupils within a community setting (i.e., their home and/or library); this may be due to complex neurodiversity or high levels of anxiety / school phobia but require a significant amount of support to develop independence. You will provide a specialised contribution to the clinical assessment and therapeutic treatment, as part of a wider therapeutic offer to the pupils. They also advise on moderating the learning environment to support young people in reaching their full potential, creating a therapeutic environment by building a therapeutic understanding & culture through training, workshops and general promotion of therapeutic practice to all staff.

Main duties and responsibilities

• To liaise closely with key colleagues, the multi-disciplinary clinical team and managers to provide an intensive treatment service for children enrolled.
• To identify all children and young people who have Speech and Language Therapy plus Occupational Therapy assessment and intervention identified as a need on their Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) and to ensure that this is delivered effectively and in a timely way.
• Carry out observations across the setting to identify those children and young people who will benefit from Therapy input who do not have this identified as a need on their EHCP.
• Engage pupils in innovative, helpful, therapeutic and meaningful activities that will support them in engaging in learning and reaching their full potential.
• Undertake highly specialised Therapy assessment by identifying appropriate assessment tools to identify and understand the needs of the pupils, producing highly specialised assessment reports.
• To assess and manage the complex communication and functioning needs of the children and young people in order to support them in feeling safe and in engaging in group learning.
• To provide a bespoke menu of strategies that can be used through devising individualised communication passports.
• Provide specialised reports on therapy provision for individual pupils outlining their attendance, engagement, expression and communication.
• To develop innovative interventions/strategies for children and young people referred to the therapy services and presenting with difficulties in some or all of the following areas: receptive language, expressive language, social cognition (including social communication skills, abstract and inferential thinking, understanding perspectives) and emotional recognition, attention, concentration; social skills; violent behaviour, Speech and Language performance; identity, in order to maximise their ability to engage in learning independently.
• Work with parents/carers, education, health, social care and other multi-disciplinary colleagues as appropriate to assess, design and develop evidence-based intervention and management plans to be implemented within the multi-disciplinary school-based teams and within the child's family.
• Contribute to the multidisciplinary risk assessment and management plan for individual young people and for specific activities/trips/visits.
• To train and support staff in developing skills and knowledge in utilising strategies in the classroom.
• To encourage self-awareness, exploration and reflection on feelings and relationships.
• Provide clear, concise written and verbal feedback suitable for a variety of audiences including the child, their parent/carer and a range of professionals.
• Attend Group Process meetings with pupils and the multidisciplinary team, as required.
• Maintain sensitivity at all times to the emotional needs of clients/carers when imparting complex/distressing information regarding the nature of the client’s difficulties and the impact on individuals and their families.
• Monitor and evaluate pupil progress during the course of interventions and to use appropriate outcome measures.
• Maintain clear written records of all interventions ensuring compliance with GDPR.
• Consistently demonstrate professional boundaries in accordance with the HCPC code of ethics.
• Provide specialist advice, clinical consultation and training to school staff as required.
• Ensure appropriate liaison with external networks, professionals, agencies, carers and parents.
• Keep up to date with all legislation, guidelines and practice issues that may affect the Inclusion service.