Teaching Assistant

The Oratory Preparatory School (OPS) is a Roman Catholic day and boarding school for boys and girls from 3 to 13. Founded by Blessed John Henry Newman in 1859, the school welcomes both staff and pupils of other denominations and faiths. There are around 430 pupils in the school, 310 of them in prep, 120 in the pre-prep part of the school. The school is set in 60 acres of beautiful countryside on the edge of the Chiltern Hills, nine miles north of Reading. The school opened a new Nursery building - Little Oaks - in January 2014.

The OPS aims to provide the best possible education for its pupils. Staff are expected to maintain a very high standard of teaching and are provided with every support from the Headmaster and the Senior Management Team. We are looking to appoint a full time teaching assistant who will work with children in the Pre Prep classes, Reception to Year 2. Candidates must have a passion for supporting children in education, be energetic, enthusiastic and motivated when working with our pupils. 

This is a full time, term time only role for 40 hours per week, Monday to Friday 8am to 4pm.

Main Duties and Tasks

• Assist teachers to prepare and present displays of students’ work.
• Support class teachers in photocopying and other tasks in order to support teaching such as: monitoring the cloakroom area, preparing books and worksheets, laminating etc.
• Assist class teachers with small group work in lessons
• To attend teaching assistant meetings half termly or when required.
• To be flexible with the working practices of the Reception/Year 1/Year2. Be prepared to help when other areas of the department are short staffed or with other duties as specified by the Head of Pre-Prep.
• To ensure that children are safe in the school environment.
• To help prepare and complete activities to suit the child’s stage of development.
• Provide comfort to unwell or injured children and attend to minor medical incidents.
• Assist in ensuring the provision of a high quality environment to meet the needs of individual children from different cultures and religious backgrounds and stages of development.

Supporting Duties

1. Assist in the educational and social development of pupils under the direction and guidance of the class teacher and the Head of Pre-Prep.
2. To be sensitive to the needs of the teacher, to react with initiative as appropriate, and to provide support for individual students inside and outside of the classroom to enable them to participate fully in activities.
3. To work and support with the other staff in the Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1.
4. To provide a high standard of physical, emotional, social and intellectual care for the children. 
5. To contribute to raising standards of achievement for all pupils.
6. To assist with the children’s learning and development in all areas of the curriculum.
7. To take part in break time playground duties and serve lunch between 11.45am  and 12.30pm

Standards and Quality Assurance

1. Support the aims and ethos of the school as published in the Staff Handbook.
2. Set a good example in terms of dress, punctuality and attendance.
3. Attend INSET and Full staff meetings when required.
4. Undertake professional duties that may be reasonably assigned by the Headmaster eg. School trips, end of term plays
5. Be proactive in matters relating to health and safety.
6. Teaching assistants should be friendly and helpful with parents as the children enter the classroom. Any discussion with parents regarding the child’s welfare, behaviour or academic progress should be directed to the class teacher .
7. The Head of Pre-Prep and class teacher should be informed if a child needs to be sent home or see the School Nurse.
8. To be aware of the high profile of the Oratory Prep School and to uphold its standards at all times.

Other Duties

1. Individual appraisals will take place every year.
2. Staff supervision meetings will take place every half term.
3. Requests for continued professional development will be considered at any time and are encouraged in order to develop their talents for the benefit of the school eg. NVQ training, life guards poolside training, Forest School etc.
4. Individual meetings with the Head of Pre-Prep to discuss staff development should be requested in writing and appointments will be made to suit both members of staff.