Preschool Speech and Language Therapist

Job description

Job responsibilities

Clinical Responsibilities

To exercise full responsibility for a designated caseload of Pre-school children.

To use highly developed interpersonal skills to:

facilitate communication so that the needs of the child and family are central to the clinical process

play a pivotal role in ensuring effective joint working for children with communication difficulties and their families

To prioritise own caseload and manage own workload effectively and efficiently.

To assess and analyse complex information related to childrens speech, language and communication using specialist knowledge to select appropriate formal and informal assessments including standardised psychometric tests.

To formulate a diagnosis based upon assessment, case history information and information from family and other professionals.

To evaluate and make decisions about therapy options taking into account the childs educational attainments, learning style and curriculum requirements.

To formulate a detailed individual management plan based upon relevant research and best practice.

To agree options in collaboration with all those involved in order to implement the individual management plan, which may include any combination of the following:

therapeutic intervention with children individually or in groups (in school or clinic)

programmes jointly planned and implemented with teaching staff

Supporting others to implement programmes according to individual needs

Providing advice on curriculum differentiation through Individual Education Plans (IEPs)

Providing advice on specific strategies to employ in the classroom and/or at home.

Advising referral to other professionals where indicated

To provide demonstration / training on how to maximise communication opportunities for the individual.

To provide individualised packages of care for children with a range of complex needs

To plan and deliver high quality training to enable settings to provide the optimum language learning environment

To manage childrens behaviour and motivate them to achieve positive therapy outcomes including those who have severe/complex difficulties or who may be challenging.

To recognise potential conflict or breakdown in the above process and use negotiation and problem-solving skills to reach agreement.

To communicate complex and specialist information to others by way of written reports and face-to-face discussions, adapting own communication style and content to the needs of the situation.

To form productive relationships with families, recognising the need for and ensuring sensitivity and care where:

There may be emotional stress

Difficult or potentially distressing news to be given

There are potential barriers to communication

To contribute to Special Educational Needs & Disability (SEND) including providing:

Assessment and support at the Targeted and Specialist level as set out in the Warwickshire SEND Provision Matrix

Specified and quantified advice for Education, Health & Care Plan (EHCP) as required by the SEND Code of Practice (2014) and Children & Families Act (2014)

To attend Annual Reviews and termly reviews of targets as required

To liaise with other professionals and teams in a consultative capacity in relation to management of individual children and attend and contribute to meetings involving parents and other professionals (e.g. case conferences, Annual Review of EHCP, etc.)

To supervise and support SLTAs in undertaking programmes for individual children on caseload.

To work with other members of the local and countywide teams and members of other teams to achieve seamless, co-ordinated service provision.

To support the team in the development and provision of training / teaching packages for LA staff

To collaborate with LA support service teachers / early years teachers in the provision of training / teaching packages, as required

To undertake workshop sessions for parents (including evening sessions) as required.

To work collaboratively with a range of multi-disciplinary and multi-agency professionals to provide high quality SLT services for children with speech, language and communication difficulties

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Recognised Speech and Language Therapy Degree
• Registered member of HCPC
• Registered member of RCSLT
• Evidence of successful completion of short courses related to early intervention
• Evidence of PCI / ACI training
• Post graduate training e.g. teaching qualification

Experience

Essential

• Significant post registration experience of working with paediatrics and families
• Significant experience of working in a variety of educational settings
• Significant Experience of developing and delivering training to other professionals
• Experience of delivering parent / adult based interventions
• Experience of developing new initiatives
• Experience of working as a member of a multidisciplinary multiagency team
• Experience of working with specialist client groups e.g. Cleft Palate, Learning Disability, Stammering, Autism
• Experience of supervising less experienced SLT colleagues
• Experience of supervising SLTA's and teaching assistants

Desirable

• Significant experience of running groups for children

Skills

Essential

• Demonstrate highly developed visual and auditory discrimination skills to undertake phonetic transcription
• Demonstrate an ability to analyse and interpret information holistically in order to build up a picture of the child and family
• Demonstrate knowledge of developmental and medical conditions which may occur in the client group and the effect on communication
• Demonstrate an ability to analyse and interpret the complex information from assessment in the light of the child's other strengths and weaknesses, home environment and educational setting in order to devise a management plan

Desirable

• Demonstrate knowledge of adult learning styles
• Demonstrate knowledge of a range of therapeutic interventions related to the client group e.g. parent-based intervention, ACITM sign & symbol systems, Derbyshire Language Schemes

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

South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Warwick / Acorn House / Cape Road Clinic

Cape Road

Warwick

CV34 4JP

Employer's website

https://www.swft.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)