Senior Autism Practitioner (Team Leader) - South West

South West Area Services

Senior Autism Practitioner (Team Leader)

Full Time Position Available – 37 hours per week

 Pay Scale:
 Starting at £33,921 rising to £34,471 after engagement. Opportunity to progress to £36,344 at your own pace

  Please note that we are unable to offer visa sponsorship for these roles

  Reference:  SA1125

Embracing difference, leading change

Are you looking for your next step in your social care career? Are you a dynamic leader who thrives on building strong relationships, adapting to new challenges, and bringing out the best in others? If you're passionate about coaching and developing teams to grow and succeed together, this is your opportunity to lead with purpose and make a lasting impact.

Join our friendly and dedicated team as Senior Autism Practitioner in our South West area with services across: Carluke, Biggar and Lanark.

Across our South West Area Services, we support 48 autistic adults across several welcoming locations. Our care is tailored to each person’s needs, including Housing Support, residential care, and transitional assessment services. You’ll be joining a warm, dedicated team that’s passionate about making a real difference and always looking for ways to grow and improve.

About the Role

As the Senior Autism Practitioner, you’ll ensure the successful delivery of each person’s service across our South West Services. Leading a team of dedicated Autism Practitioners, you will inspire them to provide a consistent, high-quality support service to autistic people. You will coach and mentor them to ensure they perform to the best of their ability.  
 
Using your outstanding communication skills, you’ll collaborate closely with families, agencies and multi-disciplinary teams to implement and further develop support plans designed to help individuals succeed in their day-to-day lives.  
 
Actively involving yourself in the recruitment process, you will always be on the lookout for talented individuals who could make the team even stronger.  
 
This is a superb opportunity to gather experience of a different role, to undertake additional training and lead a hard-working team to success. 
 

About You

To be considered for this diverse role, you must have:  
 

- Experience gained within a supervisory and/or management role within social care

- Demonstrated experience in supporting autistic people

- Experience coaching and mentoring colleagues
- A health and social care qualification, or the willingness to gain an SVQ Level 4 in health & social care and Leadership and Management for Care Services (LMC) qualification provided by the organisation 
- A good level of IT literacy, including MS Word and Excel

- A Full UK Driving License.

- Able to work a variety of shifts including evenings and weekends and support with regular on-call support. This can be discussed further at interview.

View the full Job Description HERE 

Scottish Autism offers you:

We are proud to offer a comprehensive colleague benefits package which includes a competitive salary and a personalised learning pathway for all. We keep it simple with 3 pay points which you progress at your pace as you develop.

• 32 days holiday pro rata (which increases with your length of service)
• Sector leading training from day one, including fully funded support to complete your necessary SVQ

• Non-contributory life assurance scheme
• Workplace Pension (Employer matched up to 9%)
• Discount platform
• Employee Assistance Programme.

Find out more about our comprehensive benefits package HERE

This post is subject to a PVG Disclosure check. All new employees must have applied to register with the Scottish Social Services Council within 3 months of starting in post and be registered within 6 months. Scottish Autism cover all the costs of PVG membership and SSSC Registration fo...

HT TPS:// WWW.A MES BURYSCHOO L.CO.UK/

ONE TO ONE LEARNING SUPPORT ASSISTANT
SPECIALISING IN AUTISM (TEMPORARY POSITION)

Term Time
 Monday to Friday 9.00am-12.00pm

Dear Prospective Applicant,

We are looking for a suitably qualified One to One Learning Support Assistant Specializing in Autism
to work with a child in Year 1 who has Autism and Developmental Coordination Disorder.

This rewarding role involves providing dedicated support to an individual pupil, helping them to thrive
both academically and socially within our school community.

The successful candidate will be patient, empathetic and highly supportive, with the ability to build
positive relationships and adapt to the pupil’s individual needs. You will work closely with teaching
staff to deliver personalised learning, encourage independence and contribute to the overall wellbeing
of the child.

Amesbury  is  a  vibrant  co-educational  preparatory  school  set  in  the  beautiful  countryside  near
Hindhead, Surrey. We cater for approximately 330 children aged from 9 months to 13 years. Our ethos
is built on excellence, inclusivity and a strong sense of community, with staff embracing a ‘work hard,
play hard’ approach.

If you are  caring, committed and passionate  about  helping children achieve  their full potential, we
warmly invite you to apply.

Application forms can be found at Careers – Amesbury School.
.

