Band 6 Specialist Occupational Therapist

We are seeking enthusiastic occupational 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.

POSITION -Specialist Occupational Therapist

DIVISION -Cognus Therapies

BUSINESS UNIT -Cognus Occupational Therapy Service

REPORTS TO -Highly Specialist Occupational Therapist and Therapy Lead

RESPONSIBLE FOR -

GRADE/PAY -£44,660.21 to £53,046.29 (1 FTE) per annum inclusive of High Cost Area Supplement (HCAS) or pro rata for term time plus additional weeks

1.

Working within a multidisciplinary team of Occupational Therapists

and Speech Therapists the post holder will have the opportunity to work in

local schools and colleges across the 4 years to 25 years age range or with a

smaller age range within this.

Advising and supporting a range of schools/settings with children

and young people with Occupational Therapy Needs (OT Needs) including a

possible cohort with ASD, or PMLD 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 OT Needs.

2.

PRINCIPAL

ACCOUNTABILITIES

To personally

undertake a case load of referrals to include:

Visiting and assessing

children and young people with OT Needs.

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.

Advice

and treatment for children and young people with functional difficulties and

sensory processing needs.

Offering

advice to parents and carers as well as teaching staff at a targeted or

universal level.

Maintaining

children/young peoples records to a high standard.

Specific Duties

To advise and support

school staff on the education of children and young people with OT Needs

Including

Screening and

Assessment

Screening and prioritising new referrals in order to determine the

need and level of occupational 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 persons condition; focusing on

access to education.

Providing

reports to referrers and other agencies involved in the child/young persons

care.

Contributing to professional advice

regarding the statutory assessment and annual review process both in Sutton and

in out-of-borough settings if necessary.

Treatment and

Provision

Plan,

create and deliver a wide range of tailored interventions and/or therapy

programmes where direct OT input is indicated and effectively hand over

prescribed programmes through training and modelling with teaching staff,

parents and carers.

To

recommend, provide or advise on provision of equipment and take responsibility

for demonstrating its usage and training clients/carers.

To

undertake risk assessment in complex moving and handling situations where

appropriate i.e. provision of equipment identified for the school environment.

To monitor and record child

or young persons progress and effectiveness of

intervention through goal setting, outcome measurement and evaluation of

practice and to communicate these as required to key stakeholders.

To

liaise and establish communication networks with the multidisciplinary team,

external voluntary and statutory organisations as appropriate in planning for

child or young persons treatment.

Promotion of effective inclusion of

children and young people into all aspects of the school curriculum.

Maintain

effective liaison with all partners e.g., parents, professionals in Education,

Health, Social Care and other Services with particular regard to Safeguarding

and best practice.

Promote robust transition arrangements

for pupils with Occupational Therapy needs including: Collaboration with a

range of partner agencies to create effective transition support for specific

children and young people.

Education 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.

To participate in clinical audit, service

development activities and research programmes as required. To contribute to formulating policies for specialist area and proposals

for general service changes.

As part of the therapies team to plan,

deliver and evaluate training sessions for schools and educational

providers.

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.

To contribute to

collaborative working between all specialist SEN teams by

Attending and contributing to Team meetings.

Identifying

needs and seeking advice within the framework of specialist teams and wider

agencies as appropriate.

Liaison

with parents/carers and schools to find collaborative strategies to overcome

barriers to learning and attend multi-agency meetings as required.

Embedding legislative change and key

developments relating to improved outcomes for children and young people with

Occupational Therapy Needs.

GENERIC OBJECTIVES

Contribute to Cognus Limiteds business objectives at the appropriate

level by ensuring every child matters and has access to education and learning

Opportunities, including

a)

Health and safety

b)

Safeguarding and

protection of children

c)

Equal opportunities

and management of diversity

d)

Data protection

e)

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.

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 Professional Development.

All

applicants are required to hold a registration with the Health Care

Professionals Council (HCPC) and the Royal College of Occupational

Therapy (RCOT).

Own transport an advantage but not essential.

We also offer the following benefits for this

post -

-

Access to highly skilled clinical leads

-

Access to a wide range of clinical resources

-

Access to regular and supportive peer supervision

-

Complete NQP competencies with highly skilled clinical supervisors

-

RCOT and HCPC registrations paid

All applicants

must hold current registrations with the Health Care Professionals Council

(HCPC) and be a member of The Royal College of Occupational

Therapists (RCOT).

Own transport is

an advantage but not essential.

Qualifications

Knowledge and Skills