Band 6 Paediatric Occupational Therapist – West

Location: West London, Hounslow & Hillingdon Role: Band 6 Paediatric Occupational Therapist (full-time; Term time)
Specialism: Paediatric Occupational Therapy, Sensory Processing & Sensory Integration Client Group: Children & young people within mainstream, specialist secondary education settings and Occasional EOTAS.
Salary: £40,

Unlocking Language is a specialist paediatric therapy service supporting children, young people and their families across London and Essex. We are looking for an experienced and enthusiastic Band 6 Paediatric Occupational Therapist to join our multidisciplinary team, providing school/home based Occupational Therapy across West London, primarily within Hounslow and Hillingdon. This is an exciting opportunity for an Occupational Therapist with experience and an interest in sensory processing, sensory integration, regulation and functional participation within education.

The role offers the opportunity to work across both mainstream and specialist education settings, supporting young people with a diverse range of occupational, sensory, developmental and learning needs. You will work collaboratively with education staff, families and our wider therapy team to ensure that Occupational Therapy strategies are embedded into pupils' everyday learning and school experience.

The successful Occupational Therapist will provide specialist assessment, intervention and advice to children and young people within school settings. The caseload will offer a varied mix of needs and presentations and may include young people with:

• Autism
• Social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) needs
• Sensory processing differences
• Sensory seeking or sensory avoidant behaviours
• Emotional and sensory regulation difficulties
• ADHD
• Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD)/dyspraxia
• Fine and gross motor difficulties
• Motor planning and praxis difficulties
• Poor body awareness and proprioception
• Vestibular processing difficulties
• Attention and engagement difficulties
• Learning disabilities and additional learning needs
• Physical disabilities
• Difficulties with activities of daily living and independence
• Handwriting and functional classroom difficulties
• Difficulties with participation in education and everyday school activities

A key part of the role will be understanding how a pupil's sensory, motor and regulation needs affect their access to learning, independence and participation within school.

Sensory processing and regulation will form an important part of the Occupational Therapy provision.

• Carry out specialist sensory assessments and observations.
• Identify individual sensory processing profiles and how these affect participation, regulation and learning.
• Plan and deliver individualised sensory-based Occupational Therapy programmes.
• Develop sensory strategies and programmes where clinically appropriate.
• Design and deliver sensory circuits, including alerting, organising and calming activities.
• Support pupils experiencing sensory dysregulation.
• Provide strategies for sensory seeking, sensory avoidance and sensory sensitivities.
• Support proprioceptive, vestibular, tactile and interoceptive development.
• Work on body awareness, motor planning, coordination and postural control.
• Advise education staff, parents, therapists and other professionals on environmental adaptations and regulation strategies.
• Develop practical strategies that can be incorporated into pupils' classrooms and wider school routines.
• Support school staff to confidently implement recommended sensory approaches.

As this is a school-based position, you will have the opportunity to work closely with teaching and SEND teams to integrate Occupational Therapy into pupils' everyday environments.

• Observe pupils within classrooms and other school environments.
• Complete comprehensive Occupational Therapy assessments.
• Develop individualised therapy goals and intervention plans.
• Deliver one-to-one and small-group Occupational Therapy interventions where appropriate.
• Review pupils' progress and adapt intervention accordingly.
• Support fine motor, gross motor and visual-motor development.
• Develop handwriting and functional classroom skills.
• Support participation, independence and access to learning.
• Work on self-care and everyday functional skills where appropriate.
• Recommend environmental adaptations and equipment.
• Provide practical strategies for teachers and support staff.
• Liaise with parents, carers, education staff and…