1:1 SEN assistant

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

Job summary

A leading educational support service is seeking an Autism Support Worker to assist pupils with autism in a supportive secondary school in Durham. The role involves providing 1:1 and small-group support, enhancing emotional regulation, and facilitating curriculum access. Candidates should have experience with autism or SEND, strong interpersonal skills, and a calm demeanor. Weekly pay, free training, and ongoing support are provided in this rewarding temporary position.

Benefits

Weekly pay through PAYE

Free access to online CPD Academy

Ongoing support from a dedicated consultant

Opportunities in various educational settings

Free Thrive training available

Qualifications

• Experience in supporting pupils with autism in a school setting is crucial.
• Understanding sensory needs is important for effective communication.
• The ability to build trust with students who may find the school challenging.

Responsibilities

• Provide 1:1 and small-group support.
• Support emotional regulation and routines.
• Help pupils access the curriculum effectively.
• Utilize clear communication strategies.
• Collaborate closely with teaching staff.

Skills

Experience supporting children or young people with autism or SEND

Understanding sensory needs

Building strong relationships with young people

Calm, consistent presence

Confidence in a secondary school environment

Job description

Teenagers are complex. Autism can make the world feel even louder, faster, and harder to navigate. This role is about helping make school feel manageable again.

We’re working with a supportive secondary school in Durham who are looking for an Autism Support Worker to work closely with pupils on the autism spectrum. You’ll be helping young people across Key Stages 3 and 4 feel safe, understood, and ready to engage with learning in a way that works for them.

If you’re patient, observant, and brilliant at building trust, this could be a really rewarding role.

What you’ll be doing:

• Providing 1:1 and small-group support for pupils with autism
• Supporting emotional regulation, routines, and transitions between lessons
• Helping pupils access the curriculum and manage the demands of secondary school life
• Using clear communication strategies and structured approaches
• Working closely with teachers, SEN staff, and pastoral teams

This role could be a great fit if you:

• Have experience supporting children or young people with autism or SEND
• Understand sensory needs and the importance of routine and predictability
• Bring a calm, consistent presence to the classroom and beyond
• Can build strong relationships with young people who may find school challenging
• Are confident working in a secondary school environment

Why work with Protocol Education?

• Weekly pay through PAYE, no umbrella company faff
• FREE access to our online CPD Academy
• Ongoing support from a dedicated SEND consultant
• Opportunities in specialist, alternative, and mainstream settings
• Straightforward registration and local roles that suit you

Thrive trained? That’s a big plus. Not yet? No stress. We offer free Thrive training to help you build trauma-informed, emotionally aware approaches that schools genuinely value.

If this sounds like your kind of role, let’s have a chat and talk through the school, the pupils, and what support looks like day to day.

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.