SEMH Teaching Assistant

Five Education; Devon and Torbay; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Part time

Job summary

An educational support organization is seeking SEMH Teaching Assistants in Devon and Torbay. The role includes supporting students with emotional, social, and mental health needs, focusing on building positive relationships and managing challenging behavior. No specific experience required, but compassion and patience are essential. The position offers free training and flexible hours with a daily pay rate starting at £90. Join us to make a meaningful impact on young lives facing challenges.

Benefits

Ongoing CPD and specialist SEMH training

Free high-quality training

Opportunities to move into permanent roles

Full support from an experienced consultant

Qualifications

• Emotional resilience and a calm, patient manner.
• A genuine passion for supporting vulnerable young people.
• Confidence in dealing with challenging behaviour and de-escalation techniques.

Responsibilities

• Supporting pupils with SEMH needs on a 1:1 or small groups.
• Helping students manage their emotions and behaviour.
• Building positive relationships with young people.

Skills

Emotional resilience

Patience

Ability to build positive relationships

Confidence in dealing with challenging behaviour

Initiative

Job description

Location: Plymouth
Hours: 8:30 AM 3:30 PM, Monday to Friday
Pay Rate: £90 per day
Contract Type: Temporary, full time or part time
Experience: Not essential

Do you have the resilience, empathy, and patience to support pupils with Social, Emotional, and Mental Health (SEMH) needs? Five Education is seeking compassionate and committed individuals to join our team as SEMH Teaching Assistants. This role is ideal for those who want to make a real impact on the lives of young people who face emotional and behavioural challenges.

About the Role

• Supporting pupils with SEMH needs, either on a 1:1 basis or in small groups
• Helping students manage their emotions, behaviour, and social interactions
• Building positive, trusting relationships with young people who may have experienced trauma or disrupted education
• Assisting with class-based learning activities and reinforcing targets from Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs)
• Working collaboratively with teachers, SENCOs, and other support staff to provide consistent, structured support

What We Are Looking For

• Emotional resilience and a calm, patient manner
• A genuine passion for supporting vulnerable young people
• Confidence in dealing with challenging behaviour and de-escalation techniques
• A high level of initiative and commitment to safeguarding
• Ability to build positive relationships and maintain professional boundaries
• Previous experience is not required. However, backgrounds in youth work or mentoring, mental health or social care, behavioural support roles, security, armed forces, or public service roles, and working with vulnerable or at-risk individuals are beneficial

What We Offer

• Ongoing CPD and specialist SEMH training throughout the year
• Free, high-quality training delivered by Five Education
• Opportunities to move into permanent roles
• Full support from an experienced and dedicated consultant

Your daily rate of pay would be £90 but with a potential to earn more based on your level of experience. Pay: Five Education operates a PAYE payroll; this is the most transparent way to be paid with no hidden fees such as admin fee or employers NI. Please note pay rate is for illustration and does include holiday pay. DBS: If you do not have a non-voluntary enhanced DBS on the update service, we will need to process a new one at a cost of £62.70. This will be refunded after 20 days of work, providing you have put the new DBS on the update service. Vetting: Five Education is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all of the staff we employ to share this commitment. Successful applicants will be required to undergo checks including reference checks, TRA checks and will need to have a DBS; there will also be a face-to-face interview.

We welcome and encourage job applications from people of all backgrounds. We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) candidates as they are currently under-represented at this level.

Please contact Brett on (phone number removed) or email (url removed)