Physical Support Assistant – One to One Support

Tenure: Temporary, Part Time, 38 Weeks of the year

Surbiton High School is part of united Learning, a large and growing group of schools aiming to offer a life changing education to children and young people across England. Schools within United Learning work as a team and achieve more by sharing than any single school could. Our intranet site, United Hub, is just one example of how we share resource and communicate across sites, helping to simplify work processes and manage workloads for an improved work-life balance. We reward our staff: with good career opportunities, better pay, benefits, and ultimately the satisfaction of supporting schools in their quest to give every child the opportunity to succeed and reach their full potential.

Job Purpose: To provide one to one support to a specific pupil in the School environment, ensuring the educational and social needs of the pupil are met.

Reporting Line: Deputy Head Teacher – pupil development

This role will involve working 1:1 with a pupil in Year 5 at Surbiton High Girls’ Preparatory School in accordance with her Educational and Healthcare Plan. The pupil has a physical condition which means that she needs someone to facilitate her actions and movements to prevent her from fatigue. She also needs support in transitions around school. This will involve liaising with various specialists, as well as the Staff and also the pupil’s parents. Whilst there may be some classroom support, the role will be to provide care and physical support, as well as supporting her wellbeing in school.

Key Responsibilities:

• Care and support - attend to the day to day needs of the child, inside and outside the classroom, by:
• Provision of physical, personal and social support.
• Promoting effective pastoral care, under guidance, and liaising with colleagues to provide accurate records to provide the basis for home/school liaison and contacts with other agencies.
• Reporting concerns about the child’s ability to access the lessons, identifying solutions, to the teacher.
• Assisting educational and therapeutic professionals in their delivery of specialist support programmes.
• Assisting with the assessment by the teacher of the individual pupil’s development through observation, creation and retrieval of records, discussion with colleagues and teachers.
• Follow work plans approved by the teaching staff, provide direct support for the learning of an individual pupil, to achieve defined targets in their Education Health Care Plan (EHCP) and in class plans through: 
• Activities, interventions, differentiation, empathetic and sympathetic listening, direct guidance and the provision of appropriate positive feedback.
• Being the pair of hands through which the child access the curriculum and shows their understanding of the concepts being taught.
• Supporting the physical, emotional and educational development of the pupil
• Understanding that the pupil needs support, but also enable independence where possible.
• Working with the pupil in accordance with the Education Health Care Plan.
• Work as part of a multi-disciplinary team including teachers and therapists, maintain good communication with both.
• Show a solutions-based approach to problem solving as and when issues arise, always ensuring that the pupil is placed at the centre of all decision making, showing initiative at all times.
• Show high levels of organization, forward-planning where appropriate to foresee where additional support or alterations may be needed to ensure a fully inclusive experience for the child.
• Respect pupils’ social, cultural, linguistic, religious and ethnic backgrounds and be committed to raising their educational achievement.
• Maintain and develop understanding of own specialist area to support pupils’ learning, and contribute effectively and with confidence to the classes in which one is involved.
• Liaise sensitively and effectively with parents and carers, recognising their roles in pupils’ learning and take a proactive stance in all communication.
• Attend meetings as required, including the annual review of the EHCP.
• Undertake relevant training and development, as required and effectively use learned skills to benefit pupils.
• Safeguard at all times confidentiality of information relating to children and staff.
• Carry out any such duties as may be reasonably requested.

The successful candidate will be likely to fit the following profile:

• Demonstrable levels of numeracy and literacy.
• Experience of working with children or young people in a paid/unpaid capacity.
• Experience of working with children or young people who have a disability.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Knowledge & understanding of behaviour management strategies.
• Understanding of the importance of confidentiality of sensitive information.
• Familiarity with the needs of pupils physical disabilities.
• Patient, empathetic and enthusiastic.
• Sensitivity to the needs of others.
• Ability to use own initiative.
• Evidence of being able to work effectively within a team.
• High levels of personal and professional integrity.
• Ability to exercise discretion and confidentiality.
• Positive rapport with pupils and personal warmth to gain the confidence of pupils, staff and parents.
• Committed to the Surbiton High School’s ethos.
• Committed to professional development and show a willingness to undertake appropriate training for this role.

Please note that the School reserves the right to appoint at any stage during the recruitment process.

For any queries relating to the role or your application, please email recruitment@surbitonhigh.com

To apply, please visit: https://unitedlearning.current-vacancies.com/Jobs/Advert/1090408?cid=1567

Closing Date: 8:00am, Friday 8 December 2017
Interviews to be held week commencing: 11 December 2017

Surbiton High School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, and applicants must be willing to undergo child protection screening appropriate to the post, including checks with past employers and the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Where support is better shared

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