SEMH Teaching Assistant

Teaching Personnel is seeking a resilient, dedicated, and compassionate SEMH Teaching Assistant to support pupils within a specialist KS3 SEMH provision in Leicester.

This role is ideal for individuals who thrive in challenging yet rewarding environments and have a strong understanding of supporting young people with Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) needs. The successful candidate will play a key role in helping students overcome barriers to learning, manage behavioural challenges, and achieve positive outcomes both academically and personally.

The Role

You will work closely with students aged 11–14 who may display challenging behaviours, emotional dysregulation, or difficulties engaging in education. Building positive relationships and maintaining a calm, consistent approach will be essential to success in this role.

Key responsibilities include:

• Supporting students on a one-to-one and small group basis.
• Managing and de-escalating challenging behaviour using positive behaviour strategies.
• Encouraging engagement, participation, and attendance.
• Providing emotional support and acting as a positive role model.
• Working collaboratively with teaching staff and pastoral teams.
• Helping to create a safe, structured, and inclusive learning environment.

The Ideal Candidate

We are particularly interested in candidates who:

• Have experience working with children or young people with SEMH needs.
• Are confident managing challenging behaviour and responding calmly under pressure.
• Possess strong behaviour management and de-escalation skills.
• Have experience in education, youth work, residential care, support work, coaching, or similar settings.
• Are resilient, patient, and committed to making a positive difference.
• Can build trust and establish professional boundaries with vulnerable young people.

What We Offer

• Competitive rates of pay.
• Access to CPD and training opportunities.
• Opportunity to make a genuine impact on the lives of young people.
• Potential for long-term and permanent opportunities.

If you have the confidence, resilience, and behaviour management skills needed to support young people with SEMH needs, we would love to hear from you.

All applicants will require the appropriate qualifications and training for this role. Please see the FAQ’s on the Teaching Personnel website for details.
All pay rates quoted will be inclusive of 12.07% statutory holiday pay. This advert is for a temporary position. In some cases, the option to make this role permanent may become available at a later date.
Teaching Personnel is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. We undertake safeguarding checks on all workers in accordance with DfE statutory guidance ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ this may also include an online search as part of our due diligence on shortlisted applicants.
We offer all our registered candidates FREE child protection and prevent duty training. All candidates must undertake or have undertaken a valid enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. Full assistance provided.
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