Band 6 Specialist Occupational Therapist (Education)

Job summary

We are currently expanding the size of our therapies team by recruiting occupational therapists to support the rise in statutory occupational therapy provision and SEND Support services across the London Borough of Sutton. As part on the Governments SEND reform we are developing a new and exciting Experts At Hand service launching in September 2026; this will be embedded into our therapies service.

We are seeking enthusiastic occupational therapists to join our friendly and supportive team. Collaborative working is an important part of the role. This is an exciting opportunity to be part of a dynamic team providing innovative therapy interventions following evidence-based practice and an embedded model of therapy in order to best support the pupils needs.

Main duties of the job

Working within a multidisciplinary team of Occupational Therapists and Speech Therapists the post holder will have the opportunity to work in local schools and colleges across the 4 years to 25 years age range or with a smaller age range within this.

Advising and supporting a range of schools and settings with children and young people with Occupational Therapy Needs (OT Needs) including a possible cohort with ASD, or PMLD to manage their caseload to ensure that intended outcomes are delivered within agreed service standards.

Raising awareness of the needs of and strategies available for children and young people with OT Needs.

Deliver specialist paediatric occupational therapy within mainstream schools using the Experts at Hand model, focusing on early intervention, inclusion, and embedding practical strategies into everyday teaching and learning.

Provide on-demand consultation, advice, and training to education staffsupporting children and young people based on functional need without requiring diagnosis or EHCP and working collaboratively with families and multi-agency partners.

Build capacity and confidence within education settings through time-limited, needs-led support, combining clinical practice, coaching, and system-level input to improve outcomes and demonstrate impact aligned with local SEND priorities.

About us

Cognus Therapies are a thriving multidisciplinary team of occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, teachers, practitioners and therapy assistants who support children and young people aged 4 - 25 years in mainstream schools, colleges, and specialist settings within the London Borough of Sutton and surrounding boroughs.

Cognus Therapies is owned by the London Borough of Sutton and forms part of Cognus Limited who are the providers for special educational needs services within the borough.

Details

• Date posted: 25 September 2026
• Pay scheme: Other
• Salary: £44,660.21 to £53,046.29 a year inclusive of HCAS
• Contract: Permanent
• Working pattern: Full-time, Part-time, Term time hours
• Reference number: N0016-26-0030
• Job locations: Cognus Limited, First Floor, Cantium House, Railway Approach, Wallington, Surrey, SM6 0DZ, United Kingdom

Job responsibilities

• To personally undertake a case load of referrals to include:
• Visiting and assessing children and young people with OT Needs.
• To appropriately identify service provision in line with child and young persons needs at specialist, targeted or universal level of support.
• Delivery of specialist programmes on an individual and/or small group basis.
• Advice and treatment for children and young people with functional difficulties and sensory processing needs.
• Offering advice to parents and carers as well as teaching staff at a targeted or universal level.
• Maintaining children/young peoples records to a high standard.
• Screening and prioritising new referrals in order to determine the need and level of occupational therapy provision required in line with service criteria.
• At the point of referral gathering relevant information regarding previous and current input from health and social care services.
• Carrying out a range of non-standardised and standardised assessments and interpreting a range of factors relating to the child or young persons condition; focusing on access to education.
• Providing reports to referrers and other agencies involved in the child/young persons care.
• Contributing to professional advice regarding the statutory assessment and annual review process both in Sutton and in out-of-borough settings if necessary.
• Plan, create and deliver a wide range of tailored interventions and/or therapy programmes where direct OT input is indicated and effectively hand over prescribed programmes through training and modelling with teaching staff, parents and carers.
• To recommend, provide or advise on provision of equipment and take responsibility for demonstrating its usage and training clients/carers.
• To undertake risk assessment in complex moving and handling situations where appropriate i.e. provision of equipment identified for the school environment.
• To monitor and record child or young persons progress and effectiveness of intervention through goal setting, outcome measurement and evaluation of practice and to communicate these as required to key stakeholders.
• To liaise and establish communication networks with the multidisciplinary team, external voluntary and statutory organisations as appropriate in planning for child or young persons treatment.
• Promotion of effective inclusion of children and young people into all aspects of the school curriculum.
• Maintain effective liaison with all partners e.g., parents, professionals in Education, Health, Social Care and other Services with particular regard to Safeguarding and best practice.
• Promote robust transition arrangements for pupils with Occupational Therapy needs including: Collaboration with a range of partner agencies to create effective transition support for specific children and young people.
• To be aware of changing trends in treatment and promote Evidence Based Practice; embedding this into own specialist area of work in order to provide the highest standard of care to service users.
• To participate in clinical audit, service development activities and research programmes as required. To contribute to formulating policies for specialist area and proposals for general service changes.
• As part of the therapies team to plan, deliver and evaluate training sessions for schools and educational providers.
• To engage with continual professional development as identified through managerial and clinical supervision and appraisal, including attending training and courses as agreed.
• Attending and contributing to Team meetings.
• Identifying needs and seeking advice within the framework of specialist teams and wider agencies as appropriate
• Liaison with parents and carers and schools to find collaborative strategies to overcome barriers to learning and attend multi-agency meetings as required.
• Embedding legislative change and key developments relating to improved outcomes for children and young people with Occupational Therapy Needs.
• To comply with the Cognus Limited mandatory training requirements.

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

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. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

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. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).