High Close is a successful non maintained special school offering day and residential provision for young people with complex Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs. Staff within the residential care teams support young people to be able to access their education and provide a waking day curriculum to enable them to learn and develop social skills and coping strategies whilst providing them opportunities to experience new challenges and adventures.
It's a challenging environment, calling for resilience, patience and tolerance, helping us to ensure children can achieve success in a safe environment. Staff have the opportunity to work in a multi-disciplinary team including Education, Therapy and both day and residential Care teams. Staff are given extensive training to meet the needs of the young people including Therapeutic Crisis Intervention
We are looking for an Occupational Therapist who has experience working with children and young people and is seeking to further their career in a special school setting. You would join an experienced Therapy Team who are integral to the provision for the young people at High Close School. You would be responsible for the line management and supervision of an Occupational Therapy Assistant and the assessment and treatment of young people at the school.
Our preferred candidate would have experience in working with young people with Special Educational needs however we welcome all applications. Candidate will need to demonstrate appropriate experience/knowledge of post qualifying relevant work experience (minimum 3 years) and experience of supervision/management responsibilities
Flexible working options are available from a minimum of two days a week term time to 5 days a week. The role is term time only (plus a training week in the summer holidays) and will require the successful candidate to work additional hours each week to receive full pay over the school holiday periods. Staff are also given a paid day off on their birthday following a successful probationary period
Barnardo's offers various opportunities and benefits to staff such as an Employee Assistance Programme which offers support to employees and their families and various other incentives such as the Employee benefit schemes where staff can access discounts for high street stores and popular activities.
When completing your application please refer to your skills knowledge and experience in relation to the Person Specification and Job Description. Please ensure you give as much information as possible in order to evidence your knowledge and capacity to fulfil the role.
For further information please contact Anne-Marie Stewart Wright on 0118 9785767.
Barnardo's Schools are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expects all staff and volunteers to share in this commitment.
Our safer recruitment processes mean that the safety and welfare of the child is paramount at every stage of the process and therefore we adopt rigorous scrutiny in our pre-employment checking. Applicants must be willing to undergo relevant pre-employment checks, including references being taken up prior to interview and for the successful candidate, an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, in line with the Keeping Children Safe in Education Statutory Guidance.
As part of your application, you will need to provide full details of your employment since leaving secondary education, starting with your current or most recent employment first and then by working backwards, including reasons for leaving. Please also include any periods of voluntary work and/or training, providing reasons for any periods not in employment, education or training.
Read further about our commitment to safeguarding and our pre-employment checks in our applicant information sheet below.
Please note due to the high volume of applications for some posts, this advert might close before the displayed closing date. We recommend that you apply for this role as soon as possible.
About Barnardo's
At Barnardo's we believe in children – no matter who they are, what they have done or what they have been through. Please read about our basis and values following the link below. You will be asked questions relating to them as part of the recruitment process for this role.
Barnardo's is committed to having a diverse and inclusive workforce for staff and volunteers. Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) is reflected in our values and our practice, and we have invested in this area of our work to ensure that we can deliver on our commitments to be an inclusive employer. EDI is a key enabler of our purpose as a charity and we want to ensure that the diversity of our teams is reflective of the communities we serve and that we continue to learn and develop our work with a focus on inclusion. We particularly encourage applications from candidates from Black, Asian and Minoritised Ethnic Communities, candidates who are LGBT+ and Disabled candidates.