General Assistant 2 (Specialist Provision)

Education Authority (Northern Ireland); Newtownards; On-site; GBP 18,000 - 23,000; Full time

Job summary

Education Authority (Northern Ireland) is seeking a General Assistant 2 to support teachers and pupils within the school environment. The role involves assisting with daily care, mobility, meal times and supervision, including outings and therapy sessions as required.

The post requires experience with children in a school setting, good interpersonal skills, and the ability to work flexibly in a child-centred learning environment while adhering to health and safety guidelines.

Qualifications

• Minimum six months experience of working with a child/children in a school setting.
• Experience providing direct support to a child/children in a school setting.
• Experience supporting a teacher or school staff inside or outside of the classroom.
• Experience undertaking medical procedures or providing specialist feeding support as part of care.
• Knowledge of Child Protection and Safeguarding relevant to the role.

Responsibilities

• Assist pupils with toileting, personal hygiene and dressing.
• Ensure safe mobility and supervision of pupils on premises, playground and outings.
• Accompany staff on outings and therapy sessions.
• Assist with feeding and care of pupils at meal times.
• Ensure pupils follow school rules and routines.
• Prepare and clean equipment for daily activities and support with setting up classroom materials.

Skills

Six months experience with a child in/

Job description

JOB DESCRIPTION

JOB TITLE: General Assistant 2 REPORTS TO: The Principal through class teacher JOB PURPOSE To be responsible to the Principal for the provision of assistance to teachers/classroom assistants in/outside school with care of pupils.

MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

GENERAL ASSISTANCE

• Assist pupils with toileting/personal hygiene/dressing including the use of basic toileting aids.
• Ensure the safe mobility and general supervision of the pupil/s within school premises, including the playground and on school outings, transporting pupil’s belongings (if required).
• Accompany teachers, classroom assistants and/or therapy staff with groups on outings or in respect of individual/group therapy programmes, e.g. swimming, educational outings, hydrotherapy etc.
• Ensure appropriate care and feeding of pupils at meal times.
• Ensure pupils comply with normal school rules and routines during the school day.
• Clean equipment connected with daily activities in classroom and assist with setting out equipment as directed.
• Such other duties as may be assigned within the level of the post. Those duties should be non-curricular.

ADDITIONAL ASSISTANCE

• Undertake complex medical or invasive medical/clinical procedures.
• Use of specialist equipment for toileting and mobility for which specialist training is required.
• Provide specialist feeding support following assessment by a Speech and Language therapist under a formal programme identified by that assessment.

GENERAL CONDITIONS

• Carry out all duties to comply with:
  • the Health and Safety at Work (NI) order 1978;
  • Acts of Parliament, Statutory Instruments and Regulations and other legal requirements;
  • Codes of Practice.
• Carry out all duties in the working conditions normally inherent in the particular job.
• Complete all necessary paperwork.
• Carry out duties for jobs up to and including those in the same grade, provided such duties are within the competence of the employee.

This job description will be subject to review in light of changing circumstances and is not intended to be rigid and inflexible but should be regarded as providing guidelines within which the individual works. Other duties of a similar nature and appropriate to the grade may be assigned from time to time. In accordance with Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act (1998), the post-holder is expected to promote good relations, equality of opportunity and pay due regard for equality legislation at all times.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

NOTES TO JOB APPLICANTS

• You must clearly demonstrate on your application form under each question, how, and to what extent you meet the required criteria as failure to do so may result in you not being shortlisted. You should clearly demonstrate this for both the essential and desirable criteria, where relevant.
• You must demonstrate how you meet the criteria by the closing date for applications, unless the criteria state otherwise.
• The stage in the process when the criteria will be measured is outlined in the table below.
• Shortlisting will be carried out on the basis of the essential criteria set out in Section 1 below, using the information provided by you on your application form.
• Please note that the Selection Panel reserves the right to shortlist only those applicants that it believes most strongly meet the criteria for the role.
• In the event of an excessive number of applications, the Selection Panel also reserves the right to apply any desirable criteria as outlined in Section 3 at shortlisting, in which case these will be applied in the order listed. It is important therefore that you also clearly demonstrate on your application form how you meet any desirable criteria.

SECTION 1 - ESSENTIAL CRITERIA

The following are essential criteria which will initially be measured at the shortlisting stage and which may also be further explored during the interview/selection stage. You should therefore make it clear on your application form how, and to what extent you meet these criteria. Failure to do so may result in you not being shortlisted.

Have a minimum of six months’ demonstrable experience of working with a child/children in a school setting

Demonstrable experience in one or more of the following areas:

• Providing direct support to a child/children in a school setting
• Providing support to a teacher and/or school staff inside or outside of the classroom
• Providing additional direct support* to a child/children in a school setting
• Additional support is defined as undertaking medical procedures, using specialist support equipment, or providing specialist feeding support

Section 2 - Essential Criteria

The following are additional essential criteria which will be measured during the interview/selection stage.

Factor Essential Criteria Method Of Assessment Knowledge

Demonstrable Knowledge Of

• Child Protection and Safeguarding, as relevant to the role
• Health and Safety regulations, as relevant to the role

Interview Skills / Abilities

• Evidence of an ability to work flexibly to help ensure a child-centred learning experience
• Evidence of effective interpersonal and communication skills
• Proven effective team working skills
• Evidence of good planning and organising skills to ensure work is completed on time to the required standard

Interview Values Orientation

Evidence of how your experience and approach to work reflect the school’s values/ethos. You will find information about the school’s values/ethos on our school website

SECTION 3 - DESIRABLE CRITERIA

Some or all of the desirable criteria may be applied by the Selection Panel in order to determine a manageable pool of candidates. Desirable criteria will be applied in the order listed. You should make it clear on your application form how, and to what extent you meet the desirable criteria, as failure to do so may result in you not being shortlisted.

Factor Desirable Criteria Method of Assessment Experience / Knowledge

Evidence of a working knowledge of one or more of the following IT systems:

• Microsoft Word and Outlook
• C2K schools IT systems

DISCLOSURE OF CRIMINAL BACKGROUND

The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups (Northern Ireland) Order 2007 defines working directly with children or young people or in specified places as ‘regulated activity’.

In the event that you are recommended for appointed to a post that involves ‘regulated activity’, the Education Authority will be required to undertake an Enhanced Disclosure of Criminal Background. Please note that you WILL be expected to meet the cost of an Enhanced Disclosure Certificate. Details of how to make payment will be sent to you at the pre-employment stage.

Further information can be accessed at NI Direct or the Department of Justice.

The Education Authority is an Equal Opportunities Employer