Highly Specialist Speech & Language Therapist- Mainstream Schools/ DLD
Job Description
Job summary
Are you an experienced and motivated Speech and Language Therapist? An exciting opportunity has arisen to recruit 2 (full/part time) B7s to join a well-established and dynamic team in Barking and Dagenham, in North East London.
These are permanent roles supporting the leadership of our DLD pathway across Primary and Secondary Mainstream Schools and ARPs. You will also be involved in our very successful Universal Training Offer across Mainstream schools in Barking and Dagenham as well as having the opportunity to be involved in supporting with introducing the VERBO platform together with our Local Authority colleagues.
You will provide assessment, strategies and advice for children and young people in mainstream schools. As a Band 7 you will also support with the leadership and management of the wider team by delivering supervision, covering meetings, supporting service development and facilitating new initiatives. We are committed to a neurodiversity affirming culture and our DLD lead will support us in ensuring our DLD clients are supported appropriately within this framework. There will be opportunities to discuss and liaise with other professionals to ensure you and the service are in line with current research in this area as it pertains to DLD. This is a really exciting time to join our team!
Main duties of the job
Our team supports children and their families with their speech, language, communication and swallowing needs across a wide range of clinical areas.
This role includes both clinical and non-clinical responsibilities and you will be required to:
- Be one of the pathway lead for Mainstream schools, taking on responsibility for DLD and/or Secondary schools.
- Work autonomously as a Highly Specialist speech and language therapist providing specialist assessments and interventions for children with diverse needs and varying presentations.
- Provide highly specialist clinical support.
- Administer comprehensive formal and informal assessments and make differential diagnoses on the basis of assessment findings.
- Develop and deliver evidence-based intervention programmes, adapting and facilitating therapy according to client-centred needs.
- Independently organise, plan and prioritise your workload and caseload.
- Provide highly specialist knowledge, advice, training and teaching to parents/carers, education staff, multidisciplinary team members and other colleagues.
- Support the service development of the speech and language team, particularly in relation to DLD and working in mainstream schools.
- Attend relevant training courses, meetings and Clinical Excellence Networks (CENs) related to your specialism.
- Support and guide less experienced therapists, therapy assistants and therapy students.
About us
Starting with NELFT NELFT place a great deal of importance on new starters being properly welcomed and inducted into the Trust. All new starters will join the Trust on the first Monday of each month and will undertake a comprehensive induction of up to two weeks which will include mandatory training, systems training and the allocation of equipment. As part of the process new starters will have the opportunity to also meet the executive team, senior managers and attend a number of drop in sessions focusing in engagement, health and wellbeing and key processes. The induction will be held at our head office in Rainham, Essex. Probationary Period This post will be subject to a probationary period. Internal applicants are exempt from the probationary period (unless you are an internal applicant currently part way through a probationary period or currently a bank member of staff).
High Cost Area Supplement - London This post attracts payment for High Cost Area Supplement of 15% of the basic salary with a minimum payment of £4,551 and a maximum payment of £5,735 per annum (pro rata for part-time). Certificates of Sponsorship Although we are a registered sponsor organisation, we are unable to offer sponsorship for all job roles. Please check your eligibility under the UKVI points based system.
Job responsibilities
You will work closely with Education and Local Authority staff, and engage in MDT working with colleagues in Paediatrics, Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Health Visiting, School nursing, CAMHS and Safeguarding.You will be well-supported with 1:1, group safeguarding, & peer supervision. We also have a clinical cross-border forums with other SLT teams within NELFT.We provide a range of CPD through whole-team training, away days and individual training.
You will join monthly team meetings and will be invited to integrated children's services meetings. We also have regular team socials and bring and share lunches.
We are a flexible service with options for compressed hours and working in a way that suits the needs of the service and yourself.
You would be joining a friendly and inclusive team which passionately advocates for the needs of our clients. Professional development is encouraged to further your skills, while support and advice from experienced colleagues is accessible whenever required.Based in B&D with established transport links, we are approximately 30 minutes by train from central London and 20 minutes from Stratford on public transport. We also have good transport links to Essex and Kent.
We welcome applicants from all experienced and motivated therapists even if you do not feel that you meet all of the job criteria . Support to develop will be provided.
Please see the attached job description and person specification for more information about this role and working at North East London NHS Foundation Trust. We encourage you to refer closely to this when completing your application. Use of AI Applications for this role should be written by the applicant. If artificial intelligence (AI) programmes are used then the application may be rejected due to this document being an important part of the assessment process. This does not prevent applicants seeking appropriate support with applications should they need to for the purposes of any declared disability.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Recognised Speech and Language Therapy Degree Qualification or equivalent
- HCPC Licence to Practice
- Member of Royal College of Speech and Language Therapy
- Show active interest in CPD in line with RCSLT guidelines
- Self-motivated and remain updated with professional practice and new research
Desirable
- Evidence of completion of specialist short courses up to Master's degree or equivalent
Experience
Essential
- Significant relevant experience at undergraduate/post graduate level
- Working collaboratively with parents/carers and other professionals
- Experience of working in a multi- agency and/or multi-disciplinary team
- Working with clients who have a range of speech, language and communication needs
- Planning and delivery of training to other professionals
Desirable
- Supervising and supporting the wider team from both a clinical and leadership perspective.
Knowledge
Essential
- Awareness of NHS Plan, clinical governance priorities and changing service needs
- Awareness of Government policy and legislation and how this may affect service delivery
- Clinical knowledge of child development and its application to speech and language therapy
- Knowledge of assessment tools, treatment techniques and therapeutic interventions
- Awareness of the roles of other professionals
- Awareness of standards of record keeping
- Understanding of safeguarding
- Knowledge of acquired communication and swallowing disorders
Desirable
- Awareness of Government policy and legislation and how this may affect service delivery
Skills
Essential
- Basic awareness of IT and IT skills
- Demonstrate clear clinical reasoning based on evidence based practice
- Able to use own initiative
- Able to organise and manage own caseload
- Allocate duties and supervise therapy assistants and less experienced therapists
- Good auditory discrimination skills and ability to transcribe speech phonetically
- Able to construct clear care plans and reports for complex cases, providing therapy from a range of options based on analysis of assessment, theoretical knowledge and clinical benchmarking to make highly specialist clinical decisions
- Excellent interpersonal skills including observation, listening and empathy
- Negotiation, problem solving concentration, analytical and reflection skills
- Written and verbal presentation skills
- Present information in clear and logical manner
- Ability to be a good team member