School Aims

Our primary aim at Amesbury Prep School is to ensure that every child enjoys a fulfilling and enriching
educational journey. We strive to create an environment where each student feels valued, supported
and empowered to reach their full potential. Specifically, our goals include:

1.  Equipping  every  child  with  the  skills,  aptitudes  and  resilience  necessary  for  success  in  senior

school and beyond.

2.  Cultivating a caring community that promotes commitment, courtesy, cooperation, tolerance and

compassion.

3.  Fostering strong partnerships between home and school to enhance the educational experience.
4.  Setting a high standard of achievement and innovation, while nurturing personal development

among staff.

5.  Fulfilling our social and environmental responsibilities to society.

The Role

This is an exciting opportunity to join Amesbury as a One to One Learning Support Assistant
Specializing in Autism. The successful candidate will provide dedicated support to an individual pupil,
helping them to access learning, develop confidence, and make excellent progress both academically
and socially. This role requires patience, strong communication skills, and the ability to work
collaboratively with teaching staff in a busy and supportive school environment.

Job Specification

•  Have the  self-confidence, style, and communication skills to represent the  school effectively to

both parents and staff.

•  Supporting the child in the classroom for all Literacy and Numeracy lessons and to provide

appropriate language support, which will be planned by the class teacher at the pupil’s current
level

•  Support the child with therapy targets throughout the school week
•  Support the child with occupational therapy targets set by the occupational therapist throughout

the school week (if advised)

•  To attend termly review meetings with parents, along with private therapists
•  To be a good communicator and work with the child’s class teacher, the Head of Key Stage one

and the Head of SEND

•  To keep the child’s parents informed each week, regarding the child’s academic and pastoral

support

•  To support the class teacher by preparing appropriate resources to be used with the child during

lessons

•  To  have  a  strong  commitment  to  safeguarding  the  pupil  (and  others),  and  work  with  the

school’s values and ethos in mind

•  To be accommodating and flexible in a changing environment, and to attend school trips

with the child

•  To comply with all Health and Safety Policies.

Qualifications

To be able to provide Literacy and Numeracy Support

Level 3 Helen Arkell preferred but not essential

Experience with Speech and Language therapy and Occupational Therapy Support is essential

Experience with supporting children with Autism

Safeguarding Commitment
Amesbury Prep School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young
people. All staff and volunteers are expected to share this commitment and will be subject to enhanced
DBS checks.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss the role further, please don’t hesitate to get in touch
recruitment@amesburyschool.co.uk

Sutton Mental Health Foundation

PERSON SPECIFICATION
Sutton Crisis Café Crisis Support Worker

 ‘E’ denotes essential criteria which will be used in shortlisting, while ‘D’ denotes desirable qualities or factors.

1. KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE

•  Experience of supporting and engaging positively with vulnerable adults (and
stakeholders involved in their care) using a person-centred approach to form
collaborative, warm and empathetic relationships leading to positive outcomes..

E

•  Experience of confidently and effectively assessing risks and needs, as well as

developing appropriate risk management plans.

•  Understanding of issues facing people in a mental health crisis, and experience of
communicating effectively with people in a mental health crisis to finding safe and
positive ways to ‘hold’ and de-escalate situations.

•  Strong grasp of equal opportunities, confidentiality, data protection, risk management

and anti-discrimination practice

•  Knowledge of local mental health services

•  Experience of positively promoting organisation/service at external events, including

delivering presentations and creating marketing material

•  Experience of working with BAME communities and young people

•  Knowledge of relevant legislation, eg Community Care, Mental health, Health and Safety

and welfare benefits legislation

E

E

E

D

D

D

D

2. EDUCATION

2.1

There are no specific educational or professional qualifications needed for this post.  However, applicants must
have a good level of literacy and be able to communicate with clients, professionals and carers.

3. SKILLS AND ABILITIES

3.1

Excellent listening skills

3.2

Effective time management skills

3.3

Working co-operatively as part of a team

3.4

Dealing effectively and calmly with challenging situations as they arise

3.5

Working independently and taking initiative

3.6

Effectively using IT including case management systems, Microsoft 365 and equivalent

E

E

E

E

E

E

3.7

Speaking and writing fluent English and explaining information face
to face, over the ‘phone and in writing and communicating effectively across cultural boundaries

3.8

Effectively following SMHF policies and procedures

3.9

Positive and flexible attitude to work

E

E

4. PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

4.1

Sufficiently healthy and physically able to carry out the duties in the job description.  The premises has a lift to
the first floor but some rooms are only accessible by a short flight of (3 or 4) stairs.

