Speech and Language Therapist (Band 5-6 Run-Through)

NHS; Greater London; On-site; GBP 35,000 - 54,000

Job description

Speech and Language Therapist (Band 5-6 Run-Through)

If you're passionate about shaping children's communication in schools and thrive in a dynamic environment, we have the perfect opportunity for you!

Join us in Islington as a Band 5 Mainstream Schools Speech and Language Therapist and help transform the educational experience for children with speech, language, and communication needs.

Whether newly qualified or experienced, you can progress to Band 6 in 24 months, provided agreed competencies are met.

What you can expect:

• Supportive Caseloads: Manageable caseload with dedicated time for clinical and non-clinical duties, especially in your first year.
• Collaborative Environment: Work alongside a skilled multidisciplinary team, including school staff, outreach staff, and Occupational and Physiotherapists.
• Development Opportunities: Ongoing clinical supervision, access to a cross-borough support group, and the chance to build skills and learn from highly experienced and talented therapists across primary and secondary schools.
• Positive Team Feedback: Don't just take our word for it--our team loves the supportive atmosphere! "I felt ready for the next step with the fantastic support of a friendly team!" (current staff member)

Are you ready for a strong start to your career while making a difference in schools? We'd love for you to join us!

Main duties of the job

The post holder will be responsible for delivering a comprehensive service to children and young people attending mainstream schools, including assessment, diagnosis and intervention for individual children and young people as well as providing a support service to schools themselves. The post holder is an autonomous practitioner and is responsible for organising and managing their own caseload in up to 5 mainstream schools (primary and secondary), working from a central base. They will work with children and young people with a wide range of speech, language and communication needs including Developmental Language Disorders, Selective Mutism, Speech difficulties and children with language disorders in association with conditions such as Autistic Spectrum Condition, Down's Syndrome and ADHD.

Job responsibilities

1. To demonstrate basic clinical expertise in the assessment, treatment and management of language and communication difficulties in school aged children providing appropriate intervention and evaluating outcomes.
2. To demonstrate clinical effectiveness drawing on evidence based practice and outcome measures.
3. To demonstrate highly developed auditory and perceptual skills in the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of patients/clients.
4. To make basic differential diagnoses and clinical decisions based on evidence from assessment, seeking support and advice from a supervisor as appropriate.
5. To develop knowledge and skills in a range of language and communication difficulties in school aged children with training, support and supervision from clinical supervisor as appropriate.
6. To develop clear care plans based on best practice.
7. To provide advice to others regarding the management and care of children with language and communication difficulties.
8. To communicate complex condition related information from assessment to clients, carers, families and members of the multi-disciplinary team/other professions, demonstrating empathy and ensuring that effective communication is achieved, particularly where barriers to understanding exist.
9. To work closely with clients, carers and families in order to agree plans of management.
10. To deal with initial complaints sensitively, avoiding escalation where possible.
11. To form productive relationships with others who may be under stress and/or have challenging communication difficulties.
12. To develop skills in motivating clients and/or carers to engage in the therapeutic process.
13. To maintain sensitivity at all times to the emotional needs of clients and their carers in particular when imparting potentially distressing information regarding the nature of the clients difficulties and implications of the same.
14. To develop the ability to manage children with challenging behaviours employing appropriate management strategies.
15. To monitor and review the progress of clients against the targets set and agreed, seeking support from clinical supervisor as appropriate.
16. To demonstrate the ability to reflect on practice with peers/clinical supervisor based on research and evidence based practice.
17. To develop the ability to reflect on auditory, visual and kinaesthetic aspects of clients communication and to identify appropriate strategies to facilitate and enhance communicative effectiveness.
18. To be aware of legal requirements relating to the provision of a specialist speech and language therapy service, seeking support and advice as appropriate.
19. To maintain up to date and accurate case notes and write reports that meet departmental standards and are in line with local trust policy, and RCSLT professional standards, with support as appropriate.
20. To develop an awareness of current policies and practice in education.
21. To manage and prioritise a defined caseload and workload independently.
22. To contribute to multi-agency assessments, including the statutory educational assessment procedure, as required, seeking support and supervision as required.
23. To negotiate with carers, clients and others around individual case management.
24. To develop negotiation skills in the management of conflict across a range of situations, recognising potential breakdown and conflict when it occurs, seeking advice and support to resolve.
25. To ensure that clients are referred to other services as appropriate, in consultation with manager or supervisor.
26. To develop a working knowledge of the principles of Clinical Governance and their application to professional practice. This will include compliance with / adherence to service and team plans and policies, National and Local Guidelines and RCSLT Professional and Clinical guidelines.
27. To develop a working knowledge of relevant procedures including: Safeguarding Children, SEN procedures, Working with Vulnerable Adults and other legal frameworks.
28. To be accountable for own professional action, recognising professional boundaries and working within defined departmental and national protocols/policies and professional code of conduct, seeking advice as appropriate.
29. To work independently accessing appraisal within an Individual Performance Framework at pre-determined intervals.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• BSc. Speech Path or equivalent.
• HPC licence to practise, and eligible for the full RCSLT register.
• Successful completion of specialist short courses relevant to the field including Developmental Language Disorder (DLD), autistic spectrum condition (ASC) and education practice.
• Basic Counselling.

Knowledge and experience

• Knowledge and experience of a specialist range of assessment tools and procedures to evaluate a wide range of language and communication needs in mainstream schools for both primary and secondary aged pupils.
• Knowledge and experience of the key characteristics leading to a specialist differential diagnosis of a wide range of language and communication difficulties.
• Knowledge and experience of a specialist range of therapeutic interventions relevant to primary and secondary age children with a wide range of language and communication needs demonstrating the evidence base for these approaches.
• Knowledge and experience of the application of specialist knowledge of local cultural, linguistic & demographic factors to the management of a school aged caseload.
• Knowledge of multi-disciplinary team approaches.
• Knowledge and experience of working with children with a wide range of language and communication needs in mainstream schools.
• Knowledge and experience of delivering specialist training to a range of audiences.
• Excellent spoken and written communication skills.

Other

• Completion of post qualification registration.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

£35,964 to £53,134 a year per annum inclusive of HCAS.