Speech and Language Therapist - Early Years Team

• 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

• To provide a service to children/young people in Early Years who have a speech, 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

• 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

Essential

• 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

Essential

• 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

Desirable

• Experience of developing and delivering training
• Experience of providing informal support to less experienced colleagues
• Experience of working with sign or visuals

Essential

• 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

Essential

• 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