Job overview
We are seeking an experienced, dynamic, and highly motivated Early Years Speech & Language Therapist to join our Universal Early Years Therapies Team.
As part of a partnership between Whittington Health NHS Trust and Islington Council, the team offers integrated support for families with children under five. This offer is part of the Best Start Family Hubs and Healthy Babies programme, which provides families with a more coordinated, accessible system of support, to ensure early identification of needs, timely intervention and promoting independence and resilience.
In this role, you will be a key member of a multidisciplinary team, contributing to universal therapy services across the Family Hubs by enhancing the home learning environment. Your responsibilities will include:
1. Coordinating the WellComm project, a speech and language screening initiative for Early Years settings.
2. Working collaboratively with Bright Start Speech & Language Therapists, the universal therapies team, and wider multidisciplinary teams to develop children’s play skills, communication, and transition to reception.
You will also co-lead the NICU Discharge Pathway alongside the Best Start Family Hubs Occupational Therapist, supporting parents and carers to build confidence in promoting their baby’s early communication, play and independence, and linking families with community activities.
Main duties of the job
The role requires autonomous practice, with responsibility for organising and delivering universal services for families with children under five.
The post holder will work closely with a wide range of professionals.
They will support practitioners and families in developing children’s speech, language and communication skills.
They will contribute to Bright Start’s approach to early identification and intervention within local communities and deliver training to all professionals working with families of young children across Islington. They will also run parent/carer information sessions in settings such as stay-and-play groups and workshops.
To succeed in this post, the therapist must have strong communication skills and the ability to work sensitively with families from diverse social, cultural and economic backgrounds. They must be able to convey information clearly to parents and carers, drawing on a broad theoretical understanding of early communication needs to reassure families and guide other professionals. Strong negotiation and persuasion skills are essential for supporting adults in the child’s environment to adapt their communication approaches.
The role also requires confidence in working within multidisciplinary and multi-agency teams and the ability to engage with families who may have their own language, learning, mental health needs or present with challenging behaviours.
We have a strong emphasis on individual performance appraisal and supervision.
Working for our organisation
Whittington Health serves a richly diverse population and works hard to ensure that all our services are fair and equally accessible to everyone. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the way we look after our staff. We aim to employ a workforce which is as representative as possible of this population, so we are open to the value of differences in age, disability, gender, marital status, pregnancy and maternity, race, sexual orientation, and religion or belief. The Trust believes that as a public sector organization we have an obligation to have recruitment, training, promotion and other formal employment policies and procedures that are sensitive to these differences. We think that by doing so, we are better able to treat our patients as well as being a better place to work.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Detailed Job Description attached.
The Best Start Family Hubs Speech & Language Therapist (SLT) will contribute to universal therapy services across the Family Hubs by supporting families’ home learning environments. This includes coordinating the WellComm project and working with the Bright Start Speech & Language Therapy team, the universal therapies team, and other multidisciplinary colleagues to strengthen children’s play, communication skills, and transition into reception,
The SLT will also continue to co-lead the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) Discharge pathway alongside the Best Start Family Hubs Occupational Therapist. This pathway focuses on building parents’ and carers’ confidence and skills in supporting their baby’s sensory development, early communication, play and early independence skills, while also helping families connect with local community activities.
Person specification
Education / Qualifications
Essential criteria
3. BSc. Speech Path or Equivalent (including Dip. CST)
4. HCPC licence to practise, and registered member of RCSLT
5. Successful completion of specialist short courses relevant to field including PCI ACT, Makaton, Hanen, CEN’s Bilingualism, Promoting Communication in Early Years, Solihull, Elklan, Solution focussed brief therapy
Skills & Abilities
Essential criteria
6. Skilled in delivering presentations and training and adapting style for a range of audiences
7. Skilled in selecting, setting & evaluating specialist treatment goals
8. Able to apply of specialist knowledge of local, cultural, linguistic & demographic factors to the management of an early years caseload
Desirable criteria
9. Able to critically evaluate published research within a specific area of clinical expertise
Knowledge & Experience
Desirable criteria
10. Knowledge of a specialist range of assessment tools and procedures to evaluate communication, speech & language skills in pre-school children with a wide range of speech, language, and communication needs
11. Knowledge of the key characteristics leading to a differential diagnosis relevant to a range of speech, language and communication disorders, including social communication disorders, DLD and selective mutism
12. Knowledge of a specialist range of therapeutic interventions relevant to pre-school children with a wide range of speech, language and communication needs demonstrating the evidence base for these approaches
13. Knowledge of early identification and preventative programmes and experience in delivering these programmes
14. Experience working with pre-school children with a wide range of speech, language and communication needs
15. Experience of working collaboratively with parents/carers
16. Experience of working with an MDT and within a multi-agency framework
17. Experience of mentoring and supporting less experienced SLTs and/or students
Personal Qualities
Essential criteria
18. Excellent spoken and written communication skills
19. Able to communicate complex, sensitive information
20. Flexible
SAFEGUARDING CHILDREN AND ADULTS
To comply with the Trust’s Safeguarding Children and Adults policies, procedures and protocols. All individual members of staff (paid or unpaid) have a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults This will require you to:
21. Ensure you are familiar with and comply with the London Child Protection Procedures and protocols for promoting and safeguarding the welfare of children and young people.
22. Ensure you are familiar and comply with the London Multi Agency Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults Pan London Procedures.
23. Ensure you are familiar and comply with local protocols and systems for information sharing.
24. Know the appropriate contact numbers and required reporting lines.
25. Participate in required training and supervision.
26. Comply with required professional boundaries and codes of conduct
Whittington Health is committed to safeguarding all children and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.