Occupational Therapist

Concord School is a F-12 special school for students with additional learning needs. The Watsonia Campus accommodates years Foundation¿4 and the Bundoora Campus accommodates years 4-12. Class sizes range from 8-12 students and all activities are scaffolded or extended as required to meet the individual¿s needs. In addition to classroom teachers and educational support staff, there is a multi-disciplinary team including Occupational Therapists, speech pathologists, behaviour support staff, counsellors, mental health practioner and student wellbeing coordinators.

Why Work at Concord

• We are a growing team of 5 speech pathologists and 3 Occupational Therapists
• Weekly discipline specific meetings for supervision and reflective practice and regular allied health team meetings
• Excellent staff training and PD budget with a positive workplace attitude for learning
• School holidays
• Options to move between year levels F-12
• Whole class embedded therapy alongside the classroom teacher
• Be involved in weekly planning of the curriculum and sessions with teachers
• Work with a variety of diagnosis including ID, ASD, DLD/Severe Language Disorder, Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, acquired brain injury, Fragile X, Prader-Willi and other chromosomal variances.

Excellent facilities which include:

• Discovery centre including the `Mile¿ room which is transformed regularly around the discovery unit. This creates an immersive and engaging experience.
• Green room to make movies as an alternative means to demonstrate their knowledge.
• Food technology centre
• Art and craft room
• Well-resourced library
• Adapted sensory space
• New secondary building and play area to be built in 2024

For any further information regarding this position during the term break period, please contact Lauren Chan on 9467 3972 or email ***********@education.vic.gov.au

1. Capacity as an Occupational Therapist to deliver a comprehensive Occupational Therapy service within the classroom to students from 12-18 years in a specialist educational environment.
2. Highly developed communication and interpersonal skills to act as a resource person in the areas of Occupational Therapy for staff and parents/carers.
3. Demonstrated capacity to reflect critically upon personal professional practice, evaluate and instigate further personal professional development to continually improve their professional competence.
4. Excellent problem solving and interpersonal skills to adapt to the situation
5. Excellent time management skills including prioritisation of responsibilities to ensure that the role is most effective.

• Work in collaboration with the behaviour support staff and wellbeing staff to understand behaviours and sensory processing needs.
• Work in collaboration with teachers to support student engagement in the classroom
• Work with teachers to implement whole class sessions and small groups working in the classrooms e.g. Zones of Regulation, fine motor, gross motor and social skills.
• Complete assessments and write reports to support PSD applications for funding
• Opportunity to co-develop the 11/12 school leavers program

• Provide evidence based approaches within the classroom and in small groups
• Evaluate interventions regularly and report outcomes of interventions for students
• Work collaboratively with teachers, specialist staff, multi-disciplinary team and leadership
• Transfer motor skills, social skills and self-regulation skills to the community through experience days
• Provide professional learning opportunities to school staff as required
• Participate in SSG meetings as required
• Complete occupational therapy progress comments in school reports twice a year

• Occupational therapists with a positive attitude for learning and working with teachers to deliver a program to support student’s readiness to learn and engage
• Part timers are welcome to apply
• Experience in a special school is not essential

The Department of Education and Training is committed to the principles of equal opportunity, and diversity and inclusion for all. We value diversity and inclusion in all forms – gender, religion, ethnicity, LGBTIQ+, disability and neurodiversity. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander candidates are strongly encouraged to apply for roles within the Department.  The Department recognises that the provision of family friendly, supportive, safe and harassment free workplaces is essential to high performance and promotes flexible work, diversity and safety across all schools and Department workplaces.

Victorian government schools are child safe environments. Our schools actively promote the safety and wellbeing of all students, and all school staff are committed to protecting students from abuse or harm in the school environment, in accordance with their legal obligations including child safe standards. All schools have a Child Safety Code of Conduct consistent with the Department’s exemplar available at http://www.education.vic.gov.au/about/programs/health/protect/Pages/childsafestandards.aspx

The Department’s employees commit to upholding DET’s Values: Responsiveness, Integrity, Impartiality, Accountability, Respect, Leadership and Human Rights. DET’s Values complement each school’s own values and underpin the behaviours the community expects of Victorian public sector employees, including those who work in Victorian Government Schools. Information on the DET values is available at http://www.education.vic.gov.au/hrweb/workm/Pages/Public-Sector-Values.aspx

• Negotiable start date
• Laptop and iPad provided
• Shared allied health office and own workstation in a multi-disciplinary team

This vacancy is to replace an employee on parental absence and is for a period of seven years or until the employee absent on leave returns to duty at the school.