Occupational Therapist

Salary: NHS Fringe Band 5-7 depending on experience

Line Manager: Head of Therapies, Therapies Lead

Supervisory Responsibilities: Support staff as directed

Forest Bridge School is an all-through Special Free School for children with autism which opened in September 2015. The aim of the school is to provide a suitable environment with a high level of therapeutic support and excellent teaching to allow pupils with autism to achieve their full potential and to make the most of their intelligence, focus and skills. Forest Bridge School will help each pupil that leaves the school to progress into training, employment or further education. You will join a dedicated team of staff who will establish a culture in which every pupil has the opportunity to thrive and flourish.

The aim is for Forest Bridge School to be an outstanding provision for children and young people with autism, which has a rooting in ABA (Applied Behavioural Analysis) and with each individual pupil’s potential at the heart.

We want all of the ‘teachers’ in a pupil’s life to work in close partnership, delivering outstanding teaching to enable each child to achieve their best possible outcomes. At Forest Bridge School this partnership will include: parents, teachers, behaviour analysts, speech and language therapists, occupational therapists and tutors.

Our therapists work in collaboration with the class teachers, ABA supervisors and parents in the best interest of each pupil.

We offer an exciting career opportunity for someone who wants to make a significant contribution to the development of our school on its journey to Outstanding. 

The successful applicant will be/have a commitment to be: 

• Be a good (with desire to be outstanding) or an outstanding practitioner who has high expectations of self and others and is passionate about encouraging all pupils to achieve success. 
• Be ambitious to support and extend the communication opportunities for all of our pupils. 
• Have a commitment to working in partnership with ABA professionals, Class Teachers, Speech and Art Therapists, other staff, parents and the community to reduce the barriers to learning that children and young people with autism face and promote excellent learning opportunities for all. 
• Have drive, enthusiasm and a clear vision for achieving educational excellence for children with autism. 
• Have strong interpersonal skills. 

If successful you will work hard, be approachable, creative, pragmatic and solution focused. You will have a unique opportunity to help shape the future of our growing school! You will receive professional development to meet your individual needs and a very supportive Leadership Team to mentor you throughout your career at Forest Bridge School.

The school is committed to safeguarding children and the successful applicant will be required to apply for an enhanced certificate from the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Before submitting an application, we invite you to contact Elizabeth Farnden (Headteacher) at head@forestbridgeschool.org.uk to arrange an informal Teams call and learn more about the role.

Applications are reviewed and shortlisted on a rolling basis and we reserve the right to interview, appoint and close adverts early due to the volume of applications we receive. We therefore encourage you to apply at the earliest opportunity to avoid disappointment as once we have closed a vacancy you will be unable to submit your application form