SEN Teaching Assistant

Location: Cranleigh, Surrey

Annual salary: £21,900 dependent on experience and qualifications

Hours: Monday to Friday - 8:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. (term-time only)

The School:

A specialist school for students with Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC) and associated needs, catering to ages 5-19. Located in a beautiful stately home on 22 acres in Cranleigh, the campus includes a main school, a separate primary school, a supported living facility, and excellent amenities like stables, a football pitch, nature trails, sensory gardens, and an on-site café. An artist in residence is also on staff.

Ethos and Values: The school operates as a heritage site, following core Christian values with morning prayers and Bible lessons. While staff are not required to be Christian, they must respect and uphold the school's values.

Student Support: The school supports students with severe and complex needs, including extreme behaviours. All staff must be willing and able to restrain students. Due to the fast-paced, "full-on" nature of the role, candidates must be emotionally resilient.

Class Structure: Classes have 6-8 students, with a class teacher and a team of teaching assistants. While not all students have one-to-one support, it is provided when necessary. Many teaching assistants work one-to-one with students from their first day.

Staff Development: The school is highly committed to staff training. It will fully fund any training a staff member wants to do and may support QTS and HLTA qualifications after a period of time.

Facilities: Staff are welcome to use the school's facilities, which include a heated outdoor pool, a playground, and a dedicated staff break room.

Key Duties:

• To establish a warm, caring and supportive relationship with pupils in order to support them feeling safe and enabling them to enjoy and learn during their time at the School.
• To promote and encourage independence and personal development in pupils and maintain high expectations of behaviour at all times.
• To contribute to providing high quality, challenging and differentiated educational activities and experiences through supporting the teaching of a broad and balanced curriculum aiming at pupils achieving their full potential in all areas of learning.
• Support the Class Teacher in all areas of the day to day running of the class
• To respond to the varying and changing needs of the school and adapt to any task presented to achieve the smooth running of the school.
• To promote pupils' cognitive, social, emotional, behavioural, physical development and spiritual well-being.
• Demonstrate a proven ability to work collaboratively within a multi-professional team.

Please note that duties will vary and you will be expected to contribute to the overall aims of the School when required.

Candidate Criteria:

• SEN experience is preferred but not essential, and personal experience will be considered.
• Candidates must be emotionally resilient and ready to handle a demanding, fast-paced environment.

Due to the location of the school, candidates must hold a full UK driving licence and have access to their own vehicle.

Successful applicants will be subject to pre-employment safeguarding checks including an enhanced disclosure and barring service (DBS) check.

The post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and we are therefore permitted to ask job applicants to declare all convictions and cautions (including those which are "spent" unless they are "protected" under the DBS filtering rules) in order to assess their suitability to work with children.