Occupational Therapist - SEN Schools

Overview and Responsibilities

Occupational Therapist – Aurora Woodlands/Brooklands/Keyes Barn School 

Location:  Darwen, Leyland , Preston

Salary: £37,668.80 to £51,896.00 pro rata - depending on skills, experience and qualifications 

Hours:  40hrs per week, Term Time Only

The Aurora Group is an innovative provider of education and care for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities with an ambitious growth plan.

We are looking for an enthusiastic Occupational Therapist to work as part of a therapy team in our North West Aurora Schools. Aurora Brooklands, Keyes Barn and Woodlands Schools provide flexible day placements for students aged 5 to 19 years with communication and associated difficulties or specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia. Some may be on the autistic spectrum or have anxieties and difficulties that create barriers to learning. 

This is an exciting new post that has been created to develop and embed our therapy offer to young people. 

Key duties of the role include:

• Work closely with the SENCo and wider therapy team to ensure the delivery of high quality children’s healthcare and therapy at Woodlands, Brooklands & Keyes Barn
• Closely work with families and outside agencies to ensure that therapy is appropriate to children’s
• Undertake autonomous assessments of children with a wide range of additional needs, including autistic spectrum conditions, sensory and attachment difficulties within the setting of a specialist school.
• Analyse and interpret assessments to recommend and deliver the best course of intervention for each child
• Support individual development and care plans and assist individuals in accordance with their needs and wishes, particularly their activities of daily living, self-care, productivity and leisure
• Formulate, evaluate and review individualised occupational therapy treatment plans, using clinical reasoning skills and utilising a wide range of treatment options to formulate a specialised programme of
• Be responsible for the maintenance of accurate written records in line with professional code of
• To be highly competent in assessing a wide range of conditions experienced by children with complex needs based on advance theoretical knowledge of anatomy, physiology and pathology, often in situations where conflicting evidence is present

A full and detailed job description is available on request. Please email Karen in the Recruitment Team at karen.barnfield@the-aurora-group.com

Skills and Qualifications

Experience and Qualifications required: 

• Diploma/Degree in Occupational Therapy – Essential
• HCPC Registration – Essential
• Ability to demonstrate and commit to continual professional development
• Previous experience in an occupational therapy role
• Experience of Multi-disciplinary team and multi-agency working
• Knowledge and experience of a wide range of approaches to the management of children by advanced clinical reasoning
• Knowledge of the management of children who have autistic spectrum conditions, sensory needs and attachment difficulties, including evidence based strategies.
• Previous experience in a CAMHS or ASC occupational therapy role – Desirable
• Previous experience in a paediatric or special school occupational therapy role – Desirable

Benefits and Additional Information

 What’s on offer?

• Training and Development

Within Aurora, we strongly believe that learning and development should not be limited to just the children and young people we support. We offer wide range of programmes and opportunities to all our employees to improve your skills and further your career. 

• Save money on your bills!!

With the cost of living rising we have a fantastic benefit through Perkbox to help with cutting costs and help make your money go further. Perkbox is a free app for you to use on the go wherever you are. You can get deals and discounts to save money on things like your weekly food bill, phone plans, internet, eating out, gym memberships, insurance and more. You can also use Perkbox for our cycle to work scheme and car scheme. 

• Competitive Pay and Reward

Every year we compare the market rates of pay and rewards to insure they are comparable or better to other similar organisations. We also offer Enhanced Annual Leave, Company Sick Pay, Pension and Life Assurance.

• UK Health Cash Plan

This plan can help cover your day to day healthcare expenditure such as optician and dental bills. You and your children are covered on this plan and you can also choose to upgrade and add a partner to enjoy the benefits with you.

• Employee Assistance Programme

Your health and wellbeing is very important to us and we have support available on a wide variety of issues, helping you with online tools, information and via a freephone counselling service available 24/7. 

• Refer a friend for £1,000

We’ll reward you for recommending friends and family to come and join the company (*terms apply)

How to apply?

Please complete an online application form in full, remembering to include all employment and education details. If you need any assistance or would like any more information please contact Karen in the Aurora Group Recruitment Team at karen.barnfield@the-aurora-group.com

Successful applicants will be subject to pre-employment safeguarding checks including an enhanced disclosure and barring service (DBS) check.

 The post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and the Aurora Group is therefore permitted to ask job applicants to declare all convictions and cautions (including those which are "spent" unless they are "protected" under the DBS filtering rules) in order to assess their suitability to work with children.

 The Aurora Group is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children and young adults in our care and is a disability confident and equal opportunities employer.

This advert could be taken down at any point in time without prior notice if the position is filled. 

Please note that candidates that are shortlisted might be subject to an online search.