Speech and Language Therapy Assistant

Children & Young People

Early Years, Education & Skills 

Ref: G4/OL-92420

Contract: Fixed Term (2 years)

Salary: £25,147– £27,596 per annum (Grade 4)

Hours: 37.5 per week

Based: Oldham Council, Civic Centre, Oldham, OL1 1UT (Spindles office)

Closing Date: Sunday 19th May 2024

Shortlisting & Interview Dates: TBC.

Job Description & Person Specification.docx

Role Overview: 

Working within the council’s Early Years, Education & Skills division, you will support delivery of the Early Language Support for Every Child (ELSEC) programme, implementing innovative ways of working under the direction of the ELSEC Speech & Language Therapists.  As a result of your work, schools and educational settings will develop a better understanding of how to implement interventions for speech, language and communication needs.  This will result in early identification and increased school/setting capacity to meet the needs of children.

Key Responsibilities: 

• Assist Speech and Language Therapists in delivering screening and provide intervention in Early Years and Primary School settings, and work closely with teachers, teaching assistants and other allied health professionals.
• Take responsibility for a designated caseload of children who may be across sites in a locality, to deliver universal and targeted support offers to children who have been identified as being at risk of having speech, language, and communication needs.
• Assist qualified staff with allocating children to universal, targeted and specialist support according to the clinical pathway developed for the ELSEC project.
• Undertake tasks that facilitate the smooth running of the ELSEC screening and intervention project, supported by registered clinicians.

Key Requirements: 

To succeed in this role, you will need as a minimum:

• Healthcare, child development or education qualification at level 3 or working towards gaining an equivalent level.
• Experience working with children in early years or of primary school age in a healthcare or education setting.
• Excellent communication skills (written and oral) to receive and provide routine information with parents/carers, school/setting staff and colleagues, which may need some tact, reassurance and persuasion where there may be barriers to understanding.

Oldham Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. 

This post is subject to an Enhanced Disclosure from the DBS (and a Certificate of Good Conduct where you have lived abroad for 12 months or more in the last 10 years). 

If you would like support with this application, an interview or interested in looking at any courses that could help with this position please get in touch with Get Oldham Working - Get Oldham Working registration form - Oldham Council

NB. - Any candidate that meets the criteria of our Guaranteed Assessment Scheme and meets the essential criteria of the role, will be guaranteed the first stage of assessment (whether that is an interview or another assessment, as appropriate).

Our Guaranteed Assessment Scheme supports candidates with disabilities, carers, those who are aged 24 or under and have previously been in or currently in care, and those whose last long term substantive employer was the Armed Forces.

Diversity and Inclusion:

At Oldham Council, we are committed to creating a fair and inclusive workplace that is as diverse as the communities we serve. We aim to develop a culture of respect, where differences are recognised regardless of background. We aim to be an employer of choice by engaging in fair and open recruitment processes and Applications are encouraged from all communities across the borough to create a workforce that represents the diversity of our population.

About Us:

Oldham is committed to developing a Co-operative future; one where citizens, partners and staff work together to improve the borough.  Anyone joining the council is coming into an ambitious organisation with big plans. We are working hard to build a brighter future for our borough and we need people from a wide range of backgrounds to continue delivering the best for our communities.

The Council has a clear set of Values and Behaviours, our Values outline how we do business and we share these borough wide with our residents, partners and businesses.  Internally we have translated these values into five cooperative behaviours which outline the priority areas of focus for all staff at all levels. You can view the Values and Behaviours on our Greater. Jobs pages Working for Oldham

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Please note that should a vacancy that has been released for internal or external recruitment be deemed suitable for an at risk employee, it can be pulled back at any point up to the post being formally offered to an external candidate or an internal candidate that is not at risk of redundancy. 

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