Graduate Teaching Assistant

Harris City Academy Crystal Palace is seeking to appoint Graduate Teaching Assistants to work collaboratively with teaching staff in class to improve the outcomes of students with a variety of SEN needs, including those with Educational Health and Care Plans. This is an excellent opportunity for graduates with a passion for working with SEN students to gain experience of working within a secondary school. This could be used as a first step into a career into teaching and/or the field of SEN. You will be supported by experienced colleagues and full training will be provided for the successful applicant.

Harris City Academy Crystal Palace is a mixed Academy for 1,300 students aged 11-18, with a large sixth form of nearly 400 students. The Academy has three consecutive Outstanding judgments by Ofsted, with the most recent inspection in 2014 finding the Academy to be Outstanding in every aspect. We are a consistently high performing school. Our motto, ‘All Can Achieve’ encapsulates our vision that all members of the Academy community are supported and encouraged to achieve their absolute potential. We believe that a well-supported and valued staff body is the key to our success.

We are the ‘Teaching School Hub’ for Croydon and Sutton, and we are able to offer all teachers an extensive programme of first-class professional development. Harris City Academy Crystal Palace is part of the Harris Federation, and this enables us to offer you a comprehensive induction programme and training and development opportunities to support your career development including Masters and other qualifications.

We welcome applicants at any point in their career and are open to full consideration of part time and job share requests.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Supervising and supporting identified students in 1:1, group or whole class situations, ensuring their safety and access to learning in a purposeful and supportive learning environment.
• Assisting in developing resources, schemes of work and teaching strategies, working with the teacher to ensure the provision supports learning needs.
• Assisting in evaluating identified students’ progress and providing feedback on their achievements, progress and needs.
• Leading small group sessions and interventions as appropriate.
• Attending to students’ personal needs where required.
• Supporting with behaviour management.
• Undertaking learning activities/teaching programmes, adjusting activities to ensure achievement of learning goals.
• Assisting with the supervision of students out of lesson times, including playtimes and undertaking lunchtime duty.
• Supporting students with their learning and development in respect of local and national learning strategies.
• Preparing the classroom for lessons, clearing afterwards and assisting with the display of students’ work.
• Preparing and maintaining resources and assisting students in their use.
• Undertaking record keeping as requested.
• Establishing and maintaining positive relationships with parents/carers, gathering and reporting information as directed.
• Providing administrative support as required.
• Accompanying teaching staff and students on visits, trips and off site activities as required.

The successful candidate will have:

• Qualifications to degree level or equivalent
• Basic knowledge of SEND and learning barriers
• Some knowledge of strategies in working with young people with challenging behaviours
• Knowledge of some of the social issues facing students from disadvantaged backgrounds
• Awareness of Health and Safety issues in the workplace
• Experience of working directly with young people in an education or training environment, supporting the learning of students
• Experience of establishing and maintaining positive working relationships with a range of stakeholders, at all levels
• Experience of managing and being responsible for own workload
• Good literacy and numeracy skills
• Good interpersonal and communication skills, with an excellent standard of written and spoken English
• Good administrative and organisational skills
• Ability to interest, encourage, motivate and engage children
• Ability to work effectively with team members across a wide range of levels and responsibilities
• Good ICT skills, including a working knowledge of Microsoft packages and the ability to update records and databases.
• Ability to work using own initiative, exercising good judgement where unsupervised
• Flexibility of approach to work
• Ability to maintain confidentiality, exercising tact and diplomacy

If you have any questions about this opportunity, please send us an email, or call to arrange a conversation.

Before applying, please download the Job Pack for full details on the job responsibilities and person specification. This will be helpful for you when completing your application, and throughout the recruitment process.

We encourage you to apply as soon as possible as we may interview and offer to a candidate before the closing date. Please note that we only accept applications submitted before the closing date via our careers website.

Our people are at the heart of our success. We have developed a strong culture of collaboration and best practice, with professional development and career planning at its centre. We invest in our staff with support, coaching, mentoring, and a wide range of top-quality training programmes delivered at every level.

In addition to the opportunities for career development and progression, we also offer a competitive rewards and benefits package which includes a Performance and Loyalty Bonus, Pension Scheme with generous employer contributions, a Wellbeing Cash Plan, electric car scheme, and many other benefits. Learn more about our benefits on our website.

The Harris Federation and all our academies are committed to ensuring the highest levels of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people, and we expect all our staff and volunteers to share this commitment. All offers of employment are subject to an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, references, an online search, and where applicable, a prohibition from teaching check will be completed.

The Harris Federation is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from all suitably qualified candidates.

We value the diversity of our staff and students, and everyone at the Harris Federation is equally valued and respected. We aim to be an inclusive employer that reflects the communities we serve. We are committed to providing a fair, equitable and mutually supportive learning and working environment.