Learning Support Assistant

We are looking for a hard-working and dedicated candidate to join our outstanding school as a Learning Support Assistant.

About Kensington Aldridge Academy

KAA is an 11 – 18 academy situated in the heart of Notting Hill.  We opened in brand new buildings in 2014 with just Year 7 and have grown year by year and are now a full school with 1,250 students in Years 7 to 13. 

KAA has grown to become one of the top academies in the UK. DfE performance tables show we are in the top 5% of schools nationally in terms of KS5 Progress. Our Ofsted report grades us outstanding in all categories and describes standards as “exceptional”. In 2018 we were awarded TES Secondary School of the Year.  

The Role

• You will be part of a specialist learning support service, supporting the inclusion of SEN students and those engaged with them, and adapt and deliver support to meet individual needs whilst promote academic achievement.

• You will develop and maintain effective and supportive relationships with a case load of students in order to support their specific learning and emotional needs.

• You will provide timetabled support and guidance to SEN students with a range of complex needs.

• You will advance students' learning in a range of classroom settings, while providing ongoing support outside the classroom through 1-1 and group sessions and specialist enrichment programmes.

• You will use behaviour management strategies effectively and in line with the school’s policy and procedures, and fully contribute to a professional and purposeful learning environment.

• You will promote the inclusion of all students ensuring that they have equal access to opportunities to learn and develop.

• You will work within an extended range of networks and partnerships to broker support and learning opportunities and improve the quality of services to students. 

• You will plan and deliver sequences of learning to ensure that students identified with specific needs make outstanding progress.

• You will monitor the well-being and progress of individual students and maintain excellent communication with all stakeholders. 

Key Responsibilities

Supporting pupil progress and outcomes

• To assist the SENCo/Head of the Autism Centre to develop ambitious and stretching targets for students with a range of SEN needs.

• To work with the SEN team and other teachers to implement Learning Support Plans and develop resources for students who have Special Educational Needs (SEN), an Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD), English as a second language (EAL), speech or language impairments (SLCN) or behaviours that interfere with learning and/or relationships (SEMH).

• To contribute to Annual Reviews, Learning Support Plans and other reporting to outside stakeholders as required.

• To support learning and personal development through one-to-one and small-group teaching, and other supportive relationships.

• To deliver individual and group intervention programmes which provide a range of strategies that will motivate, challenge and empower further learning and will help students to make positive changes.

• Support students to manage transitions in their lives.

• Respond to the needs of pupils who have experienced trauma.

• To observe, record and feedback information on student performance.

Supporting learning and inclusion

• To promote inclusion and acceptance of all students in the school, including those with learning, physical, or social and emotional difficulties.

• To support student’s successful transfer between educational establishments and at key stages in their learning. Support with the transition of new and mid-term entrants to the academy

• Support the inclusion of those students with SEN in relation to their Social, Emotional and Mental Health.

• To assist with classroom teaching, supporting children with specific needs to facilitate their understanding of mainstream teaching and learning.

• To plan, deliver and assess small-group and one-to-one teaching and interventions.

• To monitor the ‘whole child’, including the social and emotional well-being of vulnerable students.

• To assist in creating materials for curriculum delivery and display boards.

• To assist with whole class teaching where appropriate.

• To reinforce Academy expectations at all times and challenge poor behaviour within and outside the classroom.

• To assist students' achievement outside of the classroom, e.g., computer lab, library.

• To support extracurricular activities including homework support, supported lunchtime and after-school enrichment activities.

Staff benefits

• 180 school days, 10 training days (not 5 as you find in most schools) & 5 planning days per year, which include the opportunity for teachers to work from home.

• Two week half term in October. 

• Professional development that is of a national standard. In Ofsted’s words: “Staff morale is exceptionally high. Staff enjoy working at the school and benefit from high-quality training. Teachers new to the profession feel very well supported in settling into the school quickly and developing their practice.”

• Free weekly staff wellbeing activities; yoga, circuits, staff choir and art classes etc.

• Discounted membership of the brand new Kensington Leisure Centre. 

Download the full candidate pack for more information about this position and the academy.

Please send completed applications to Payal Joshi at recruitment@kaa.org.uk by 9am on Monday 17th June 2019.

Early applications are encouraged and in the event that the academy is able to fill the vacancy before the deadline, it reserves the right to close the vacancy and won’t review further applications.