Secondary School Teaching Assistant

Secondary School Teaching Assistant

Team: Education and Teaching

Location: Sunderland, Tyne & Wear

Salary: £20,812 - £21,968 + SSA + excellent benefits

Contract Type: Permanent

Position Type: Full Time

Interview Date: Wednesday, 18 January 2023

Closing date: Friday, 13 January 2023, 23:59

Ashbrooke School is a happy and vibrant community where young people from Key Stages 1-5 learn and flourish. We are an Ofsted “Outstanding” school and have a team of highly committed and professional staff working with young people who have a range of needs both educationally and socially.

Are you looking for a proactive role where you will make a difference to a young person and their family?

Do you want to work in a supportive school that has great facilities and a friendly and passionate management team?

In this role, you will be providing high quality support to our Key Stage 3 and 4 learners both in the classroom and during social times, where you will be teaching our learners the key life skills they need, in order to live happy and successful lives. This role gives you the opportunity to be flexible, support learning and creative in your approach working with our learners.

Here at Ashbrooke School, you need to be passionate about working in a fast paced environment which always has the young people at the heart of all our work. Teaching Assistants need to be comfortable “wearing many hats” while in work: that of the teaching assistant, the entertainer, the counsellor, the good cop and, at times, the less good cop (putting in boundaries and sometimes saying the words “No, because…”) All of these roles will be helping our pupils to learn in the class and understand the acceptable rules of life. That is our commitment to them and their outcomes.

If you’ve already been working as a teaching assistant in a Key Stage 2, 3 or 4 school, where you’ve been inspired to take up the challenges of the classroom and change lives for the better then we would encourage you to come and look around our school and apply to work in our inspiring school community. Our three core words are Resilience, Respect and Responsibility and we expect this of our staff and seek to develop these with our young people.

The role

As a Teaching Assistant at Ashbrooke School, we have the same outlook as you. We know that enabling positive outcomes for young people facing complex challenges isn’t an overnight fix. That’s why we need a committed and enthusiastic individual, who is ready to start every day with a fresh outlook and welcome the children into their learning opportunities. Our work with the children isn’t about us; we are a team who are all about the children all of the time.

The great thing for you is, you won’t be alone in your goal to have a positive impact on our pupils’ lives. You’ll have all the support you need from the team.

You will need to be able to build trusting relationships with our learners to help them manage the learning challenges of the day. We all wear different hats here and in order for our pupils to succeed, you will need to think on your feet. It’s about coaxing their confidence both academically and socially – helping them feel accepted and understood.

Day to day, you’ll…

• Support the teacher by focusing on pupils’ needs, adapting to scenarios, leaving the teacher free to get on with the job of delivering lessons.
• Set up any equipment or tech requirements needed in the lessons, ready for use.
• Work one-to-one with pupils to ensure that they’re getting the most out of what’s being taught in the classroom.
• Help to keep disruption to a minimum and de-escalate any challenges you do face with your impressively calm, rational approach.
• Work closely with our therapists to make sure every pupil gets all the mental health support they need to be able to enjoy a fulfilling school experience.

Working with us

Your experience in a similar role, the NVQ level 2 (or equivalent – or higher) that you achieved and the fact that you’re looking to take that next important step in your career… those things tell us just how seriously you take being a Teaching Assistant. We’d also love to see up-to-date welfare and safeguarding knowledge and evidence of great team working skills. Plus, you’ll need the kind of resilience that will send you home from even the most challenging of working days with a sense of satisfaction that you’ve done your best. If you’re emotionally strong and good in a team, we can offer a role with exciting prospects. 

Here at Witherslack Group there are three levels of Teaching Assistant teams, dependant on your experience. Level 2, 3 and Higher Level. The latter gives you the chance to take on extra duties, like planning meetings, working without supervision and helping Teachers to develop the kinds of learning activities that will draw pupils’ attention and keep them engaged in learning tasks. You’d also be one of the people supporting and developing our other Teaching Assistants, in that case too.

Benefits and Support

The progression opportunities here are plentiful and, with all the support we’ll give you, there’s nothing to stop you from taking them. Promoting from within is what helps us to keep our team strong and consistent, so if you have ambitions to become a Teacher in the future, we can provide the platform and pathway for that. JO

But that’s not all. Join us and you’ll be entitled to a benefits package that includes:

• A salary and benefits package that’s among the best in our sector including paid summer holidays.
• Contributory Pension Scheme matched up to 5%.
• Full school holidays, including bank holidays.
• A comprehensive induction package and ongoing training.
• Medicash Health Plan, Employee Assistance and Cycle to Work Scheme.
• We’ll also cover the cost of your Enhanced DBS check.

For further information please contact Claire Adams – Senior Administrator on 0191 607 5610.