Teaching Assistant

Teaching Assistant

Location: Aspire Academy, South Gipsy Road, Welling DA16 1JB

Position Status: Full-Time, This job is initially a 1 year contract

​Contractual Hours: 37 Hours per week - 8.30am-4:00 pm – Monday, Wednesday, Thursday Friday 8.30am-4.30pm – Tuesday

Contractual Weeks: Term Time Only (39 weeks per year)

Salary: LSEAT Harmonised 18 £30,081 (actual)

Post Start Date: ASAP

Closing Date: Monday 2nd November

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

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
• 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

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.​

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.