Specialist Speech And Language Therapy Assistant

The starting salary for this position is £28,963 per annum for 36 hours per week, across 42 weeks of the year. The role is term-time, plus an additional 15 days per year. The full-time equivalent for this role is £31,262.

The North West Surrey Schools Speech and Language Therapy team is excited to be hiring a full-time Specialist Speech and Language Therapy Assistant. In this role you will be working in our mainstream schools, supporting children to meet their communication potential, empowering school staff to confidently support communication needs and taking part in service development work.

Your office base will be in Woking although we promote agile and hybrid working. All therapy staff are provided with a laptop and mobile phone to allow flexible working, and we are committed to providing a healthy work life balance, considering flexible working wherever possible.

Rewards and Benefits

• Flexible working around core school hours, with mobile and agile working solutions
• Belonging to a team of students, therapists and assistants led by a Therapies Manager who is a SLT
• Comprehensive clinical supervision programme including a buddy, 1:1 meetings with line manager, extensive in house training programme and formal external training opportunities, access to clinical effectiveness groups, case study groups, termly team study days
• The unique opportunity to work as part of a team of specialist SLTAs with a wide range of knowledge and experience working in primary, secondary and post-16 settings
• Opportunities to develop coaching skills by taking on support of other assistants. Training and support is provided
• Generous local government salary-related pension and the option to join the car lease scheme
• An extensive Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to support health and wellbeing
• Learning and development hub where you can access a wealth of resources
• Lifestyle discounts including gym, travel, shopping and many more
• Up to 5 days of carer’s leave per year
• Paternity, adoption and dependents leave

About the team

The Speech and Language Therapy Service is part of Surrey County Council’s local offer to support the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities of children and young people within mainstream schools and specialist provision. This Service is part of the Inclusion & Additional Needs Team in Surrey's Children, Families and Lifelong Learning Directorate, and as such works collaboratively with other teams such as Educational Psychology, Specialist Teachers and SEN teams.

The Surrey SLT service is a large team (over 160) of both qualified therapists and non-qualified Therapy Assistants. We have excellent supervision and CPD models plus a rolling in-house training programme.

One of our Therapists was voted People’s Choice in the Surrey Stars Awards, receiving over 500 votes showing how well the service is regarded in the organisation!

About the role

You will work under the direction of Speech and Language Therapists in the team but will be expected to spend a large amount of the working week working autonomously within schools. There may be a requirement to work some sessions in specialist schools (based on the service needs). As a Specialist Assistant, you will take a lead role in the development and support of new or less experienced Assistants in the team.

Your main duties in the role of Specialist Speech and Language Therapy Assistant will include:

• Working individually with a child/ young person within a school/college to deliver therapy, review progress and suggest new targets in liaison with the link therapist
• Giving feedback to parents on their child’s progress
• Modelling strategies to school staff
• Problem solving with the class team around meeting children’s needs
• Working with small groups, setting and reviewing group session plans
• Offering shadowing opportunities and peer support to less experienced SLTAs
• Leading assistant meetings
• Contributing to project work to develop the team

Shortlisting criteria

To be considered for shortlisting for this position your application will clearly evidence:

• Experience of working with children and young people under the guidance of Speech and Language Therapy for at least 5 years
• Experience of working in mainstream schools/colleges as an SLT Assistant which could include additional special schools/specialist centre experience
• Ability to work independently and flexibly
• Experience and knowledge of communication strategies and approaches used in Speech and Language Therapy in mainstream schools
• The willingness and ability to travel around the county to meet the demands of the role

Contact us

Please contact us for any questions relating to the role. This could be to discuss flexible working requests, transferable skills or any barriers to employment. For an informal discussion please contact Sarah O’Driscoll via email at sarah.odriscoll@surreycc.gov.uk

The job advert closes at 23:59 on 18.04.2024 with interviews to follow.

We look forward to receiving your application, please click on the apply online button below to submit.

An enhanced DBS ‘Disclosure and Barring Service’ check for regulated activity (formerly known as CRB) and the Children’s and Adults’ Barred List checks will be required for this role.

Our Values

Our values are as important as our abilities and shape who we are as an organisation. Discover more about our values.

Before submitting your application, we recommend you read the job description. Our Life at Surrey handbook also attached provides insights of the culture at Surrey and how as a valued employee, you can help shape our Council.

Our Commitment

Surrey County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. A guaranteed interview will be offered to all disabled applications where:

• The candidate has evidenced the minimum criteria for the role through their application
• The candidate has chosen to share that they have a disability on the application form

Our application form and onboarding process will provide an opportunity to request any reasonable adjustments for the interview and/or the role.

We want to be an inclusive and diverse employer reflecting the community we serve and particularly welcome applications from all underrepresented groups.