What skills and experience we're looking for
Closing date for applications: Thursday 1st May 2025 @ noon
Short listing Date: Friday 2nd May 2025
Interview date: Thursday 8th May 2025
Key Responsibility:
The teaching and management of an assessment unit for (20 part time nursery) children with complex communication difficulties.
General Conditions
You are required to:
1. Undertake the duties of a school teacher as specified in the School Teachers Pay and Conditions Document for the current year.
2. Have a clear knowledge and understanding of current education, the requirements of the SEND code of practice and the National Curriculum with regard to children with communication difficulties.
3. Lead and manage the daily work of a team of teaching assistants within the assessment unit.
4. Lead in the planning and delivery of the Foundation Stage Curriculum, adapted to meet children’s individual needs.
5. Develop assessment and recording systems to identify and monitor pupils’ progress in the curriculum and their identified special educational needs.
6. Assist the Headteacher in creating an environment conducive to high standards of learning that meet the physical, emotional and educational needs of all children, including those in the Assessment Unit.
7. Participate in extracurricular activities e.g., parent consultations, school visits, organising and running workshops etc. and encouraged to participate in fund-raising events/social activities etc. whenever possible.
8. Contribute to the planning, implementation and evaluation of whole school policies.
9. Participate in the school’s programme for performance management and staff development.
10. Promote a positive image of the school and federation at all times.
11. Carry out any reasonable duties specified by the Headteacher from time to time.
Specific Responsibilities and duties
You will be required to:
• Manage, co-ordinate, monitor and evaluate teaching and learning, including learning support in the assessment unit.
• Develop effective working partnerships with teachers, teaching assistants and other federation staff members.
• Develop effective working relationships with other professionals associated with the unit.
• Organise annual admission panels.
• Coordinate and manage the work of the multi-agency assessment team, including arranging assessment dates, liaising with team members, parents and using finalised reports to request statutory assessment.
• Be SENCO to the assessment unit, managing and co-ordinating all work needed to request/review Educational Health Care Plans for the pupils in the unit.
• Ensure clear Personal Learning Plans for each child are in place for each child and to ensure these are reviewed according to the guidelines in the SEN code of practice and that they include OT and SaLT targets.
• Develop positive relationships with parents/guardians and carers and encourage their involvement in their child’s education wherever possible. This includes:
o Enabling both group and individual bespoke learning sessions for parents
o Liaise with parents throughout the statutory EHC assessment process.
o Working with parents and schools over their child’s transfer to Reception year Group
• Work with the Headteacher on recruiting staff for Dragonflies
• Work with the Headteacher and the governing body on issues that affect the success of the unit.
• Undertake further training to develop knowledge and expertise in the teaching of children with communication difficulty including ASD.
• Organise relevant training for Dragonflies staff members and training for staff across the wider school that is individual or INSET for groups of staff.
• Attend whole school staff meetings and take part in decisions relating to the whole federation.
• Join in whole school events and make adaptations where possible for Dragonfly children
• Offer advice on mainstream children with social and communication difficulties to other members of staff, volunteers and students as appropriate.
What the school offers its staff
Following the retirement of our excellent Base teacher, the governors of Thomas Wall Nursery and Robin Hood Infants wish to appoint a Lead teacher for September 2025. The successful candidate will teach the Dragonflies assessment base class and will lead a team of teaching assistants. S/he will also be SENDCo for the base and as such will be responsible for working with multi-agency professionals in preparing appropriate reports to support the statutory assessment process. Management time will be given. We are seeking an outstanding, highly motivated teacher, experienced in teaching children with SEND needs, who will continue the high quality teaching and support that we already provide.
Thomas Wall Nursery is an extended school with two nursery classes and a special needs assessment unit for twenty (ten morning and ten afternoon) nursery children with complex social communication difficulties including autism. It is situated near to the centre of Sutton. The school is federated with Robin Hood Infant School.
We have 124 places available in the whole nursery. The children are housed in three classrooms, one being Dragonflies, the assessment base has places for 20 children (10 in the morning and 10 in the afternoon). Positive attitudes and self-esteem are important features of our school ethos.
All staff are committed to equal opportunities and there is a strong team spirit. We teach a broad, child centred, adapted curriculum that teachers and their assistants plan and review within the team. There is good support for new members of staff.
For further details or an informal chat please contact the school.
An application pack is available on our website:
Further details about the role
Person Specification
The person specification shows the abilities and skills you need to carry out the duties in the job description. Shortlisting is carried out on the basis of how well you meet the requirements of the person specification. You should mention any experience you have had which shows how you could meet these requirements when you fill in your application form.
Applicants will be considered against the criteria set out below:
ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS
Qualifications
1. Qualified Teacher Status
2. Evidence of recent and relevant experience and training in special educational needs.
3. A recognised qualification in special education.
4. Relevant training in special educational needs.
Experience
5. Experience of teaching children with special education needs, including those with complex communication difficulties / ASD, within a mainstream or specialist setting.
6. Experience of teaching pupils at the Foundation Stage.
7. Experience of implementing and evaluating individual planning and review for pupils, in accordance with the Code of Practice.
8. Experience of planning, supporting and evaluating the work of Teaching assistants.
9. Experience of leading a staff team (e.g., as a year group leader, curriculum co-ordinator or leading a team of teaching assistants within a class base.
Professional Skills and Abilities
10. The ability to plan a curriculum matched to the needs of individual children.
11. The ability to observe, assess, record and evaluate children’s progress.
12. The ability to organise and co-ordinate the daily work of children in the assessment unit.
13. The ability to work within and lead a team effectively.
14. The ability to liaise and communicate effectively with a range of people, including colleagues, parents and professionals from other agencies.
15. The ability to engender confidence in parents in the provision made for their children.
16. An understanding of positive intervention strategies to promote learning.
17. A commitment to undertake and to lead continuing professional development in special education, particularly for children with complex communication difficulties (including ASD) across the Federation.
18. The ability to support colleagues in adapting their curriculum and classroom management to meet the needs of pupils with ASD in mainstream.
19. The ability to work within given timescales.
Knowledge
20. Knowledge of the strategies that can be used to make the curriculum accessible for children with complex communication difficulties/ASD e.g., TEACCH and Communication Core boards.
21. Knowledge of the SEND Code of Practice and statutory requirements for children with SEND.
Commitment to safeguarding
Our organisation is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. We expect all staff, volunteers and trustees to share this commitment. Our recruitment process follows the keeping children safe in education guidance. Offers of employment may be subject to the following checks (where relevant): childcare disqualification Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) medical online and social media prohibition from teaching right to work satisfactory references suitability to work with children You must tell us about any unspent conviction, cautions, reprimands or warnings under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975.