Occupational Therapist - 2 days per week - self employed

We are looking for an enthusiastic, motivated, forward thinking Music Therapist to join our friendly team within an independent specialist SEN School based in East London.

We are currently looking to expand our successful Therapy Department and are hoping to recruit several part-time positions (hours, days and salaries to be agreed with the successful candidates), one of them is for one Music Therapist 

You will be working within a multi-disciplinary team, which will consist of a Drama Therapist, an Art Therapist, a Psychotherapist, an Occupational Therapist and a Speech and Language Therapist, as well as the wider staff.

This part-time post is suitable for practitioners looking to extend their clinical experience within the field of Autism, Learning Disabilities and trauma and work within a specialist educational setting.

The school

Hopewell has two sites; the school is situated in Dagenham and provides education for pupils aged 7 to 19 years who have EHC Plans. Our second site is motorvations@hopewell which is a specialist vocational centre based in Romford and offers a range of vocational experiences, courses and qualifications.

All of our pupils have a range of complex needs including social, emotional and behavioural problems with or without mental health issues and ASD.

Children and young people come to Hopewell for a number of reasons. Some of which are associated with young people struggling with the challenges of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, opposition defiance disorder and conduct disorder. Others have suffered traumatic experiences which have impacted on their learning and behaviour.

To support the pupils’ individual needs Hopewell has a team of specialist therapeutic staff who are based on the school site. They work with the young people and their families/carers in a number of ways, through individual therapeutic work, group and family work as well as leading on targeted interventions across the school such as anger management and anti-bullying.

We are looking for qualified and experienced therapist who can join our therapy team who operate across two sites. The ideal candidate will:

●      Have a proven track record of working in schools with complex and challenging young people with an intuitive understanding of their needs and how best to support them.

●       Have the ability to work within a multi-disciplinary therapeutic team and 

     provide appropriate interventions as part of the wider school ethos.

●       Be a team player who is solution focused, bringing positivity, creativity, 

     enthusiasm and innovation to the staff, as well demonstrating a clear 

     understanding of the pupils and their needs.

●      Have the ability to inspire and develop pupils to achieve their full potential.

●      Have high professional standards.

The role of the Music Therapist will be:

●       To assess pupils’ needs in order to identify where and how therapeutic 

      intervention could support them.

●       To develop and implement specialist therapy for pupils between the ages of 7  

      and 18, and to evaluate the outcomes of the intervention (1:1 and small group 

      interventions)

●       To provide advice, support and training to other staff members regarding the 

      management of communication, physical, sensory and emotional difficulties.

●       To enable pupils to access the full curriculum by providing support within the 

      classroom as necessary.

●       To prepare reports and data analysis.

●       To prepare suitable materials to support therapy.

●       To provide written reports for a range of meetings and professionals.

●       To liaise with a range of professional and agencies providing information 

      about our pupils.

●       To work with and support families. 

The Music Therapist might also have to carry out therapeutic work in residential homes (to be discussed). He/she will provide a combined clinical consultative and direct therapeutic service for looked after young people placed in community residential settings. This includes assessing and identifying young people’s needs and meeting them through consultation, supporting the staff and carrying out clinical reporting when needed.

We require applicants to:

●      Have at least two years’ experience delivering music therapy to children with complex needs.

●      Have good written and spoken communication skills, good interpersonal skills and be able to work well within a staff team.

●      She/he must be aware of her/his own strengths and areas for development and be proactive in filling their own gaps in knowledge.

●      All applicants must be registered with the relevant professional (HCPC, BAMT)

Proof of membership and a recent Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check (DBS) will be required upon successful appointment.

In return we offer:

●      Full support from a multidisciplinary team.

●      Support meetings and peer supervision.