Aspire Academy SEMH Primary School (Part of London South East Academies Trust)
Post Title: Teaching Assistant
Post Location: Aspire Academy, South Gipsy Road, Welling DA16 1JB
Position Status: Full-Time, Permanent
Contractual Hours: 37 Hours per week
8.30am-4:00 pm – Monday, Wednesday, Thursday Friday 8.30am-4.30pm – Tuesday
Contractual Weeks: Term Time (39 weeks per year)
Salary: LSEAT H18 £24,032 (pro rata)
Post Start Date: Sept 2025 or as soon as possible
Closing Date: Friday 11th July 2025
Interview Dates: July 2025
Welcome to Aspire Academy
We are a small, specialist primary school in Bexley, providing a nurturing and supportive environment for children aged 5–11 with social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) needs.
Aspire Academy is a unique and rewarding school to work in where no two days are ever the same!
We recognise that every child is unique, which is why we take a holistic approach to their education and wellbeing. Our dedicated team works closely with families and supporting agencies to help pupils develop confidence and essential life skills. Through high quality teaching and learning, therapeutic interventions and a focus on personal development, we support every child to progress successfully onto the next stage of their education and their lives.
We are proud to be rated Good by Ofsted, with Outstanding recognition for Behaviour and Attitudes, as well as Personal Development. This reflects our commitment to ensuring every child is encouraged and inspired - enabling them to reach their full potential.
Your Opportunity
We are seeking to appoint enthusiastic teaching assistants to complete our team. The ideal candidate should possess excellent communication and interpersonal skills. The successful candidates will join a friendly, supportive team with opportunities for further training. Previous experience is not essential, but we are looking for Teaching Assistants who are creative, resilient and enjoy a challenge. A caring and positive approach to working with young people from a range of backgrounds and diagnoses which include SEMH, ASD and ADHD is a must!
Your main responsibilities will include:
● Supporting pupils within a class of 8 - 10 pupils to access the curriculum
● Working one to one or small groups with pupils delivering intervention programmes such as phonics
● Offering emotional support to pupils
● Supporting the creation of a calm and productive working environment
● Support students’ individual behaviour targets
● Support students to enable them to participate fully in the social and academic activities within the Academy.
We are looking for a committed candidate with these qualifications:
● GCSE Grade 4 or equivalent in English and Maths (desirable)
● Good numeracy and literacy skills
● Experience working in a SEN / SLD / SEMH environment (desirable)
● NVQ2 for Teaching Assistants or equivalent qualifications or experience (desirable)
● Ability to motivate and inspire
● Ability to adopt a patient, nurturing and resilient approach
● Ability to work flexibly and to adapt to the changing needs of the pupils
● Ability to communicate clearly both orally and in writing
● Sufficient command of spoken English as defined under the Code of Practice on English language requirements for public sector workers
Please see the attached Job Description for further details.
What benefits can you expect?
The development of our employees at Aspire Academy is paramount.
To support this, we offer these benefits:
● Local Government Pension Scheme
● Full induction programme
● Team Teach positive behaviour training: Positive Approaches to Challenging Behaviour
● Weekly CPD training
● Employee Assistant Programme with 24 hour counselling and support available
● Free parking on site
● Advantages of belonging to a multi-academy Trust (e.g. best practice sharing, Employee Perks Scheme
For further information and an informal conversation about the roles please contact co-headteachers Heather Hopkins and/or Julie Arkwright, on 020 8304 1320.
Visits to the school are encouraged.
About our Trust Our school is part of London South East Academies Trust- a multi academy trust sponsored by London South East Colleges. London South East Academies Trust is a thriving multi-academy trust consisting of mainstream and specialist schools offering special and alternative provision. We aim to provide outstanding education and training for children and young people in every Trust academy, bringing together specialist provision to deliver a real alternative to mainstream education. We are quickly developing a track record of academic success and with ambitious growth plans of the group, there has never been a better time to join this exciting organisation.
We want to attract quality practitioners from across South East London irrespective of their postcode and family background. We want people to be confident that within our schools, they will have a real opportunity to fulfil their potential and the experience will be enjoyable and rewarding.
Read more on the trust website: https://lseat.co.uk
Your Application
To apply for this vacancy please complete the application form, available to download from the Vacancies section, paying particular attention to Section 4 of the form, to indicate how you satisfy the criteria set out in the Person Specification. Once you have completed this, the form should be submitted via email to heather.hopkins@aspire.lseat.org.uk and julie.arkwright@aspire.lseat.org.uk . Alternatively, paper applications should be sent to The Office Manager, Aspire Academy, South Gipsy Road, Welling DA16 1JB
The closing date for your application is as stated above.
References will be requested for those shortlisted only and prior to interview. Only those shortlisted for interview will be contacted.
This post is considered to be a customer-facing position; as such it falls within scope of the Code of Practice on English language requirement for public sector workers. The school therefore has a statutory duty under Part 7 of the Immigration Act 2016 to ensure that post holders have a command of spoken English sufficient for the effective performance of the job requirements. The appropriate standards are set out in the person specification. These will be applied during the recruitment/selection and probationary stages.
Aspire Academy is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. As such, all posts are subject to a safer recruitment process, including the disclosure of criminal records and vetting checks. We ensure that we have a range of policies and procedures in place which promote safeguarding and safer working practice across the school.
Aspire Academy is committed to equality and diversity in employment practice and service delivery.
