Coombe House School
Learning Support Assistant
35 hours per week
Due to continual growth, new positions are available to join our team of talented Learning Support Assistants who work with the class Teachers to help plan and deliver lessons, and with the Pastoral Support Team and Therapists. These roles will be to start by 19th February.
We would like to hear from you if you have a passion for supporting pupils with SEMH (social, emotional, and mental health) difficulties and those with a range of neurodiverse conditions including autism. Ideally you will have experience of working as a SEND Teaching Assistant or Learning Support Assistant, with children who have additional complex needs.
We will consider mainstream experienced Learning Support/Teaching Assistants looking to further your career within Special Education, and those who have a passion for helping children overcoming barriers to learning.
Our school
Coombe House School is an independent special school that provides education for pupils aged 5 to 19 with SEMH and ASD and associated difficulties, which represents the largest group of children and young people supported by an Education, Health, and Care Plan (EHCP) in Dorset and nationally. All pupils on roll have an EHCP. The school uses a therapeutic approach to support pupils with their individual difficulties. Everything the school does is based on the formation and maintenance of positive relationships and viewing all behaviour as communication.
We are seeking candidates who thrive on working in a challenging but immensely rewarding environment, who are passionate about supporting the development of social, life and independence skills and who truly want to make a difference in the lives of pupils. Our Learning Support Assistants are kind, patient, calm and compassionate who work on building trusting relationships with our pupils.
More about the role:
1. Assist teachers and other staff to create a positive learning environment.
2. Capacity to offer therapeutic support to pupils.
3. Engage pupils in activities and learning planned by the teacher - both on and off site.
4. Support pupils in managing their behaviour and learning.
5. Equip pupils with essential coping skills to manage their behaviour and learning.
6. Support pupils to improve their behaviour through a positive behaviour approach.
7. Teach pupils emotional self-regulation skills and social interaction and communication skills under the guidance of the class teacher.
Please review the job description and person specification for further information about the role. If you would like to work at a very special, caring, and nurturing school, please complete the application process.
Excellent salary range from £23,893 – £25,979 pa (Actual term time only is £21,446.36 to £23,318.75 p a). Working hours are:
Full Time (35 hours)
08.30 – 16.00 Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday
08.30 – 16.30 on a Wednesday
08.30 – 15.30 on a Friday
The school is accessed via a private road and enjoys a secluded setting within its grounds. The accommodation extends to over 160,000 sq ft, set within in grounds of 55 acres.
What Coombe House School can offer you:
8. A workplace set in beautiful surroundings.
9. Competitive salary.
10. Access to an employee assistance programme.
11. Enhanced NEST Pension Scheme (10% employers' contribution).
12. Continuous professional development and training
13. Use of leisure facilities (gym and swimming pool), at specified times.
14. Highly supportive leadership team and working alongside a multi-disciplinary team of other SEN Specialists.
15. The opportunity to play an integral part at the infancy of this exciting and unique journey.
This post involves working with children or vulnerable adults and/or having access to significant information about them and will be subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service check.
We are committed to safeguarding and expect everyone who works in our school (and visitors to our school) to share this commitment. We take all safeguarding and welfare concerns seriously and encourage our pupils to talk to us about any worries they may have. We will always act in the best interests of the child. The successful applicant must be willing to undergo child protection screening, including checks with past employers and an enhanced DBS check in line with the Governments safer recruitment guidelines.
Coombe House School values the diversity of our workforce and welcomes applications from all sectors of the community.
The pro rata salary shown is based on the number of hours and weeks worked and includes appropriate paid annual leave and bank holiday entitlements.
This role is UK based and your Right to Work will need to be established as part of the appointment process
This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (ROA) 1974. The amendments to the ROA 1974 (Exceptions Order 1975, (2013 and 2020)) provide that when applying for certain jobs and activities, certain spent convictions and cautions are ‘protected’, so they do not need to be disclosed to employers, and if they are disclosed, employers cannot take them into account. The MOJ’s guidance on the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and the Exceptions Order 1975, provides information about which convictions must be declared during job applications and related exceptions and further information about filtering offences can be found in the DBS filtering guide.
Keeping Children Safe in Education
The school will conduct online searches of shortlisted candidates. This check will be part of a safeguarding check, and the search will purely be based on whether an individual is suitable to work with children. All aspects of social media and internet searches will be conducted. As care must be taken to avoid unconscious bias and any risk of discrimination, a person who will not on the appointment panel will conduct the searches and will only share information if and when findings are relevant and of concern.
Closing Date: Tuesday 2nd January 2024.