Teaching Assistant for Unit for Pupils with Autism

Are you looking for a fantastic opportunity to teach in our highly successful ASD provision? Have you got the drive and passion to help secure an excellent education for every child? Upton is a great place to work, with a welcoming community of children and adults, a new and attractive environment and a determined vision for the future. We need a skilled teaching assistant who will inspire our children to achieve their absolute best and who is determined to help children overcome their barriers to learning.

A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY

Our ASD unit, The PAD, opened in 2014 and provides for eight children with autism and emotional regulation difficulties. We are now seeking to appoint an additional Teaching Assistant to join the team. You must be appropriately qualified to at least Level 2 TA, but Level 3 is preferred. The successful candidate will work under the direction of the specialist teacher within the Unit and will also have responsibility for supporting pupils when they integrate in mainstream classes on a 1:1 basis. Experience of working as a teaching assistant in a primary school is essential, as is evidence of recent relevant training. Pupils in the ASD unit will be of at least average cognitive ability, so good Literacy and Numeracy skills are necessary.

We are looking for a teaching assistant who:

• has knowledge and experience of supporting pupils on the autism spectrum
• can use children’s strengths and interests to inspire and motivate
• embraces the challenge of catering for children with social disabilities, including their right to environmental accommodations and need for specific teaching strategies
• understands all behaviour as communication with a function and is able to de-escalate situations and provide learners with strategies to regulate their emotions
• is a calm, flexible and motivated person, able to work constructively as part of a team as well as carrying our delegated tasks
• is willing to engage in professional development opportunities and welcomes constructive feedback to improve their practice

Closing Date: Noon on Tuesday 06th June 2017
Interview Dates: Friday 09th June 2017

You can visit www.upton.bexley.sch.uk for further information about the school.

Visits to the school are strongly encouraged. Please contact our Assistant Headteacher with responsibility for Inclusion, Mrs Noel Toledano, at inco@upton.bexley.sch.uk to arrange a mutually convenient time and for an application form, job description and person specification.

This post is considered to be a customer facing position; as such it falls within the 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 below. These will be applied during the recruitment/selection and probationary stages.

• Ability to speak with confidence and accuracy, using accurate sentence structures and vocabulary
• Ability to choose the right kind of vocabulary for the situation in hand without a great deal of hesitation
• Ability to listen to customers (staff and children) and understand their needs
• Ability to tailor your approach to each conversation to be appropriate to the customer (staff and children), responding clearly with fine shades of meaning, even in complex situations

References will be requested for those short listed ONLY and prior to interview. Only those shortlisted for interview will be contacted.

The school is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Offers of employment are subject to a satisfactory enhanced DBS disclosure and other employment checks. The school is committed to equality and diversity in employment practice and service delivery.

A six-month probationary period applies to all appointments to the Council.