Occupational Therapy Assistant

An exciting vacancy has arisen for an Occupational Therapy Assistant, to join a growing therapy team in a specialist education setting in rural Norfolk. This is a fantastic opportunity to take on a term-time only role, working 40 hours per week.

Due to the location of the site, it is essential that you have access to your own transport.

Main Purpose of the Role:

To assist the Occupational Therapy team in providing Occupational Therapy services, covering all aspects of the students’ occupational, functional, and sensory development within their school environment, working in a way that puts their health, safety and welfare first.

The main focus of this role will be to support the implementation of Occupational Therapy support and therapy programmes with identified students within the setting.

The assistant will be part of the Occupational Therapy team, working closely with the class teams and other therapists to create an enabling environment, and supporting students to actively engage with their social and academic environment.

Key Duties

• Assist the Occupational Therapist and the class teams in creating a sensory friendly and enabling environments within the setting.
• Work alongside the Occupational Therapist in the assessment of students within both schools
• Implementing interventions and programmes with classes and pupils as directed by the Occupational Therapy Team and wider clinical and SEN team
• Together with the class teams support students’ sensory, motor and occupational needs to be able to develop their daily living skills as well as engage with their social and academic environments
• To liaise effectively with multi-disciplinary colleagues and maintain associated records
• Research, advise on and source, or prepare and make, equipment and materials which contribute to the efficient delivery of Occupational Therapy services
• Under direction of senior clinical team members, prepare training materials and / or support training to staff in relevant areas as appropriate and as required
• Administrative duties as assigned by senior clinical team members and clinical lead

Essential Requirements

• GCSE Maths and English Language qualification minimum Grade 4 or equivalent is essential.
• Interest in developing young people’s functional skills and meeting sensory needs
• Commitment to and experience of supporting children and young people with a variety of SEN
• Confidence in own communication skills, and ability to guide and motivate other staff
• Ability to work flexibly and as part of a busy team
• Fluent in written and spoken English with the ability to communicate complex information in a clear manner to a range of audiences including young people, parents, and professionals.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and an ability to relate to others and develop good working relationships.
• Good time-management and organisation skills. Ability to organise and prioritise own workload.
• Ability to keep legible and accurate notes.
• Ability to cope with working in an environment that can be unpredictable.
• Good IT skills for administration, presentations, recording and reporting systems.
• A positive and creative approach in meeting individual needs.
• A patient, caring, encouraging, tactful and caring attitude.
• A basic understanding of the purpose and role of Occupational Therapy within a special education needs setting.
• Good observational and listening skills.

If you meet the above criteria, please apply immediately! For any queries, please contact Sophie Lamont at Reed Cambridge.