SEND Teaching Assistant in Croydon

Full Time or Part Time Considered, Term Time Only (plus INSET days)

Salary: Grade 3 point 5 - 7 (£29,436- £30,288 FTE) equates to £22,763 - £23,422 (pay award pending)

Term time and INSET days

Hours: Full-Time is preferable 8.30am-3.15pm Mon-Thur (8.20am – 3.15pm Fri) but Part Time may be considered

Start date: ASAP

Fixed Term Contract: 1 year

We are a friendly, inclusive and successful school with a caring and positive ethos, strong family values and professional staff development at the centre of our work. We are looking for a TA who would like to help our children grow and evolve in a way that truly reflects our caring and supportive school. This vacancy is an opportunity for a TA to provide effective support to children of all abilities, especially those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, in a caring and developmental environment in our outstanding two form entry school in Shirley.

There are good public transport links and free off-site parking. Our recruitment process is about finding the right person with the right experience and personality, someone who will be as excited as we are about supporting and developing our children. The successful candidate will be flexible and have the skills to provide excellent classroom practice and playground supervision across the school, and the ability to build good relationships with individual and groups of children of all ages.

This role focuses on providing 1:1 support to individual children or groups who may have special educational needs and/or a disability (SEND).

Our new Teaching Assistant will have:

• NVQ Level 2 or equivalent qualification/experience
• Experience of working in primary school classes; with SEND children would be an advantage but not essential
• A caring and positive attitude towards all pupils
• High expectations of children and themselves
• Flexibility and commitment to going that extra mile to ensure pupils achieve their best
• Good communication, interpersonal and organisational skills
• The ability to plan and deliver appropriate interventions
• An understanding and support of the distinctiveness of church schools (you don’t have to be Christian)
• The desire to work in a busy inclusive and successful school

We offer the successful candidate:

• A welcoming, positive and caring environment with focus on our children and staff wellbeing
• A supportive, dedicated and diverse staff
• Well-maintained buildings in extensive grounds
• An ambitious, supportive and effective Governing Body
• A productive and helpful school association from our wider community who are all fully invested in the children’s learning
• Curious, engaged, enthusiastic and well-behaved pupils who thrive and achieve through our broad curriculum and activities

You are encouraged to browse our website and take a virtual tour of the school site. Closing date for applications is Thursday 10th September at 9am. However, based on the quality and quantity of applications received, the School reserves the right to close this vacancy sooner than the specified closing date. Applicants will be notified of this where possible. Therefore, early applications are encouraged. Interviews will take place Wednesday 16th September.

St John’s School is committed to safeguarding and protecting all our children by implementing robust safer recruitment practices. We identify and reject any applicants who are unsuitable to work with children. We will respond to concerns about the suitability of applicants during the recruitment process and about employees and volunteers once they have begun their role here with us. All new staff and volunteers participate in an induction which includes child protection and are signposted to our supporting policies and procedures.

As this role involves working with children, it is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 – this means that you are required to declare any convictions, cautions, reprimands and final warnings that are not ‘protected’ as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2013). The amendments to the Exceptions Order state that certain ‘spent’ convictions and cautions are 'protected' and are therefore not subject to disclosure to employers and cannot be taken into account. References for shortlisted candidates will be sought prior to interview and an Enhanced Disclosure via the DBS will be completed on the successful applicant. Photographic identification and certificates of all relevant qualifications will need to be provided at the interview stage.

St John’s School is committed to positively tackling discrimination in all its forms and works to ensure that all sections of the community have fair and equal access to and experience within employment. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and communities, in particular those that are currently underrepresented in our workforce; we are respectful of all individuals’ race, age, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, caring responsibilities, disabilities and cultural background. As part of our commitment to equalities and diversity, we aim to ensure that candidates are not prevented from demonstrating their true abilities during the recruitment and selection exercise and are committed to making Reasonable Adjustments to our recruitment and selection processes.

In line with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UKGDPR) and the expected provisions of the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018) the school is responsible for holding and protecting personal data. The school is required to share some data with the Local Authority and the Department for Education. For further information on who we share data with please see our website for our Privacy Notices.