Learning Support AssistantEDV/2025/GC/06436

Bede Academy; Gateshead; On-site; GBP 20,000 - 25,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading educational institution in Gateshead seeks a Learning Support Assistant to enhance support for students with special educational needs. The role requires strong communication skills and excellent classroom management to provide a nurturing environment for diverse learners. Responsibilities include planning interventions and collaborating with staff to promote students' holistic development. The ideal candidate values inclusion and has a clear commitment to supporting students' complex needs, ensuring they thrive both academically and socially.

Benefits

Defined benefit pension scheme

Employee Assistance Programme

Free parking

Access to exclusive Benefits Hub

Family friendly policies

Enhanced sick pay, maternity, and paternity leave

Minimum 25 days holiday plus bank holidays

Cycle to work scheme

Funded eye tests and glasses for DSE users

Qualifications

• Experience with students on the SEND register is valuable.
• Candidates must be intuitive to students' needs.
• Ability to reflect and improve on interventions is essential.

Responsibilities

• Support students with a wide range of needs.
• Plan and deliver interventions for emotional resilience.
• Collaborate with staff to foster a supportive environment.

Skills

Strong communication skills

Excellent classroom management

Team player

Understanding of SEND needs

Job description

About This Role

Learning Support Assistant/Teaching Assistant, Term Time plus 3 days, Monday - Friday 08:15 - 16:15.

Grace College have an exciting opportunity for an enthusiastic and motivated individual to join our learning support assistant team.

This role demands a deep understanding of students on the SEND register and a commitment to staying updated on pedagogical training for various specialist needs. Learning Support Assistants (LSAs) offer an opportunity for professional dialogue with experts in diverse areas, such as Autism Spectrum, Attachment Disorder, Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, Vision, and Hearing Impairments.

The successful candidate will be a people person capable of supporting students with a wide range of needs and communicating competently and sensitively with parents. They will be intuitive to the needs of the students and able to find solutions to support students with complex needs. They will be firm yet understanding with students who are struggling to regulate, providing a calm and sage environment to enable all students to thrive. The role will demand excellent classroom management skills which seek to support and encourage students, whatever their ability or stage of learning. You will also need to be a strong team player and work collaboratively with a variety of members of staff.

All LSAs work with a range of students in and out of lessons and you will be confident when planning and delivering interventions such as emotional resilience, social skills activities and catch-up assessments. The ability to reflect, analyse and, as a result, improve the impact of interventions is paramount.

While relevant experience and qualifications are valuable, we prioritise personal qualities and convictions that align with this demanding role. Your role will be pivotal in supporting students’ holistic learning, including targeted group work, understanding child development principles, and providing support during social times, which can be critical for some SEND students.

There is no requirement that individual members of staff should be Christians, but it is essential however that all staff understand and enthusiastically support our mission, ethos and values.

If, prior to submitting your application, you wish to visit Grace College to find out more about the role and the College, then you would be most welcome.

Further information is available in the job description and person specification.

Benefits

• Defined benefit pension scheme
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Free parking
• Access to our exclusive Benefits Hub
• Employee centred and family friendly policies and practices that support you in and beyond the workplace
• Enhanced sick pay, maternity leave and paternity leave (dependent on length of service)
• Competitive holiday entitlement for support staff (minimum 25 days, plus bank 8 holidays per annum, pro-rated for part-time post-holders)
• Cycle to work scheme
• Funded eye tests and glasses for DSE users (subject to T/Cs)

Grace College is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expect all staff to share this commitment. Where the post is engaged in regulated activity, and/or an opportunity for contact with children the position will be subject to an enhanced DBS check. In addition, as part of the shortlisting process, and in accordance with statutory guidance, we may carry out an online search (for publicly available material) to help identify any incidents or issues that have happened which we may want to explore with shortlisted applicants at interview.