Teaching Assistant (SEMH) Kirklees

An alternative provision in Scissett (HD8) are seeking a Teaching Assistant to support young people with Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs on a full time basis in September 2019.

Our client provides longer term full time education to Key Stage 4 pupils (ages 14 to 16) with wide ranging Social, Emotional Mental Health (SEMH) needs.

The staff team are skilled at working with young people with need across the SEMH range. In partnership with parents, carers and other professionals, the school takes a holistic approach to ensuring a young person's needs are identified accurately upon arrival and then met through a curriculum which addresses academic needs as well as SEMH needs through targeted and additional interventions.

Parents, carers and key professionals receive regular contact with core staff to provide an update on academic progress and SEMH wellbeing. This is usually done by phone but also includes meetings in school and / or at home.

The schools overall mission is to create a secure and stimulating learning environment in which all students are valued and respected, their learning is promoted and their strengths are nurtured.

Staff work collaboratively to prepare young people for transition to post-16 education, employment or training. This is achieved by nurturing pupils within a safe and supportive environment to enable them to learn effectively. The delivery of a broad and varied curriculum provides wide ranging opportunities to secure qualifications that provide progression pathways to a variety of colleges within Kirklees and beyond.

We are seeking an individual who is able to effectively engage young people with learning activities. The successful applicant will be passionate about supporting the holistic needs of young people and who can successfully de-escalate a young person in crisis. You may have additional training in Counselling, Restrictive Physical Intervention (RPI) strategies or have experience within an education or health care setting supporting young people or adults with additional learning needs and/or challenging behaviour.

As a Teaching Assistant, you will supervise young people inside and outside the classroom, and provide support for individual/small groups of children with specific developmental needs and/or challenging behaviour. This may include children with special needs or disabilities, health related conditions or learning difficulties.

Your key duties will include:

• Supervising children in the classroom and playground to support inclusion and develop positive social and interaction skills
• Supporting the achievement of individual children with a disability or social/emotional developmental need which may include: physical disability, vision impairment, hearing impairment, language disorder, mental health condition or autism
• Communicating effectively with children, colleagues, parents and agencies in regards to the developmental needs of individual children
• Supervising individual children who require withdrawal from the classroom
• Assisting in the assessment and identification of children with additional needs, fostering self-help strategies to encourage independence and self-reliance in the classroom

For more information, or to register with Teaching Personnel and apply for this role, please contact Rebecca Barham in the Leeds and Bradford Primary and SEN team.