Band 5 Mainstream Schools Speech and Language Therapist

Whittington Health NHS Trust; Greater London; On-site; GBP 29,000 - 35,000; Full time

Job summary

A prestigious NHS organization is seeking a Band 5 Speech and Language Therapist for a fixed-term role in Islington. You will be responsible for delivering a comprehensive service to children with speech, language, and communication needs across various schools. The position offers a supportive environment, manageable caseloads, and opportunities for professional development. Ideal candidates will have a relevant qualification in Speech and Language Therapy and experience with school-aged children, aiming to transform educational outcomes for young people.

Benefits

Ongoing clinical supervision

Supportive team environment

Opportunities for career progression

Qualifications

• Must be able to assess and treat speech and language difficulties.
• Ability to manage a caseload independently.
• Experience working with children with communication needs.

Responsibilities

• Deliver comprehensive speech and language services to children in schools.
• Work collaboratively with multidisciplinary teams.
• Maintain and review client records accurately.

Skills

Clinical expertise in assessment and treatment

Communication skills

Organizational skills

Ability to manage caseload

Empathy

Education

Relevant Speech and Language Therapy qualification

Job description

Overview

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. 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.

Find out what it is like to work in our friendly, supportive teams which span hospital and community settings across vibrant and diverse North Central London first hand, visit http://www.whittington.nhs.uk/CYPrecruitment (you may have to copy and paste this link into your browser) to hear from some of our current staff about why they chose to join and stay at Whittington Health.

Responsibilities

• 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


• To demonstrate clinical effectiveness drawing on evidence based practice and outcome measures


• To demonstrate highly developed auditory and perceptual skills in the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of patients/clients


• To make basic differential diagnoses and clinical decisions based on evidence from assessment, seeking support and advice from a supervisor as appropriate


• 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.


• To develop clear care plans based on best practice


• To provide advice to others regarding the management and care of children with language and communication difficulties


• 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


• To work closely with clients, carers and families in order to agree plans of management


• To deal with initial complaints sensitively, avoiding escalation where possible


• To form productive relationships with others who may be under stress and/or have challenging communication difficulties.


• To employ excellent communication skills


• To develop skills in motivating clients and/or carers to engage in the therapeutic process


• 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 client's difficulties and implications of the same


• To develop the ability to manage children with challenging behaviours employing appropriate management strategies


• To monitor and review the progress of clients against the targets set and agreed, seeking support from clinical supervisor as appropriate.


• To demonstrate the ability to reflect on practice with peers/clinical supervisor based on research and evidence based practice.


• To develop the ability to reflect on auditory, visual and kinaesthetic aspects of client's communication and to identify appropriate strategies to facilitate and enhance communicative effectiveness


• To be aware of legal requirements relating to the provision of a specialist speech and language therapy service, seeking support and advice as appropriate.


• 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.


• To develop an awareness of current policies and practice in education


• To manage and prioritise a defined caseload and workload independently


• To contribute to multi-agency assessments, including the statutory educational assessment procedure, as required, seeking support and supervision as required.


• To negotiate with carers, clients and others around individual case management


• 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.


• To ensure that clients are referred to other services as appropriate, in consultation with manager or supervisor.


• 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.


• To develop a working knowledge of relevant procedures including: Safeguarding Children, SEN procedures, Working with Vulnerable Adults and other legal frameworks.


• 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.


• To work independently accessing appraisal within an Individual Performance Framework at pre-determined intervals.

Safeguarding

• Ensure you are familiar with and comply with the London Child Protection Procedures and protocols for promoting and safeguarding the welfare of children and young people.


• Ensure you are familiar and comply with the London Multi Agency Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults Pan London Procedures.


• Ensure you are familiar and comply with local protocols and systems for information sharing.


• Know the appropriate contact numbers and required reporting lines.


• Participate in required training and supervision.


• Comply with required professional boundaries and codes of conduct.

Application Process

Your application form - 1. Provide only business email address for your referees - we are unable to request references from yahoo, Hotmail, Gmail accounts.

2. Make sure you to include all evidence of where you meet the essential requirement on the jobs description as this forms the base of our shortlisting criteria.

Our processes - 1. Closing dates are given as a guide; we are within our right to close adverts early so please ensure you submit your application as soon as possible to avoid delay.

2. If you do not hear from us up to 3 weeks after the closing date of the job unfortunately this means you have not been successfully shortlisted for interview. If your require feedback on your application please contact the appointing manager detailed in the body of the advert.

3. Please check your emails regularly as all correspondence from us will be via trac.systems - occasionally these emails will go into your Junk folder.

4. Employment at Whittington Health is offered subject to successful completion of a 6 month probationary period for all staff with the exception of GMC Registered Doctors.

Other important information - + Applications from job seekers who require sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. Before submitting your application and to avoid disappointment please check that you are eligible under the UKVI points based system.

+ Applications are welcome from people wishing to job share or work flexible patterns. We are committed to equal opportunities.

+ In submitting an application form, you authorise Whittington Health NHS Trust to confirm any previous NHS service details via the Inter Authority Transfer (IAT) process should you be appointed to the post.

If you are offered a role with one of the NLPSS partner trusts, as part of pre-employment checks your identity and right to work documentation will be verified remotely (in most circumstances), using a certified identity verification service provider TrustID. You will be asked to capture an image of the relevant documents as well as a "selfie" using your smartphone/tablet (if available) for facial matching. TrustID will also perform a digital address check using Trunarrative and Equifax, which is a soft check and does not leave a footprint on your credit rating. For more information, visit www.trustid.co.uk

Please note that during the recruitment process your Identity Documentation (i.e. passport, driving licence, visa, etc.) will be scanned using a device which recognises UV, Infrared and Machine Readable Zone security features of the documents provided

The Trust uses electronic new starter forms on Trac to collect personal details. Information collected is securely stored and used to set up the employee record on the ESR HR system.

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 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)

Role Details

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. This post is a fixed term contract for 12 months. If the funding is renewed, there is scope to 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 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)

Medical services have been delivered on the Whittington Hospital site for over 500 years. On 1st April 2011, Whittington Health was launched as a new Integrated Care Organisation (ICO) comprising The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust, NHS Islington and NHS Haringey. The Whittington and the community health services in Islington and Haringey are award winning organisations, delivering acute and community based health services to a population of 443,000 people. The organisation is the biggest employer in the area, with over 4,500 staff; delivering healthcare not only on the acute hospital site which has 420 beds, but also from a variety of other community based health centres and through visits to patients homes across the boroughs to address the health needs of the local population. Whittington Health also works with other health, social care and voluntary sector partners to support patients and service users from their initial appointment whether it be with a