Job responsibilities
POSITION -Specialist Occupational Therapist
DIVISION -Cognus Therapies
BUSINESS UNIT -Cognus Occupational Therapy Service
REPORTS TO -Highly Specialist Occupational Therapist and Therapy Lead
RESPONSIBLE FOR -
- Overseeing and delivering provision for pupils with Occupational Therapy Needs in mainstream settings and/or Specialist SEN provisions/bases/POST-16
- Liaising with Head Teachers, SENDCos, staff and parents to promote best outcomes
GRADE/PAY -£44,660.21 to £53,046.29 (1 FTE) per annum inclusive of High Cost Area Supplement (HCAS) or pro rata for term time plus additional weeks
1.
JOB SUMMARY
Working within a multidisciplinary team of Occupational Therapists
and Speech Therapists the post holder will have the opportunity to work in
local schools and colleges across the 4 years to 25 years age range or with a
smaller age range within this.
Advising and supporting a range of schools/settings with children
and young people with Occupational Therapy Needs (OT Needs) including a
possible cohort with ASD, or PMLD to manage their caseload to ensure that
intended outcomes are delivered within agreed service standards.
Raising awareness of the needs of and strategies available for
children and young people with OT Needs.
2.
PRINCIPAL
ACCOUNTABILITIES
To personally
undertake a case load of referrals to include:
Visiting and assessing
children and young people with OT Needs.
To
appropriately identify service provision in line with child and young persons
needs at specialist, targeted or universal level of support.
Delivery of specialist
programmes on an individual and/or small group basis.
Advice
and treatment for children and young people with functional difficulties and
sensory processing needs.
Offering
advice to parents and carers as well as teaching staff at a targeted or
universal level.
Maintaining
children/young peoples records to a high standard.
Specific Duties
To advise and support
school staff on the education of children and young people with OT Needs
including:
Screening and
Assessment
Screening and prioritising new referrals in order to determine the
need and level of occupational therapy provision required in line with service
criteria.
At
the point of referral gathering relevant information regarding previous and
current input from health and social care services.
Carrying
out a range of non-standardised and standardised assessments and interpreting a
range of factors relating to the child or young persons condition; focusing on
access to education.
Providing
reports to referrers and other agencies involved in the child/young persons
care.
Contributing to professional advice
regarding the statutory assessment and annual review process both in Sutton and
in out-of-borough settings if necessary.
Treatment and
Provision
Plan,
create and deliver a wide range of tailored interventions and/or therapy
programmes where direct OT input is indicated and effectively hand over
prescribed programmes through training and modelling with teaching staff,
parents and carers.
To
recommend, provide or advise on provision of equipment and take responsibility
for demonstrating its usage and training clients/carers.
To
undertake risk assessment in complex moving and handling situations where
appropriate i.e. provision of equipment identified for the school environment.
To monitor and record child
or young persons progress and effectiveness of
intervention through goal setting, outcome measurement and evaluation of
practice and to communicate these as required to key stakeholders.
To
liaise and establish communication networks with the multidisciplinary team,
external voluntary and statutory organisations as appropriate in planning for
child or young persons treatment.
Promotion of effective inclusion of
children and young people into all aspects of the school curriculum.
Maintain
effective liaison with all partners e.g., parents, professionals in Education,
Health, Social Care and other Services with particular regard to Safeguarding
and best practice.
Promote robust transition arrangements
for pupils with Occupational Therapy needs including: Collaboration with a
range of partner agencies to create effective transition support for specific
children and young people.
Education and
Development Responsibility
To be aware of changing trends in
treatment and promote Evidence Based Practice; embedding this into own
specialist area of work in order to provide the highest standard of care to
service users.
To participate in clinical audit, service
development activities and research programmes as required. To contribute to formulating policies for specialist area and proposals
for general service changes.
As part of the therapies team to plan,
deliver and evaluate training sessions for schools and educational
providers.
To engage with continual professional
development as identified through managerial and clinical supervision and
appraisal, including attending training and courses as agreed.
To comply with the Cognus Limited mandatory training requirements.
To contribute to
collaborative working between all specialist SEN teams by
Attending and contributing to Team meetings.
Identifying
needs and seeking advice within the framework of specialist teams and wider
agencies as appropriate.
Liaison
with parents/carers and schools to find collaborative strategies to overcome
barriers to learning and attend multi-agency meetings as required.
Embedding legislative change and key
developments relating to improved outcomes for children and young people with
Occupational Therapy Needs.
GENERIC OBJECTIVES
Contribute to Cognus Limiteds business objectives at the appropriate
level by ensuring every child matters and has access to education and learning
opportunities, including:
a)
Health and safety
b)
Safeguarding and
protection of children
c)
Equal opportunities
and management of diversity
d)
Data protection
e)
Outstanding
Customer care
GENERAL
SAFER RECRUITMENT
Cognus is committed to safeguarding and protecting the children and
young people that it works with. An offer of employment is subject to safer
recruitment practices which include an enhanced DBS check, two professional
references acceptable to Cognus Limited, proof of qualifications, proof of
right to work in the UK, proof of personal address and employment history
covering 5 years and, fitness to work with children (occupational health
assessment). These checks must have been completed prior to commencement of
employment. We have a range of policies
and procedures in place which promote safeguarding and safer working practices
across the organisation.
PROCESSING OF DATA
a)
You (the
employee) consent to the holding and processing of personal data provided by
you to the Company (the Company) for all purposes relating to your
employment, but not limited to administering and maintaining personnel records,
paying and reviewing salary and other remuneration and benefits, undertaking
performance appraisals and reviews, the compulsory Disclosure and Baring
Services check (DBS) details in line with its statutory responsibility to
safeguard and protect children and vulnerable service users; maintaining
sickness and other absence records and taking decisions as to your fitness for
work.
b)
You hereby
acknowledge and agree that the Company may, in the course of its general and
statutory duties as an employer be required to disclose personal data relating
to you for legislative purposes during or after the end of your employment. This does not affect your statutory rights
under the General Data Protection Regulation 2018.
CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENT
a)
During the course
of your employment, you will have access to and knowledge of Company
confidential information and trade secrets.
b)
Disclosure of any
of this confidential information and/or trade secrets could have serious
financial consequences and/or create serious competitive disadvantages for the
Company. There may be material damage, financial or otherwise, deliberate or
otherwise, to the Companys legitimate business interest.
c)
Under the terms of
this confidentiality agreement, you agree to keep secret and shall not at any
time, either during employment or post-employment, use, communicate or reveal
to any person any trade secret or confidential information relating to the Company
or any Associated Company.
d)
You are aware of
the Companys policies in relation to compliance with the General Data
Protection Regulation and undertake to act in accordance with these at all
times. Any breach of these policies will be dealt with under the Companys
disciplinary procedure and action taken can include dismissal without notice.
This job description and person specification outlines the summary of
key accountabilities and is not an exhaustive list of duties and, is subject to
periodical review and changes in line with the business needs.
