Teaching Assistant

Cambridge County Council; St. Neots; On-site; GBP 23,000 - 25,000; Full time

Job summary

A local educational institution in St. Neots seeks a dedicated individual to support pupils with special educational needs. You will work with a caring and flexible team, engaging in rewarding activities that foster learning and development. Responsibilities include providing support during physical activities and contributing to a dynamic school environment. This full-time role offers a competitive salary ranging from £23,807 to £24,575 FTE, with regular hours during term time.

Qualifications

• Experience working with children and young people with special educational needs.
• Ability to support physical activities and behavior management.
• Strong communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Support pupils with special educational needs.
• Work with a supportive staff team.
• Engage in varied roles throughout the school.

Skills

Team player

Flexible approach

Caring attitude

Job description

Samuel Pepys is a Cambridgeshire area special school for pupils 140 on roll (Increasing to 165) aged 3 to 19 years living in St. Neots and the surrounding area. The school is growing and more pupils, families and staff are joining us. All pupils have an EHC Plan to meet their severe and complex individual needs. We wish to appoint team players whose skills and experience will contribute to meeting the needs of every pupil. The successful applicant will confidently and competently be able to work with children and young people with a range of needs, have a caring, positive approach to supporting behaviour and be flexible about working across the whole school. Supporting physical activities such as rebound trampolining, hydrotherapy, The Daily Mile and outdoor learning are all a part of this fun‑filled role.

What will you be doing?

Are you looking for:

• Rewarding work supporting pupils with special educational needs
• Being part of a positive, well‑trained, supportive staff team, described as an remarkably effective team by Ofsted (December 2024)
• A busy, active, varied role
• Access to a highly effective training offer
• Term time working to fit in with school holidays
• Hours: 32.5 hours per week, Monday to Friday in term time 8.40 am to 3.25 pm plus a meeting each Monday until 4.00 or 4.40 pm, 3 professional learning days per year
• Salary: Level 1 or 2 £23,807 - £24,575 FTE dependent upon relevant qualifications and experience
• Start date: ASAP.

About you

Your prospects of being invited to interview will be enhanced if your letter of application identifies your personal experiences, strengths and qualities cross‑referenced to the person specification.

Please download the application pack from the school website and return your completed application to the school office via email [e-mail].

Closing date for applications: Thursday, 8th January 2026 at 4 pm.

Interviews will be held on Wednesday, 14th January 2026.

Samuel Pepys School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff to share this commitment. All appointments are subject to successful pre‑employment checks including an enhanced DBS, health check and two satisfactory references, requested prior to interview. In line with KCSIE guidance and as part of due diligence an online check will take place for shortlistees. We actively promote equality of opportunity in employment in our school and would be pleased to receive applications from all candidates regardless of age, ethnicity or religion.

CVs or applications via an agency are not accepted.

About us

Cambridgeshire is a great place to work and live with a diverse population, an urban centre in Cambridge, historic Isle of Ely, Huntingdon and St Ives as well as more rural landscapes.

Our four values are central to our culture, driving everything we do.

We are proud to serve the diverse communities of Cambridgeshire and want our workforce to be reflective of this diversity, which we firmly believe benefits our colleagues, the organisation and our communities. If you don't meet every single requirement in the job role but think this could be you, please don't be put off. We are committed to building a workplace that is compassionate and inclusive as well as diverse, so if you think you could be a good candidate for this role please consider applying and speak to the recruiting manager if you have any questions.

Our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy, along with our employee network 'IDEAL' and self‑organised peer support groups help us to foster an inclusive, supportive and safe working environment where people feel valued, respected, and empowered. We collect relevant diversity data for monitoring as part of the recruitment process to understand the diversity of our applicants and monitor any trends throughout the recruitment processes so that we can take meaningful action.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We fully support providing reasonable adjustments throughout our recruitment process, as well as when you join us, and we encourage candidates to contact the Hiring Manager to discuss any adjustment needs. Through a Guaranteed Interview Scheme, we will offer an interview to all applicants who disclose a disability and meet the essential criteria for a job vacancy. On your application form you can indicate you are disabled. Some examples of reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process could include additional time to complete an assessment or printing a document on pastel coloured paper with larger font size and line spacing. We would value talking about what might be possible to enable you to join us and thrive, so if there is something that would help you to do your best during your journey with us, please get in touch.

Visit our jobs and careers section to find out more about our wide range of learning and development opportunities; apprenticeships; our wellbeing package; staff benefits; our commitment to equality, diversity and Inclusion.

https://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/council/jobs-and-careers