Specialist Speech & Language Therapist

This role has a competitive starting salary of £39,325 per annum (including market supplement), based on 36 hours per week across 42 weeks a year (equivalent to a Band 6 NHS post) pro-rata to £42,446 full-time equivalent.

Are you an enthusiastic, qualified Speech and Language Therapist with over 2 years' experience looking to develop your skills in working with school aged children? 

If so, we can offer great opportunities to join our skilled, supportive and solution-focused team where you will develop the speech, language and communication skills of children with a range of clinical diagnosis e.g. deafness, developmental language disorder, severe and complex learning difficulties, dysphagia, autism.

We are an expanding service with exciting career opportunities where posts can be mixed based on interests, including mainstream schools and colleges, specialist schools as well as developing a specialism in deafness (which could also include an early years caseload) or dysphagia.

We have posts in: 

• North West Surrey (Woking, Runnymede, Surrey Heath)
• South West Surrey (Guildford and Waverley) 
• North East Surrey (Spelthorne, Elmbridge, Epsom & Ewell)
• South East Surrey (Reigate & Banstead and Tandridge)

Rewards and Benefits:

• 42-week contract, working across term-time and an additional, flexible 15 days for CPD, project work and supervision activities as well as 10 weeks holiday in non-term time
• Belonging to a team of students, therapists and assistants led by a Therapies Manager who is an 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 and enhanced probation support, termly whole-team study days, encouragement to join and attend CEN's relating to practice
• Opportunities to develop management skills by taking on line management of assistants or experienced autonomous therapists (NQPs who have completed competencies) and taking students. Training and support is provided
• Paid RCSLT membership and HCPC fees
• An extensive Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to support health and wellbeing
• Up to 5 days of carer's leave per year
• Paternity, adoption and dependants leave
• A generous local government salary related pension
• Lifestyle discounts including gym, travel, shopping and many more
• 2 paid volunteering days plus 1 team volunteering day per year
• Learning and development hub where you can access a wealth of resources

About the Team

The Surrey SLT service is a large team (over 160) of both qualified therapists and non-qualified therapy assistants working in mainstream and specialist provisions through primary, secondary and colleges, with some opportunities for a preschool caseload (deafness and complex specialist schools).

We have excellent supervision and CPD models plus a rolling in-house training programme; we are committed to continuous learning and development. We champion our team and one of our Therapists was voted People's Choice in the Surrey Stars Awards receiving over 500 votes showing just how well the service is regarded in the organisation!

We are a forward thinking service and were involved with the RCSLT and Reading University around the dysphagia competences linked to student placements.

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.

We aim to deliver the right support at the right time, through assessment and intervention; equipping families and professionals with the skills and resources to work together to support children with SLCN. We offer universal, targeted and specialist support for children, families, and the school workforce; working with children and young people with EHCPs and those at SEN support following Surrey's Graduated Response. We also have a specialist dysphagia service and specialist deaf service.

The Specialist Service for deaf children

A team of Specialist SLTs provide an innovative Surrey wide service for school-aged deaf children and young people in mainstream schools and 5 Specialist Resource Bases. The team is also commissioned to support preschool deaf children who meet criteria. The Specialist SLTs work in close collaboration with Advisory Teachers of the Deaf and a team of peripatetic Specialist Teaching Assistants, a Deaf Instructor, an Educational Audiologist and BSL Interpreters.

We have locally defined specialist competencies in relation to deafness with in-house clinical supervision, team meetings and shadowing to share knowledge and expertise of working in this field. Team members are encouraged to be part of service wide initiatives and to contribute to ongoing research and publications. Recent examples include:

• The multi-disciplinary development of Surrey's BSL offer; contributing to a BATOD article reflecting on the training of Deaf Co-workers in Dot Deaf Therapy 
• Implementation of training for mainstream Link SLTs and newly qualified TODs 
• Instigating approaches to capture Pupil Voice and providing support for Surrey's new Preschool Group for deaf children.

Therapists specialising in deafness belong to the wider Surrey SLT Service and work alongside SLTs and SLT Assistants from other disciplines enabling the development and sharing of clinical skills.

About the Role 

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

• Clinical decision making in conjunction with school/college staff around the level of support needed to achieve the best possible outcome for the children and young people on your defined caseload
• Working with assistants, setting targets for the children and young people they are supporting, and monitoring of the delivery and outcomes of their work
• Assessment, advice and intervention for children with a range of speech, language and communication needs within your caseload. For children and young people on your caseload who are considered to have complex needs and where a joint multidisciplinary approach is essential to achieving the best outcome for these children and young people, you will be supported by your clinical team leader
• Supporting junior members of the team, line managing others and taking on students

You will work in partnership with other colleagues to ensure a holistic and child centred approach to identifying and meeting children and young people's needs.

Some examples are:

• Working in the community in close partnership with Advisory Teachers of the Deaf and the wider Physical and Sensory Support team to deliver a service to preschool deaf children and their families in their homes and in nursery settings
• Working with occupational therapists in our feeding pathways and MDT working in Specialist schools
• Joint assessments with educational psychologists
• Supporting the development and delivery of the annual service plan linked to the organisational aims and strategies

Shortlisting Criteria

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

• Degree in Speech and Language Therapy and a minimum of 2 years' experience working as an SLT (slightly less with signed off completion of NQP competencies may be considered)
• Registration with the HCPC and RCSLT, and permission to work in the UK
• An understanding of the English education system including the National Curriculum and SEND code of practice
• Enthusiasm to support the development of the team and service
• Experience of leading and supporting others including newly qualified therapists, assistants, students, work experience placements
• A range of evidence-based interventions used to support children and young people
• For consideration for working in our specialist deaf service you will need experience of working with deaf children and a keen interest in extending your clinical expertise in this field 
• For consideration for working in our specialist dysphagia service you will need experience of working with children with eating and swallowing disorders and a keen interest in extending your clinical expertise in this field 
• For consideration for working in our school based/college service with children needing support with speech, language and communication within a range of diagnoses you will need experience of working within school/college environments and age groups and a keen interest in extending their clinical expertise in this field

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.

The job advert closes at 23:59 on 22.05.2024 with interviews planned for the following week.

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