Specialist Speech and Language Therapy Assistant

Job Description

The North East Surrey School SLT team is looking for a Specialist Speech and Language Therapy Assistant to work 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.They 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. This Specialist Assistant will take a lead role in the development and support of new or less experienced assistants in the team.Job Details£25,609 per annum actual salary pro-rata to £27,641 for 36 hours per week, across 42 weeks of the year. The role is term time, plus an additional 15 days per year. You will have a Surrey base and work in schools.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 and job sharing where possible. You will benefit from a generous Local government salary-related pension offered and the option to join the car lease scheme. For more information, please visit MyBenefits for Surrey County Council staff.About the ServiceThe School-Aged Speech and Language Therapy (SLT) Service is part of Surrey County Councils local SEND offer, working collaboratively in the Vulnerable Learners team in Surreys Children, Schools and Families Directorate, with other teams like educational psychology and specialist teachers.We aim to deliver the right support at the right time, through assessment and intervention, and by equipping families and professionals with the skills and resources to work together to help and support children with SLCN. We follow the Balance model to offer universal, targeted and specialist support for children, families, and the school workforce, and work with children and young people with EHCPs (Education, Health & Care Plan) and those at SEN (Special Education Needs) support.About the RoleThis is a great opportunity to further develop your clinical skills as a non-qualified member of the team and to work in a more autonomous way in order to develop our service to those in schools with speech, language and communication needs.Your main duties in the role of Specialist Speech and Language Therapy Assistant will include but not be limited to: Working individually with a child/ young person within a school, giving feedback on therapy plans and reviewing targets. As a specialist therapy assistant, you will identify appropriate new targets for the link therapist Giving feedback to parents on their childs progress Modelling strategies to school staff Problem solving with the class team around meeting childrens needs, seeking support and guidance from the link therapist where this falls outside your knowledge and experience Working with small groups, setting and reviewing group session plans, seeking support and guidance from the link therapist where this falls outside your knowledge and experience Offering shadowing opportunities and peer support to less experienced SLTAs Leading assistant meetings Contributing to project work to develop the teamTo be shortlisted to interview 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 as an SLT assistant but additional special schools/specialist centre experience would also be of benefit Ability to work independently and flexibly Experience and knowledge of communication strategies and approaches used in Speech and Language Therapy in mainstream schoolsWe are particularly interested to hear from candidates with experience of delivering Speech and Language Therapy remotely using virtual therapy techniques.For more information, please refer to the full job description attached below before submitting your application.Additional InformationFor an informal discussion please contact Melissa Sartin on or by e-mail at .ukThe closing date for this advert is Monday 19th April, although we will be looking at applications as they come in and may shortlist in advance of closing date. Interviews will be held on Wednesday 28th and Thursday 29th April.Surrey County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We want to be an inclusive and diverse employer of first choice reflecting the community we serve and particularly welcome applications from all under represented groups.An enhanced DBS Disclosure and Barring Service check for regulated activity (formerly known as CRB) and the Childrens and Adults Barred List checks will be required for this role.Company InformationOur ValuesOur values are what support our vision, shape the culture and are crucial in delivering our corporate strategy.