Job summary
Highly Specialist Occupational Therapist - Band 7 Enfield Children's Services (Fern Special School) 0.5WTE

We are seeking a creative, friendly, and enthusiastic Occupational Therapist to join our established Children's Therapy Team as a Highly Specialist Band 7 OT based at Fern Special School.

In this rewarding role, you will deliver occupational therapy to children and young people aged 5-16 with Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) needs and Autism. Alongside clinical work, you will contribute to service development, audits, and staff training, helping to shape and enhance the quality of care we provide.

Although primarily school-based, you will be part of a wider, supportive OT service that includes therapists working across schools and community settings (19 team members). We pride ourselves on being a dynamic and welcoming team with high staff satisfaction, offering clinical leadership, Monthly in-service training, High-quality supervision and access to a wide range of internal and external training opportunities.

We are looking for someone committed to occupation-focused, family-centred, and evidence-based practice.

Essential requirements:

• Qualified Occupational Therapist
• Experience working with children and/or in community, learning disabilities, autism, or SEMH settings

We are proud to be part of the Royal Free London North Mid NHS Trust, with excellent transport links to central London and Hertfordshire.

Main duties of the job
The post holder will work as a highly specialist Band 7 Occupational Therapist within Fern Special School, providing occupational therapy input to children and young people aged 5-16 years with Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) needs and Autism.

Fern School delivers a relational, inclusive, attachment-aware and trauma-informed approach to education. The OT role will be central in supporting pupils to access a sensory-informed, experiential curriculum adapted from the National Curriculum.

The post holder will:

• Take a lead role in establishing and developing the OT provision within the school
• Deliver targeted and specialist interventions aligned with EHCP outcomes
• Work collaboratively with teaching staff, SLT, and play therapy services to support functional participation and engagement
• Provide high-quality, child and family centred, occupation-focused assessment and intervention, supporting pupils to maximise their participation in education and daily school life.
• Promote a whole-school approach to occupational performance
• Contribute to and lead on aspects of planning, coordinating, delivering and evaluating the Occupational Therapy service within the school, including service development, clinical pathways, and quality improvement initiatives.

About us
Allied Health Professions (AHPs) are the third largest workforce in the Trust and include dietitians, physiotherapists, podiatrists, occupational therapists, operating department practitioners, orthoptists, diagnostic and therapeutic radiographers, and speech and language therapists.

AHPs can work autonomously, lead teams and have a critical contribution to make to children and adults and all patient journeys including end-of-life care. AHPs provide direct patient care, offer numerous rehabilitation approaches, operate sophisticated diagnostic, screening and treatment equipment and contribute to broader population health outcomes.

Many patients have complex needs and AHPs, whether working autonomously or in collaboration with other health and social care staff, have a positive impact on health outcomes and are essential to high quality, timely and accessible healthcare.

Our refreshed seven strategic ambitions for the next five years. They build on the work completed in 2020 and provide a framework to support us in achieving our vision to deliver outstanding diagnostics, treatment and rehabilitation and promote the health of our local population in partnership with others.

Job responsibilities
Main Clinical Duties and Responsibilities

• Manage a specialist school-based caseload of children and young people with SEMH needs, Autism and co-occurring complexities, providing high-quality occupational therapy assessment and intervention.
• Lead the development and delivery of an evidence-based Occupational Therapy service within Fern School, including universal, targeted and specialist provision, aligned with EHCP outcomes.
• Deliver school-based (and where appropriate home-based) intervention, supporting pupils to access learning, develop independence, and prepare for adulthood.
• Set occupation-focused, person-centred goals collaboratively with pupils, families and school staff, ensuring shared understanding and meaningful outcomes.
• Maintain high standards of clinical practice, using evidence-based approaches and outcome measures to evaluate progress at both individual and whole-class levels.
• Work closely with teaching staff to design and deliver class-based and targeted intervention programmes.
• Apply a holistic, occupation-centred approach, analysing the dynamic interaction between the young person, their environment, and the demands of activities to support participation in key areas (Self-care, Learning and Play/leisure)
• Develop and implement individualised intervention plans, including: direct intervention, environmental adaptations, staff and parent training, programmes and strategies to support participation
• Build and maintain effective, supportive relationships with parents and carers, recognising the impact of stress and complexity.
• Provide education, training and advice to school staff and families to embed consistent, long-term occupational therapy strategies.
• Contribute to integrated support planning across education, health and social care, working collaboratively with: SLT and play therapy, Local Authority SEN services

Person Specification
Qualifications & Registration
Essential

• Degree or Diploma in Occupational Therapy
• HCPC Registration as an Occupational Therapist
• Evidence of ongoing Continuing Professional Development (CPD)

Desirable

• Postgraduate qualification in a relevant area
• RCOT membership
• Relevant specialist training (e.g. attachment, trauma-informed approaches, regulation strategies)

Experience
Essential

• Significant post-qualification experience working with children and young people
• Experience working with children with Autism and SEMH needs
• Experience of managing a complex caseload
• Experience working within EHCP processes and education settings

Desirable

• Experience working in a special school setting
• Experience working as a Band 7 or equivalent senior role
• Experience contributing to or leading service development projects
• Experience delivering interventions at universal, targeted and specialist levels

Knowledge
Essential

• Knowledge of the SEND Code of Practice and EHCP processes
• Knowledge of child development and occupational therapy practice in paediatrics
• Knowledge of SEMH, Autism and associated needs
• Understanding of safeguarding procedures and relevant legislation

Desirable

• Knowledge of neuroaffirming practice
• Knowledge of trauma-informed and attachment-aware practice
• Knowledge of outcome measures and audit processes

Skills & Abilities
Essential

• Ability to deliver occupation-focused assessment and intervention
• Strong clinical reasoning and problem-solving skills
• Ability to work autonomously and prioritise workload effectively
• Excellent communication skills with children, families and professionals

Desirable

• Ability to design and deliver training programmes
• Skills in coaching and mentoring staff
• Ability to lead service improvement initiatives
• Experience in influencing whole-school practice

Personal Qualities
Essential

• Compassionate, empathetic and child-centred approach
• Resilient and able to work with complex and sometimes challenging situations
• Flexible and adaptable to changing service demands

Desirable

• Reflective practitioner with commitment to innovation

Other Requirements
Essential

• Ability to travel between sites where required
• Commitment to professional standards, confidentiality and safe practice

Desirable

• Experience working across different service settings

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website.

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website.