About this role
Job summary
The Therapies In Schools (TIS) service is an innovative PT and OT model of service which is commissioned by West Sussex County Council and delivered by Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust. It's aim is to provide additional therapeutic input into schools to support the teachers and carers to integrate therapeutic goals into heart of curricular activities and at home.
TIS is an additional service to the current NHS provision and aims to work flexibly to meet ever changing demands as they arise. A key part of TIS is to provide accredited training to all education staff and offers opportunities for families and carers to access the training too.
We wish to recruit a part time Band 7 Occupational Therapist with the necessary skills and experience to join our friendly and innovative TIS team, working in a Special School and College in Burgess Hill.
We offer regular in-service training, peer supervision and clinical support. There are dedicated paediatric special interest groups and the Paediatric Occupational Therapy service is supported by a Countywide Professional Lead.
The hours available are three days a week term time only. Term time only roles are paid spread across a full year to ensure your pay does not change from month to month.
Main duties of the job
This is a wonderful opportunity to gain experience of working with a diverse range of children and young people within specialist school settings.
Please look at the Woodlands Meed school website to understand the needs of the young people you will be supporting.
Your role will be to provide a universal approach through delivering accredited training to school staff, some targeted work through group work and ad hoc needs, and a small caseload of intensive work to support families in crisis or needing enhanced support due to a change in circumstance.
Your role is in addition to the existing NHS provision provided by the Child Development Centre (CDC) therapists, and so working collaboratively with the CDC therapists is vital. You'll work in your main allocated school and college, do occasional home visits where needed, and may at times support your team members in other schools.
You will need to be flexible in your availability to attend occasional parents evening events, parent carer forum liaisons and host parent coffee mornings/network groups.
About us
We are the main provider of NHS community services across East and West Sussex, with 6,000 staff serving 1.3 million people. We deliver essential care to adults and children, helping them manage their health, avoid hospital admissions, and reduce hospital stays.
Our Trust vision is to provide excellent care at the heart of the community. We offer opportunities across medical, clinical, support, and corporate services.
Why work for us?o Positive 2024 NHS Staff Survey results, highlighting compassionate leadership and wellbeingo Varied environments: community hospitals, patients' homes, and bases across Sussexo Flexible working options: part-time, flexi-time, annualised hours, and flexi-retiremento Excellent training, development, and research opportunitieso Cost-effective workplace nurseries in Crawley, Hove, and Brightono Active EMBRACE, Disability & Wellbeing, LGBTQIA+, and Religion & Belief networkso Level 3 Disability Confident Leader and Veteran Aware Trusto Beautiful Sussex location near the South Downs and coast
Our values--Compassionate Care, Working Together, Achieving Ambitions, Delivering Excellence--guide everything we do.
We embrace diversity and encourage applications from all backgrounds, particularly from ethnically diverse, disabled, and LGBTQIA+ individuals. We aim to create an inclusive environment and support reasonable adjustments during recruitment.
This post may close early if sufficient applications are received.
Job description Job responsibilities
To increase parental confidence in the quality of provision provided within the schools.
To build relationships with parents prior to school entry by attending parental tours for specific pupils and completing home visits Maintain therapeutic relationship with identified children (regular phone calls as required) Attending annual reviews for identified children Attending coffee mornings and parents evenings across allocated schools To support parents through all transitional stages both immediately prior to and throughout school (class to class, Yr 6 Yr 7, attending parental tour for specified pupils) and post school placement.
To increase confidence and skills of school based education staff to deliver OT programmes
To undertake specified large group training across allocated schools To undertake bespoke small group training to meet the individual needs of specified pupils To support a team of identified Therapy Champions (teachers and teaching staff who have completed level 3 TIS training) to be first point of contact for other staff
To undertake work alongside school staff for agreed caseload.
Working in class to support staff in delivering OT programmes Write, monitor and evaluate OT programmes in partnership with school staff. Contribute reports to and/or provide sections for health care plans, annual reviews To write tribunal assessments/ reports and attend tribunals where appropriate. Write and share with staff recommendations that can support areas of school curriculum areas. Provide recommendations to ensure the environment facilitates participation and inclusion for students with sensory and motor difficulties. To allocate OT time in schools depending on the need of the caseload. To provide group work sessions as agreed with the individual school
To work as part of the multi-disciplinary teams to improve further the integrated holistic and child centered approach of the allocated special schools
Attend regular MDT meetings Attend MDT team around the family meetings for specified pupils OT will understand the holistic curriculums of each school and will contribute to the student-centered planning.
For further details please see attached Job Description.
Person Specification
Qualifications Essential
Degree in Occupational Therapy Registered with HCPC Evidence of CPD maintained in a portfolio appropriate to specialist field Post registration qualification or training in specialist field
Skills Essential
Excellent working knowledge of informing sciences such as anatomy, physiology and pathology of paediatric conditions applicable to specialism Excellent knowledge of assessment and treatment tools and specialist treatment approaches Excellent knowledge of specialist equipment for use within paediatrics Demonstrates working knowledge of relevant legislation such as Manual Handling, Health and Safety Articulate, good communication skills Good IT skills Advanced negotiation and problem-solving skills. Excellent conflict management skills. Excellent organisational skills. Confident presentation skills. Critical appraisal and reflection skills
Desirable
Competency and ability to assess and treat wide range of complex conditions within paediatrics Advanced clinical reasoning skills Leadership skills Undertaking Audits Ability to translate policies and research into clinical practice.
Experience Essential
Minimum of 4 years post qualification specialised in paediatrics Experience of working with children with complex neurological conditions Experience of working with schools and educational settings, including report writing for SEN Evidence of staff supervision and training. Experience of working in a multidisciplinary team and high-level understanding of team dynamics. Experience of providing training and presenting information to colleagues in a transdisciplinary team. Experience of working in a multi-agency setting.
Equal Opportunities Essential
An excellent understanding of the principles of equal opportunities in relation to staff and patients Able to work flexibly to allow for attending parents evening and other occasional events.
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.
Certificate of Sponsorship Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
Employer details Employer name Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust
Address Woodlands Meed School and College
Chanctonbury Road
Burgess Hill
RH15 9EY
United Kingdom
Employer's website https://www.sussexcommunity.nhs.uk/work-with-us/ (Opens in a new tab)