Learning Support Assistant

About Rugby Free Secondary School  

‘Pupils benefit from a school community that includes pupils from a wide range of different backgrounds and cultures. There is a culture in which pupils see these differences as a positive thing. Uniqueness is valued and celebrated. Pupils feel confident ‘to be themselves’ at Rugby Free Secondary School. (Ofsted ‘Good’: July 2021)’

At Rugby Free Secondary School, we aim to foster kindness and pride, whilst maximising our academic and personal potential. We believe that all of our students should be happy and safe, whilst demonstrating the limitless endeavour and resilience required to succeed by striving for excellence. To achieve these goals, our school ethos is underpinned by the foundations of mutual respect, positive relationships and genuine curiosity.

This is encompassed in our educational philosophy of creating more articulate, organised and progressive learners, and the desire to create both independent and collaborative learners who are proud to be educated at Rugby Free Secondary School.

Alongside this, we focus on broadening our students’ core subject knowledge and understanding of the wider world. As a consequence, quality-first Teaching and Learning is at the centre of our school’s ethos, and is the key priority for all staff. Our aim is for teachers to deliver high-quality lessons to all year groups, whilst also being supported to develop through pertinent and purposeful internal and external CPD that is bespoke.

Learning is integral to everything we do at RFSS. We ensure that all of our students, regardless of gender, ethnicity or ability, receive the best possible learning experiences, to enable them to achieve and maximise their potential. Here at RFSS, we continually support students to develop a love of learning to help them become learners for life, in order to equip them with the knowledge and skills that they will need in the real-world. This is also the case with our teaching staff, who continuously develop and update their own pedagogical practices, through Action Research projects and other bespoke professional development sessions.

Please find below link to our website with the latest Ofsted report when we were graded as ‘Good’. https://www.rugbyfreesecondary.co.uk/ofsted

Our Values are:  

• Kindness – The quality of friendliness, generosity, consideration, honesty  
• Collaboration – The belief that working and learning with others will lead to greater success  
• Curiosity – A strong desire to know and to learn 
• Resilience - The ability to recover quickly and learn from the difficulties we face  
• Respect - To appreciate the importance of understanding and admiration for others and self 
• Endeavour - The belief that hard work is needed to achieve something we can be proud of 

Key duties and responsibilities

·       To be committed to and contribute to the Trust’s ethos, work and aims of the school, enshrined in the school’s Mission Statement

·       Under the guidance/instruction of the Director of Learning and SENDCo Lead: work with individuals/groups to supervise physical/general care of students, especially those with Special, or Additional Educational Needs.

·       Support access to learning for students, prepare resources for the students you work with and provide general support in the classroom

·       Participate in the planning, assessment and evaluation of teaching and learning

General Duties of the Role Support for students

·       Make sure that the students you support are able to engage in learning and stay on task

·       Supervise and provide particular support for individual/groups of students, including those with special needs, ensuring their safety and access to learning activities. Establish good relationships with students, acting as role model and being aware of and responding appropriately to individual needs.

·       Promote inclusion and acceptance of all students

·       Encourage students to interact with others and engage in activities led by the teacher

·       Set challenging and demanding expectations and encourage students to act independently as appropriate

·       Provide feedback to students in relation to progress and achievement under guidance of the teacher

·       Assist with personal care relevant to the student you are engaged with as required

·       Participate in the education of children, including to their health and wellbeing

·       Support children with special needs (if appropriate to the focus of the role);

o  Sensory and/or physical impairment

o  Cognition or learning difficulties

o  Behavioural, emotional and social development needs

o  Communication and interaction difficulties

o  Support for Gifted and Talented students

Support for the Teachers

·       Be aware of students’ problems/progress/achievements and report to the Director of Learning as agreed

·       Undertake student record-keeping to monitor the type of support you give and its impact on the student’s progress

·       Use strategies, in liaison with the Director of Learning, to support students to achieve learning goals

·       Assist with the planning of learning activities and accurately record achievement/progress as directed

·       Provide detailed and regular feedback to teachers on student achievement progress, problems, etc

·       Promote good behaviour, dealing promptly with conflict and incidents in line with established school policy and encourage students to take responsibility for their own behaviour

·       Administer tests and invigilate exams as directed by your line manager

·       Provide clerical/admin support, i.e. (collecting) photocopying, distributing coursework/exercise books/tests papers, filing, typing etc

·       Assist with the display of students’ work

·       Cover LSA absence where necessary

Support for the curriculum

·       Undertake structured and agreed learning activities/programmes, adjusting activities according to students’ responses

·       Undertake literacy and numeracy programmes, recording achievement and progress and feeding back to the teacher/your line manager

Please see attached applicant info pack for more information.