SEND Assistant

Mount Havelock is part of the First Steps Together Group, and is our newest specialist school, located in Milnsbridge, Huddersfield, opening in January 2027.

Providing education for young people across Key Stages 3 and 4, Mount Havelock will offer a nurturing, inclusive and aspirational environment where pupils are supported to feel safe, understood and able to succeed. Joining Mount Havelock is an exciting opportunity to be part of a brand-new school from the beginning – helping to shape its culture, establish its team and create an exceptional learning environment for our young people.

For every journey, let’s take first steps together.

At First Steps Together, we believe every child and young person deserves to feel safe, understood, included and able to succeed.

We are a growing group of specialist independent schools providing nurturing, inclusive and aspirational education for children and young people with a range of additional needs, including SEND, SEMH and complex presentations. We are committed to identifying and removing barriers to learning so that every pupil receives the personalised support they need to participate, progress and achieve.

We are looking for an organised, knowledgeable and committed SEND Assistant to join our school team and play an important role in coordinating high-quality SEND provision.

This is a varied, pupil-focused role for someone who combines strong organisation and attention to detail with a genuine commitment to inclusion and positive outcomes for children and young people with SEND.

Working closely with school leaders, teachers, therapists, families and external professionals, you’ll help make sure that SEND Support, EHCP provision and professional recommendations translate into effective everyday practice.

What you’ll be doing

You’ll help coordinate the day-to-day delivery of SEND provision, ensuring pupils receive personalised and effective support that removes barriers to learning and helps them make educational, social and emotional progress.

You’ll maintain the school’s SEND register and support the Assess-Plan-Do-Review process, helping ensure pupil targets, SEND Support Plans, pupil profiles and other individual learning documentation remain accurate, current and meaningful.

A key part of the role will be making sure support leads to positive outcomes. You’ll monitor pupils’ progress towards SEND Support targets, individual learning goals and EHCP outcomes, bringing together information about attainment, progress, attendance, behaviour and wellbeing to help identify where support may need to be strengthened or adapted.

You’ll also coordinate and monitor targeted interventions, making sure pupils receive appropriate support at the right time. You’ll review attendance, engagement and impact, work with colleagues to ensure interventions are delivered consistently and help identify where strategies or provision need to change.

Alongside this coordination work, you’ll work directly with pupils, providing one-to-one mentoring and structured small-group interventions. You’ll build positive and nurturing relationships and help pupils develop their communication, emotional literacy, social interaction, self-advocacy, resilience and positive decision-making.

For pupils with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs), you’ll help ensure provision and professional recommendations are reflected in everyday practice. You’ll support preparation for annual reviews, gather evidence from teachers, therapists and other professionals, collate information about progress and provision and contribute to review meetings where appropriate.

You’ll work closely with teachers to support adaptive teaching and reasonable adjustments, helping colleagues understand individual pupils’ needs and implement recommendations from EHCPs and professional reports. You’ll model effective SEND strategies, share good practice and contribute to SEND and inclusion training activities.

You’ll also help maintain the school’s SEND Provision Map, pupil records and evidence of support, ensuring documentation is accurate, organised and ready to demonstrate the provision pupils are receiving and the impact it is having.

Strong partnership working will be important. You’ll build positive relationships with parents and carers and work collaboratively with teachers, therapists, school leaders and external professionals, helping ensure everyone involved in supporting a pupil is working towards shared outcomes.

Above all, you’ll help ensure that SEND provision is more than paperwork – it is personalised, purposeful and making a measurable difference to pupils.

Bring your difference

We’re looking for someone with experience of supporting children or young people with SEND or additional needs and a good understanding of inclusive practice, reasonable adjustments and the importance of removing barriers to learning.

You’ll understand the principles of the Assess-Plan-Do-Review cycle and have an awareness of EHCPs, SEND Support and the importance of working collaboratively with different professionals around a child or young person.

You’ll be organised and confident working with information. You’ll need to maintain accurate records, monitor progress and recognise when the evidence suggests that support, intervention or provision may need to change.

Strong written communication and attention to detail will be important, as will the ability to manage competing priorities and complete work within agreed timescales.

You’ll also be confident building positive professional relationships with pupils, families and colleagues. You’ll approach pupils with empathy and patience while maintaining high expectations for what they can achieve.

Experience of EHCP annual reviews, SEND Support Plans, provision mapping or coordinating targeted interventions would be particularly valuable. Experience within specialist, alternative, therapeutic or independent education would also be beneficial.

A relevant Level 3 or higher qualification in education, SEND, childcare, health, psychology or a related area would be desirable, as would knowledge or training relating to autism, ADHD, communication, sensory needs, AAC or trauma-informed practice.

Most importantly, you’ll bring a calm, organised and solution-focused approach, combining empathy and patience with accuracy, professional curiosity and a genuine commitment to inclusion.

Why First Steps Together?

This is an opportunity to develop broad SEND experience within a specialist school where inclusion, individualised support and high expectations are central to how we work.

It isn’t a purely administrative SEND role. You’ll combine coordination and monitoring with direct work with pupils, giving you the opportunity to understand individual needs, see interventions in practice and help ensure the support being provided is genuinely making a difference.

You’ll work alongside teachers, school leaders, therapists and other professionals, developing your knowledge and experience across SEND provision, EHCPs, interventions, inclusive practice and pupil progress.

You’ll also join a growing specialist education organisation where professional development and continuous improvement are actively encouraged, with opportunities to further develop your knowledge of SEND, safeguarding, autism, ADHD, communication and inclusive practice.

If you’re passionate about SEND, highly organised and want a role where you can combine direct pupil support with helping coordinate high-quality provision, we’d love to hear from you.

Bring your difference. Take your next step with First Steps Together.

Safeguarding

First Steps Together is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. Appointment to this role will be subject to appropriate safer recruitment and pre-employment checks, including an Enhanced DBS, satisfactory references, online checks and overseas police checks where required.

Get in Touch

If you would like to arrange an informal discussion about the role with a member of the School Leadership Team or our People Services Team, please contact us by emailing recruitment@fstmanagement.uk.

We reserve the right to close applications early should we receive a sufficient number of suitable applications which meet the essential criteria.

We will not accept CVs in place of a completed application form.