E

5. OTHER

5.1

Be able and willing to work the hours required, as needed bearing in mind that this service operates 365 days a
year, 7 days a week, in the evenings.

E

5.2

Be able and willing to undertake all necessary training and supervision

E

Sutton Mental Health Foundation
Background to the Sutton Crisis Café service

Sutton Crisis Café is a new service offering out-of-hours support to people in mental health crisis as
an alternative to attending A&E.  It has two main aims; to benefit people experiencing a mild to
moderate mental health crisis by providing a safe, non-clinical supportive environment for them to
use, and to reduce demands upon hospital emergency departments and other mental health and
emergency services by providing a safe alternative to those services.

Sutton is one of the few areas locally without any alternative crisis provision to A&E, although it has
been something local people have been working towards for some time.  Through consultation and
co-production we have shown that there is widespread support for our Crisis Café model across all
sectors, from people who use mental health services locally to carers, clinicians and commissioners.

The key objectives of the service are to:

•  Provide a non-stigmatising, calm and safe environment
•  Provide support to help people resolve their crisis
•  Provide practical and emotional support to enable the person to better self- manage their

distress, aid their recovery, and reduce dependency

•  Ensure that support staff, peer supporters and volunteers are trained, supported and

professional in their approach

•  Operate as an alternative to Emergency Departments and other emergency services for
people experiencing a mental health crisis that does not require medical intervention
Link with wider services to ensure a joined-up partnership approach to the development of
local services

•

The service will provide immediate, focused and time-limited emotional and practical support to
people experiencing a mental health crisis that does not require clinical input.  It will work with
people experiencing a range of different distress, including psychosis.  The support will consist of:

•
•
•
•

identifying coping strategies and improving wellbeing
information and signposting
conversations, group conversations and activities
limited follow-up

We expect to run the service in the evenings, Monday-Sunday.  The service will be open every day of
the year.

Our model is a partnership approach between voluntary and statutory sector professionals and
trained Intentional Peer Support workers and volunteers. The needs and views of visitors to our
service will be at the heart of all that we do.

The café will offer individual and group support, peer support and mindful activities.  Those
attending the café should feel heard, understood and listened to and have trust in those they have
spoken with.  People will have the opportunity to receive support from staff members on a 1:1 basis
in a private room where personal information can be shared and discussed without being overheard
by others.  They will also have the opportunity to share the company of others in larger groups
where they can talk or undertake quiet activities, such as board games.

The service will provide informal peer support and buddying so those attending the café can benefit
from other people’s knowledge and understanding of the emotional and practical challenges faced
by people experiencing mental ill health.

Sutton Crisis Café Crisis Support Worker
Salary: £27,000 - £28,478 per annum pro rata
Hours: 20 hours per week (evenings and weekends, hours to be agreed)
Based at: 63 Downs Road, Belmont, SM2 5NR
Reporting to: Crisis Café Manager
Duration: Fixed term to 31st March 2022

This is a pilot project funded to 31st March 2022.  If successful, this will lead to an extension of
funding for the service for at least 2 years.

Summary
This is an exciting opportunity to join Sutton Mental Health Foundation as we build a brand new
Crisis Café service.  Working in the Crisis Café, your role will be to work with people experiencing a
mild to moderate mental health crisis.  You will make them feel safe and listened to, help them to
navigate their crisis over a series of visits, working with them towards a resolution of the crisis.

Benefits

•  Holiday – 28 days pro rata, rising to 33 days after 5 years’ service
•  Employee Assistance Program
•  Workplace Pension Scheme
•  Enhanced pay for working Christmas/New Year

Job Description
Service Delivery
•  To listen to and support people to de-escalate their immediate situation empowering them to
develop self-management techniques, build their assets and advocate for their own wishes.

•  To assess the risks and needs of people using the crisis café service.
•  To provide one-to-one support, information and guidance to help crisis café visitors to navigate

through their crisis, using an empowering, person-centered approach.

•  To work with Crisis Café visitors to promote mutuality and reciprocity, rather than dependency.
•  To treat with confidentiality any personal, private or sensitive information shard regarding

clients.

•  Have an understanding of, and the ability and motivatio...