Specialist Teaching Assistant

The Children’s Trust; Tadworth; On-site; GBP 18,000 - 23,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Shuttle bus

On-site nursery

Free eye tests

Enhanced maternity/paternity pay

Time off for menopause symptoms

Job summary

The Children’s Trust is seeking a Specialist Teaching Assistant to join our School Team. You will provide high-quality support for children with severe learning difficulties, PMLD and complex needs, placing the child’s quality of life at the heart of our work.

Under the direction of the teacher, you will develop and educate all pupils in your class, supporting access to learning and assisting with care and supervision as part of a multidisciplinary team.

Qualifications

• Patient and caring approach to supporting pupils with SLD/PMLD and complex needs.
• Willingness to undertake ongoing training and development.
• Ability to work under direction and as part of a team to support education and care.

Responsibilities

• Develop and educate all pupils in the allocated class.
• Support an integrated approach to education, health and care.
• Work under the supervision of an allocated teacher and assist in managing pupils’ learning opportunities.
• Provide a high standard of direct care, including personal care.

Skills

Patient and caring

Positive and enthusiastic

Reliable and organised

Multidisciplinary teamwork

Commitment to pupil wellbeing

Willing to learn and train

Job description

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Specialist Teaching Assistant to join our School Team. This role will require the successful candidate to provide high-quality support for children with severe learning difficulties (SLD), profound and multiple learning difficulties (PMLD) and complex therapeutic, medical and health needs, placing their quality of life at the centre of what we do.

Staff benefits include, shuttle bus, and more…

Role Requirements

Under direction from the teacher, and with support from the class team, you will be responsible for the development and education of all pupils in your allocated class.

• Support an integrated and holistic approach to education, health, and care.
• Work under the direct supervision of an allocated teacher
• Support access to learning and provide general support to the teacher in the management of pupils in learning opportunities.
• Provide a high standard of direct care, including personal care.

We are looking for individuals who are:

• Patient and caring.
• Positive and enthusiastic.
• Reliable and organised.
• Comfortable working as part of a multidisciplinary team.
• Committed to supporting pupil progress and wellbeing.
• Willing to learn and undertake ongoing training.

This role offers the opportunity to make a meaningful difference to children's lives while benefiting from:

• Generous annual leave entitlement.
• Structured training and development opportunities.
• Supportive multidisciplinary teams.
• Career progression through enhanced clinical competencies and specialist training.
• A rewarding environment focused on improving outcomes for children and young people.

Please note this position follows a 52-week working pattern, supporting the school’s operations throughout the year rather than term-time only.

Please note as part of the shortlisting process for external candidates, gaps in employment will be examined and further explored during the interview process.

AI Statement

We recognise the value of AI tools, particularly in supporting individuals who may benefit from assistance with writing. However, applications created mainly by AI can often appear generic and may not fully reflect an applicant’s, skills, knowledge, and experience.

About Us

The Children’s Trust is the UK’s leading charity for children with acquired brain injury, providing expert rehabilitation, education, therapy, and care at our national specialist centre in Tadworth, and to children and their families across the UK, via our Brain Injury Community Service.

Boasting a beautiful 24-acre site in Surrey, we are located just outside of London, close to the M25 (accessible via Junction 8, A217 to Tadworth) and easily accessible via National Rail, by way of: Clapham Junction, Sutton, and Epsom.

The work we do is highly rewarding, and in addition to an attractive salary, we offer a valuable range of benefits, including our staff flexible benefits platform, on-site nursery, free eye tests, enhanced Maternity and Paternity Pay, time out days for those experiencing menopause symptoms and time off for gender reassignment.

We also offer additional annual leave days for those with long service, with entitlements ranging from 35 to 41 days (including bank holidays) depending on your length of service.

Other benefits include free on-site parking; a staff shuttle service from Epsom and Sutton train stations to Tadworth Court, Car Scheme (subject to eligibility), subsidised cafeteria, on-site staff accommodation (subject to availability), the ability to retain your NHS pension (where applicable), Teacher’s pension (where applicable) or the opportunity to join an alternative scheme, and the opportunity to develop your career in a supportive and collaborative environment.

Terms and Conditions

As a charity organisation independent of the NHS, we do not follow Agenda for Change terms and conditions. Consequently, we are unable to take into account NHS incremental dates or continuous service for salary, annual leave, or related entitlements such as absence payat the point of recruitment.

Rehabilitation of Offenders

Many roles at The Children’s Trust are exempt from the provisions of Section 4 (2) of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, by virtue of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2013 and 2020) and as such, are subject to an Enhanced DBS check. Successful applicants will be required to complete an Enhanced Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check, which will disclose all unspent convictions and adult cautions and any spent convictions or adult cautions that would not be protected. The exceptions to this are our retail roles within The Children’s Trust shops, which are subject to Basic DBS checks which will disclose unspent convictions or adult cautions.

Equal Opportunity Employer

To help us achieve our ambition to give children and young people with brain injury and neurodisability the opportunity to live the best life possible, we want to accurately reflect the UK’s diverse population. We want equity, diversity, and inclusion to be at the heart of everything we do, and our people, services, and culture to reflect the diverse needs of all. Through our diversity and inclusion strategy, we have made a commitment to increase the diversity of our charity and create an inclusive culture. We have networksacross the organisation working to ensure that these aims are met - including an LGBTQIA2S+ group, Ethnic Diversity Group, and Spark – our broad EDI group. Read more about our EDI work here. We welcome applications from all who share our ambition regardless of background. We will strive to ensure that any reasonable adjustments are made in respect of interview and working arrangements.

Online Searches

In accordance with statutory safeguarding and child protection guidance, online searches will be conducted for shortlisted candidates before interview. The online searches will be conducted by a person who is independent of the interview and selection process and will focus on relevant information returned via searches of the candidate’s name (and variations thereof). Social media searches will be limited to professional platforms such as LinkedIn. Any concerns relating to suitability for work with children and young people will be forwarded to the interview panel, for discussion during the interview.