Paediatric Band 6 Occupational Therapist - SEN
Central London
Permanent Contract, September 2026 Start
Full-time (term time only)
£36,000 - £45,000 Per Annum, Depending On Experience
At some point in your career, you made a decision about the kind of OT you wanted to be. Not the paperwork version. Not the one who gets fifteen minutes with a young person and then writes it up in a room on their own. The version that actually knows the students, knows how they move through the world, and has enough time and context to do something useful with that knowledge. That decision is worth revisiting because the setting you are in now may not be honouring it.
This is a permanent Band 6 Occupational Therapist position at a well-established specialist school in central London, supporting students aged 11 to 19. Most hold an Education, Health and Care Plan. The clinical profile here is specific, and it is worth understanding properly before you apply. The student body is largely higher-functioning, which means the needs are often less visible but no less complex. You will be working with young people whose ASC presentation is frequently masked, whose ADHD is layered with anxiety, whose DCD affects not just their motor skills but their sense of themselves in a school environment that has, for most of their lives, expected things from them that their bodies and nervous systems could not reliably deliver. Sensory processing difficulties are central to day-to-day work, and understanding how sensory needs intersect with emotional regulation, executive function, and social communication is a consistent expectation of this role.
This is not a setting where OT sits at the edges. The school operates a fully integrated therapy model, rated Excellent at its most recent independent inspection, and that rating reflects something real. OTs work in classrooms alongside teachers, not as additional support but as clinical partners who shape how learning is structured and delivered. You will be at lunch, watching how a student manages an unstructured environment. You will be in joint planning sessions with teachers, translating clinical understanding into practical classroom strategies. When a student is dysregulated, the response across the whole staff team is informed by therapeutic thinking, because that thinking has been embedded into how the school operates, not handed over as a laminated sheet.
That consistency matters clinically. It means the work you do in a session has a chance to be reinforced throughout the student's day. For an OT who has spent time in settings where that continuity does not exist, it is a significant difference.
The role carries a caseload across multiple classes. You will deliver therapy sessions, run independence and communication groups, complete standardised and observational assessments, contribute to IEPs and annual reviews, and plan jointly with teaching staff each half term. You will take part in staff training, parent workshops, and the wider life of the school. Clinical supervision runs regularly throughout the year.
What you will need
* HCPC registration as an Occupational Therapist
* Experience supporting young people with sensory processing difficulties, DCD, ASC, or related needs
* Confidence in standardised assessment, clinical documentation, and MDT working
* An understanding of how sensory and motor needs are present in higher-functioning young people
* The ability to work as a genuine part of a multidisciplinary team, not alongside one
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