Paediatric Schools Based Occupational Therapist

Sheffield: across various Mainstream school settings and therapy sites.

Full time: 37.5 hours per week – 4 days on site and 1 remote in term time, more flexible non-term time

Salary band: £39,959 to £56,515 DOE

Start Date: ASAP

About Held Health

Held Health is dedicated to supporting children, young people, and their families through tailored services for mental health, autism, and ADHD.

With a growing multidisciplinary team, for the most part, we provide high-quality assessments and interventions that make a real difference in the lives of children across the UK.

We are excited to say this role is based within our team covering Sheffield providing Universal and Targeted Support in school settings and at a clinic location out of term-time.

We would especially welcome applicants who have experience in Autism assessments e.g. ADOS training. There is also opportunity to develop your career in this area with us out of term-time.

Please send your cv to recruitment@held.health to be considered.

Role Overview

We are seeking a dynamic and motivated Paediatric Occupational Therapist to provide embedded support, education strategies, group interventions, and staff training to meet the needs of children and young people with SEN and neurodiverse learners.

You will be joining an existing national multidisciplinary Held Health therapy team, with a broad range of specialisms such as Play Therapists, Clinical Psychologists, Psychiatrists etc. You will be part of a local team of SaLTs and OTs dedicated to education services in Sheffield.

This is an exciting opportunity for a therapist who is passionate about developing their career within a supportive environment whilst working collaboratively, managing your own caseload of settings. The role is primarily about early intervention, consultation and building the school's capacity to support children with SEN.

Key Responsibilities

• Functionally assess pupils in context using clinical observation skills to identify emerging needs across the school environment and identify both what is affecting everyday participation across environments and those requiring referral to other OT services.
• Complete occupational analysis by breaking down tasks such as handwriting, dressing for PE, using cutlery, organising equipment or accessing a lesson to understand where the barriers are occurring.
• Advise teachers and SENCOs by writing recommendations or modelling practical strategies for individual pupils, groups and classes.
• Run or jointly deliver targeted groups, for example: curriculum friendly strategies for students with ADHD, understanding sensory processing, or fine motor skill development.
• Coach and train staff to use strategies independently rather than relying on therapist-led interventions.
• Audit the schools’ learning environments with MDT working and sensitivity to reasonable adjustments.
• Focus on whole-school approaches and communication-friendly environments rather than individual therapeutic needs.
• Work with parents/carers, including advice, strategies, resources, workshops and helping families understand how strategies can be used consistently at home and school.
• Help to develop the offer in schools including writing and preparing training and resources.
• Participate in carrying out individual Autism assessments as part of our broader service and neurodevelopmental assessment pathway out of term-time. This may include some parent interview information-gathering appointments or carrying out ADOS-2 assessments.
• Maintain accurate record keeping including reports, audits, training logs and intervention plans where required.