Closing date: 03 November 2026

Job summary
Band 4 Children's Occupational Therapy Assistant

We are looking for an experienced, innovative and highly motivated therapy assistant with previous experience of supporting therapy for children to join our newly created Local Authority Experts at Hand Team.

The successful candidate will work alongside qualified Occupational Therapists and support them to provide occupational therapy expertise within the Experts at Hand Programme, working collaboratively with schools and families to build capacity, promote inclusion and improve participation outcomes for children and young people.

We are a friendly and relaxed service which promotes equal opportunities and access for all. We offer excellent training opportunities with a strong emphasis on individual performance appraisal and supervision.

Main duties of the job
As a member of the EaH team you will work under the guidance and supervision of 2 qualified Occupational Therapists. Your duties will include modelling inclusive practices and strategies to school staff as well as therapeutic activities to promote independence, safety and well being. You will help develop, create and model use of visual supports to promote independence and engagement in daily activities and provide practical guidance to school staff on the effective use of sensory resources and equipment. You will support staff with clinical administrative tasks including collating data and feedback, arranging appointments and making telephone calls.

About us
We have an excellent reputation for being innovative, responsive and flexible to the changing clinical needs of the local population. We are treating more patients than ever before and are dedicated to improving services to deliver the best for our patients.

Our mission
Helping local people live longer, healthier lives.

Our vision
Provide safe, personal, co-ordinated care for the community we serve.

Our goals
We have developed six key strategic goals to make sure we continue to support people to live longer, healthier lives.

• To secure the best possible health and wellbeing for all our community
• To integrate and coordinate care in person-centred teams
• To deliver consistent, high quality, safe services
• To support our patients and users in being active partners in their care
• To be recognised as a leader in the fields of medical and multi-professional education, and population-based clinical research
• To innovate and continuously improve the quality of our services to deliver the best outcomes for our local population

Salary
£34,186 to £37,389 a year Per Annum (Pro Rata) Including HCAS

Contract
Fixed term, 2 years

Working pattern
Part-time

Person Specification
Education and Qualifications

• Essential: Training or short courses relevant to the post, eg autism awareness/ child development
• Essential: Formal qualifications relevant to role eg: NVQ or degree in childcare, teaching, playwork, health

Skills and Abilities

• Essential: Good written communication
• Essential: Excellent IT skills, with experience of using Microsoft office including Word and Excel
• Desirable: Good working knowledge of patient data systems (RIO)

Other

• Essential: Able to travel between clinics, schools and community settings

Knowledge and Experience

• Essential: Experience working in a clinical role as a teaching assistant, therapy assistant or co-worker.
• Essential: Experience working with school aged children
• Essential: Knowledge of some common childhood conditions e.g. autism, developmental co-ordination disorder
• Essential: Understanding of the cultural & demographic factors in Islington and experience of working with families with English as an additional language

Disclosure and Barring Service Check
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.

Certificate of Sponsorship
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. From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement.

Employer details
Employer name: Whittington Hospital NHS Trust
Address: Northern Health Centre, 580 Holloway Road, Islington, N7 6LB, United Kingdom
Website: https://www.whittington.nhs.uk/

For questions about the job, contact:
Joint Team Lead Mainstream Schools, Liz Relf, elizabeth.relf@nhs.net

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