1:1 SEMH teaching assistant

Protocol Education Ltd; North East; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Part time

Job summary

A leading educational support agency is seeking a compassionate Teaching Assistant in Durham to work 1:1 with a pupil facing social, emotional, and mental health challenges. The role involves building trust, supporting learning engagement, and working collaboratively with teachers in a nurturing environment. Ideal candidates will have a calm demeanor and prior experience with SEMH needs, but resilience and a desire to help are also valued. This temporary position offers training opportunities and weekly pay.

Benefits

Weekly pay through PAYE

Free online CPD

Support from a dedicated consultant

Friendly SEN schools

Growth opportunities in SEND

Qualifications

• Ability to build strong, trusting relationships with students.
• Experience working with challenging behavior is a plus.
• Resilience and a genuine desire to help students.

Responsibilities

• Build a strong, trusting relationship with a pupil.
• Support emotional regulation and daily routines.
• Work closely with teachers to create a safe learning environment.
• Help the pupil re-engage with learning.
• Use creativity and patience to adapt support.

Skills

Calm, encouraging approach

Confidence supporting pupils with SEMH needs

Empathy

Experience in schools or SEN settings

Job description

If you’re the kind of person who stays calm when the day gets a bit wobbly and you believe every pupil deserves someone in their corner, this could be the role for you.

We’re supporting a brilliant SEN school in Durham that’s looking for a caring, steady and confident Teaching Assistant to work 1:1 with a pupil with social, emotional, and mental health needs. The school is warm, nurturing, and full of staff who really get what SEMH support should look like.

What you’ll be doing

• Building a strong, trusting relationship with one pupil who needs consistency and calm

• Supporting with emotional regulation, daily routines, and positive behaviour

• Working closely with teachers and the pastoral team to create a safe, predictable learning environment

• Helping the pupil re-engage with learning, one small win at a time

• Using creativity, patience, and a sense of humour when things don’t go to plan

What the school is looking for

You don’t need decades of experience, just the right mindset:

• A calm, encouraging approach

• Confidence supporting pupils with SEMH needs

• Someone who can read the room and respond with empathy

• Experience in schools, youth work, care, sports coaching or SEN settings is a big plus

If you’ve worked with challenging behaviour before, great. If not, but you’re resilient and genuinely want to help, we’d still love to hear from you.

Why join Protocol Education?

• Weekly pay through PAYE, no umbrella fees

• Free online CPD including behaviour support and safeguarding

• Your own consultant who has your back

• Friendly SEN schools that value their support staff

• Opportunities to grow, learn and build a long-term path in SEND

Send over your CV and we will talk about the next steps.

All applicants will require the appropriate qualifications and training for this role. Please see the FAQs on the Protocol Education website for further details.

All pay rates quoted will be inclusive of 12.07% statutory holiday pay. This advert is for a temporary position. In some cases, the option to make this role permanent may become available at a later date.

Protocol Education is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. We undertake safeguarding checks on all workers in accordance with the DfE statutory guidance ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’, this may also include an online search as part of our due diligence on shortlisted applicants.

We offer FREE online safeguarding and Prevent Duty training to all our workers. All candidates must undertake or have undertaken a valid enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check and subscribe to the DBS Update Service.

Full assistance provided. For details of our privacy policy, please see visit the Protocol Education website.