Specialist SEND Tutor and Behavior Mentor (KS1/Primary)

Location: Walton on the Naze / Tendring area (Secure, private community venue)

Start Date: Immediate (Provision ready to commence)

Hours: 15 hours per week (3 hours per day, 5 days a week)

About the Role

We are seeking a highly resilient, nurturing, and creative primary tutor:mentor to deliver a comprehensive, face-to-face Education Access package for a Year 3 male pupil. The student has been permanently excluded and presents with Social, Emotional, and Mental Health (SEMH) needs, Communication and Interaction difficulties, and strong traits of ASD and ADHD. He actively avoids academic demands, has a tendency to refuse work, and can experience rapid behavioural spirals.

You will deliver 15 hours of tuition per week outside of the home in a secure, pre-vetted private community room. This role requires an educator who prioritises relationship-building, de-escalation, and hands-on, active learning over rigid academic pressure.

Key Responsibilities

• Relationship-First Education: Establish a strong, non-confrontational bond based on mutual respect. Use positive reinforcement to build trust with a student who is highly resistant to traditional teaching.
• Primary Curriculum Delivery: Teach primary-level English, Maths, Science, and PSHE, creatively adapting tasks into small, manageable snippets to accommodate ADHD traits.
• Integrate Active Learning and Play: Incorporate the student’s love for physical activity, PE, and throwing his Vortex rocket into practical learning breaks between academic tasks to burn off energy.
• Utilise EdTech (CENTURY): Use the CENTURY AI platform to gently run low-stakes baseline assessments and deliver bite-sized, 10-minute learning nuggets. This structure will help prevent cognitive overload and work refusal.
• Risk and Flight Management: Maintain high vigilance and proactive boundaries to mitigate risks of absconding. Work within a secure, closed environment and de-escalate potential crises before they spiral.
• Support Sensory Needs: Create a quiet, low-noise learning environment. Respect sensory processing differences, including the student’s need for comfortable clothing choices (e.g., wearing shorts).

What We Are Looking For

• Experience: Extensive experience working with early primary-aged children (Key Stage 1 / Lower Key Stage 2) who present with complex SEMH, ADHD, ASD, and high-risk behaviours (including physical aggression and absconding).
• Pedagogical Approach: Warm, patient, and highly adaptable. You must be able to think on your feet and turn a potentially dry lesson into an engaging, pattern-based, or active game.
• Tech Literacy: Comfortable using online learning tools like CENTURY to guide independent study bursts and track academic data.
• De-escalation Skills: Highly trained or experienced in behaviour management, sensory regulation, and positive de-escalation strategies.

Requirements and Transport

• Must hold a full UK driving licence and have access to a car to commute daily to the designated secure venue in the CO14 area.
• Must hold an Enhanced DBS on the Update Service (or be willing for one).
• Comfort working in a secure, private community room designed to safely manage behavioural risks.