Specialist Speech and Language Therapist - Mainstream Schools

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Specialist Speech and Language Therapist - Mainstream Schools

NHS AfC: Band 6

Main area Specialist Speech and Language Therapist - mainstream schools Grade NHS AfC: Band 6 Contract Permanent Hours Part time - 30 hours per week Job ref 333-G-HC-1444-C

Site Wood End Centre Town Hayes Salary £42,939 - £50,697 Pro rata per annum incl. HCAS Salary period Yearly Closing 17/04/2025 23:59

Job overview

Do you want to be part of a friendly and supportive SLT team?

Do you want to be able to offer direct therapy to children in mainstream schools?

0.8 band 6 role:

We are looking for a passionate speech and language therapist to work in the Hillingdon mainstream schools team supporting children and young people who have a Hillingdon EHCP but who are attending a mainstream school outside of Hillingdon or are Electively Home Educated.

You will have the opportunity to work both directly with CYP and staff in schools - as well as making use of some online therapy where this meets the CYP's needs.

Have a look on our Hillingdon Talks, Moves and Plays website to find out about our wider service.

Main duties of the job

• To provide a specialist speech and language therapy service to children in mainstream schools with a Hillingdon EHCP who are attending out of borough mainstream schools and who have an identified speech, language, communication need.
• To provide a specialist speech and language therapy service to children with a Hillingdon EHCP who are being electively home educated (and who have a mainstream profile).
• To be responsible for providing specialist assessment, diagnosis & therapy packages into schools for these identified children.
• To train and support school staff & parents, in order for them to implement therapy advice effectively.
• To provide face to face and remote support as needed – and to explore new ways of delivering remote therapy.
• To write updated annual review reports in a timely manner.
• To ensure that the needs of the children as specified in their EHCP are delivered.
• 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/lead on audits and projects for the team/service.
• To contribute to, and provide feedback about, possible developments in the team.
• To provide buddying and informal support for less experienced staff.
• To provide formal supervision for less experienced staff, as needed.

Working for our organisation

We can offer you:

• A buddy who will meet with you every week at first to help you settle in and who you can ask lots of questions.
• Regular supervision meetings with a senior therapist every 6 weeks, alongside annual appraisal.
• Termly peer supervision meetings where you can discuss difficult cases, read articles together and share your experiences.
• A busy but manageable caseload across a range of schools.
• Opportunities for remote working in school and at home at the end of the day once a week.
• Frequent opportunities to come back to the office for informal support from the team.
• Opportunities to develop your clinical skills and knowledge through termly study afternoons, shadowing more experienced therapists, membership of a CEN, training courses and opportunities to invite a senior therapist for a joint consultation.

We are proud to say that the service has:

• Excellent relationships with schools - 91% of SENCO’s report that they are happy or very happy with the service.
• Good relationships with parents - 92.5% of parents report that they are happy or very happy with the service. A parent representative attends all of the mainstream schools meetings and parent feedback is sought for new developments.
• An annual service improvement plan in order to ensure that the service is continually evolving and developing.
• A strong track record on innovation and service development in order to provide a high quality service to children, schools and families.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• To provide a specialist speech and language therapy service to children in mainstream schools who have an identified speech, language, communication need.
• To be responsible for providing specialist assessment, diagnosis & therapy packages into allocated schools.
• To train and support school staff & parents, in order for them to implement therapy advice effectively.
• To support schools with the early identification of children with speech, language and 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/lead on audits and projects for the team/service.
• To contribute to, and provide feedback about, possible developments in the team.
• To provide buddying and informal support for less experienced staff.
• To provide formal supervision for less experienced staff, as needed.

The successful applicant may have contact with patients or service users. As an NHS Trust we strongly encourage and support vaccination as this remains the best way to protect yourself, your family, your colleagues and of course patients and service users when working on our healthcare settings.

Person specification

Qualifications

• Recognised Speech and Language Therapy Degree qualification or equivalent (minimum of 2:1 or equivalent).
• Further training courses relevant to the post.
• Health and Care Professions Council registered.
• Registered member of Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.
• Extensive training relevant to the post.
• Member of relevant CEN.

Experience

• Experience of working in a mainstream/special school as a therapist.
• Experience of delivering training.
• Experience of supervising a student.
• Experience of providing informal support to less experienced colleagues.
• Experience of setting up groups for school staff to continue to run.
• Experience of leading on a project to improve/develop the service.
• Experience of providing formal support to junior colleagues.
• Experience of developing and delivering training.

Skills & Knowledge

• In-depth knowledge of assessment tools, and experience of using them relevant to school age children with SLCN.
• Knowledge of national policies and procedures relevant to school age children with SLCN.
• Good knowledge of the SEND procedures.
• In-depth knowledge of a range of appropriate therapy approaches, and experience in using them with school age children with SLCN particularly including: ASD, learning difficulties, language difficulties, speech difficulties, stammering, selective mutism.
• Knowledge of the principles of clinical governance.
• Experience of contributing to an audit.
• Good knowledge of the roles of other professionals relevant to school age children with SLCN.
• Good knowledge of standards of record keeping.
• Experience of leading a clinical audit.

Other

• Car driver and owner to travel during the day.
• Excellent IT skills.

CNWL (Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust) has almost 8,000 staff providing integrated healthcare to a third of London's population, Milton Keynes and areas beyond. We involve service users, carers, the public, staff and partner organisations in the way that we are run.

Our catchment area spans diverse communities, with over 100 first languages spoken. It contains areas of great affluence as well as areas of much deprivation. We are committed to providing services that meet the needs of the people who use them, and we actively encourage involvement from local people who can help make a difference. We’re proud of our diversity and we continue to undertake new initiatives to advance equality for LGBT+, BME and people with disabilities to promote good relations and understanding between our staff.

We offer a generous relocation package (subject to eligibility assessment) and flexible working options, including bank assignments for most roles. For more information on these and other benefits of working for us, see our Benefits, Reward and Wellbeing page.

Become part of our team. We care for you as much as you care for others.

CNWL NHS Foundation Trust are committed to safeguarding all children and vulnerable adults and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We follow safe recruitment practices to protect children and vulnerable adults.

Due to the high response levels we receive for some vacancies, we may expire any of them prior to the advertised closing date and advise you to submit your application as soon as possible.

Our Agenda for Change employment contracts are subject to a contractual 13 week probationary period.

If you are offered a job, information will be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Name Wendy Botten Job title Paediatric SLT Team Leader - Mainstream Schools Email address wendy.botten@nhs.net Telephone number 01895 488200

If you have problems applying, contact

Address Argo House 180 Kilburn Park Road
London
NW6 5FA
Telephone 02076852922