Lead Occupational Therapist Band 7 (School-based)
Specialist SEND School, Central London
£44,000 - £49,000 per annum, depending on experience, Permanent contract (Term Time Only)
September 2026 start
Are you a Band 7 Occupational Therapist ready to step into a leadership role? Or a clinically strong Band 6 who has been waiting for the right environment to make that move?
This is not a role where leadership is a title without substance. This is a genuine opportunity to shape how OT provision is delivered across a well-established specialist school in central London, while holding a meaningful clinical caseload and working within a multidisciplinary therapy team that is integrated into every part of school life.
The School
The school supports neurodiverse young people aged 11 to 19. Students here have a range of needs, including autism, ADHD, dyspraxia and developmental coordination difficulties, specific learning difficulties, and speech, language and communication needs. Many hold EHCPs. Most present with complex, layered profiles that require careful assessment, thoughtful planning, and consistent therapeutic input across the whole school day.
Class sizes are small. Staff-to-student ratios are high. The therapy team works alongside teachers, not separately from them. Occupational Therapists, Speech and Language Therapists, and Mental Health Practitioners operate as a genuine multidisciplinary team, sharing knowledge, planning together, and supporting one another clinically. The school has been rated excellent in all areas by the Independent Schools Inspectorate, with inspectors specifically noting the strength of the integrated therapy model.
This is a school where therapy is taken seriously at every level of leadership.
The Lead OT Role
Your timetable will be structured and protected. You will have a minimum of 10 PPA sessions per week, clinical supervision every four to six weeks, and line management supervision every four weeks. You will not be expected to fight for time to do your job properly.
Your responsibilities will include:
- Leading and developing OT provision across the school
- Holding a clinical caseload of up to four classes
- Mentoring and supporting junior OT staff
- Delivering individual, paired, and group therapy sessions
- Completing standardised and observational assessments throughout the year
- Contributing to IEPs and annual reviews
- Running three joint planning sessions per half term with class teachers
- Maintaining clinical notes within 24 hours of each session
- Leading or contributing to staff training and parent workshops each term
- Parent contact, home-school liaison, and termly goal-setting
Therapy at this school is integrated into the school day at every level. You will be in classrooms, supporting students at lunch, and joining trips where appropriate. The expectation is that you are a visible, active part of school life, not a specialist operating behind a closed door.
The Young People
The students you will work with present with sensory processing differences, fine- and gross-motor difficulties, self-regulation challenges, executive function difficulties, and barriers to independence in daily life. Many have experienced years of not quite fitting in mainstream settings. For most of them, this school is the first place that has genuinely understood their needs.
Your role is to understand each student's profile in depth, work alongside teachers and other therapists to embed the right strategies into daily routines, and ensure that progress made in therapy sessions translates into real gains in confidence, independence, and participation.
Who This Role Suits
This role will suit you if you are HCPC registered and working at Band 7, or if you are a clinically strong Band 6 with solid paediatric or SEND experience and a clear ambition to lead. You will have experience working with young people with autism, sensory processing needs, or developmental coordination difficulties, and you will understand what it means to deliver therapy in a school context.
You may already have experience mentoring or supervising junior therapists. If not, you will have a genuine drive to develop in that direction and the clinical confidence to do so.
The right person for this role is someone who thinks beyond the individual session. You understand that the most effective OT intervention happens in collaboration, in context, and over time. You are someone who wants to influence a team's culture, not just deliver a caseload.
Experience in a school-based setting is essential.
If you are interested in this lead OT position, apply now or contact Heeji Moon at Parker Smith Inclusion.