SEN & SEMH Support Assistant

We’re looking for a friendly, caring Teaching Assistant to join our SEN schools in Portsmouth. You’ll be working with students who have a range of Special Educational Needs (SEN) and Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) needs — supporting them in lessons, building their confidence, creating positive relationships, and helping them feel understood and valued.

What You Will Be Doing:

• Building positive, trusting relationships with students — the kind that make them feel safe, respected, and ready to learn.

• Supporting students on a 1:1 basis and in small groups, tailoring your approach to meet their individual needs.

• Encouraging positive behaviour, resilience, and self-belief through patience, praise, and understanding.

• Working closely with teachers and pastoral staff to make sure every student gets the support they need.

Who We Are Looking For:

You’ll be great in this role if you:

• Enjoy connecting with young people and can build strong, positive relationships.

• Are calm under pressure and have a good sense of humour.

• Have the ability to be flexible and adapt to changing needs within the school setting.

• Can work well as part of a team and take initiative when needed.

• Have experience in supporting students with SEN or SEMH needs.

Benefits: 

• A dedicated consultant to guide you through the process from the get-go.

• Ongoing training and development to enable you to upskill and help you grow in the role.

• Weekly pay at £13.75 per hour

If this sounds like you, we’d love to hear from you. To apply, please send your CV and a short covering letter telling us a bit about yourself and why you’d be a great fit.

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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