Job description
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Teaching Personnel is currently recruiting a Special Needs Teaching Assistant for a long term contract in a special school in West Bradford. The school caters for pupils from 3-19 with complex Special Educational Needs including Autism, Profound and Multiple Learning Disabilities, Social Emotional and Mental Health Needs, and Speech, Language and Communication Needs.
Your role as a Special Needs Teaching Assistant is to enable access to the curriculum, to facilitate independent learning and to promote inclusion. You may also provide administrative support, technical support or be involved in pastoral care.
The role of the Teaching Assistant is crucial to pupils achieving greater autonomy, higher academic standards, and greater social awareness and feel part of the whole school community. It is important to note that your objective is to support the teacher and/or other school staff in providing a quality education to pupils.
What skills/qualities are needed to become an effective Teaching Assistant?
Although there are a wide range of Teaching Assistant qualifications available it is not compulsory and great emphasis is placed on the skills, attributes and qualities a Teaching Assistant needs to be effective. These would include:
- An ability to get on with children and other adults - a sense of humour is an asset!
- Flexibility - things can happen unexpectedly in classrooms/schools and you need to be able to cope with the pace
- Initiative - whilst you will be working under the guidance of a teacher there will be occasions when you need to make a decision and use your initiative
- Patience and understanding - all children will occasionally try your patience and some children need constant understanding
- Ability to cope with stress - schools are hectic places and you can expect to be involved in hundreds of interactions in a day, remember the teacher has the overall responsibility for the pupils, but you need a cool head and the ability to stay calm
- Being a team player - in a school you will be part of a large team who need to share ideas and information as well as accepting advice, you will need a good working relationship with the teacher and other TAs and be sensitive to their needs
Your main responsibilities will include:
- Attending to pupils' personal needs, and implement related personal programmes, including social, health, physical, hygiene, first-aid and welfare matters
- Supervise and support pupils ensuring their safety and access to learning
- Establish good relationships with pupils, acting as a role model and being aware of and responding appropriately to individual needs
- Promote the inclusion and acceptance of all pupils
- Encourage pupils to interact with others and engage in activities led by the teacher
- Encourage pupils to act independently as appropriate
- Assist with the development and implementation of Individual Education/Behaviour Plans and Personal Care programmes
- Set challenging and demanding expectations that promote self-esteem and independence
- Provide feedback to pupils in relation to progress and achievement under guidance of the teacher
- Support pupils consistently whilst recognising and responding to their individual needs
- Promote independence and employ strategies to recognise and reward achievement of self reliance
- Assess the needs of pupils and use detailed knowledge and specialist skills to support pupils' learning