Teaching Assistant

What will you be doing?

Job Purpose:

Support the classroom teacher to facilitate the active participation of children in the academic and social activities of the school and in the management of pupils and the classroom. Contribute to raising standards of achievement for all pupils.

Principal Accountabilities:

1. Support for the Children

• Under the direction of the teacher, assist with the planning, preparation and delivery of activities to support pupil learning.
• Teach pre-planned learning activities to small groups and individuals
• Under the direction of the teacher, support small groups and individual pupils in the completion of pre-determined activities.
• Establish and maintain supportive relationships with individual pupils or small groups and with parents or carers.
• Provide learning support as required for all children including those with special needs or where English is not their first language.
• Help with the care and support for pupils, including attending to their emotional and/or physical care needs.
• Support inclusion in the classroom by ensuring familiarity with children’s special educational needs and ensure all pupils feel involved with tasks and activities whilst still fostering their independence with learning.

2. Support for the Curriculum

• Under the direction of the teacher, support the school curriculum, including English and maths activities.
• Support the use of ICT in the curriculum.
• Provide targeted support to enhance learning and improve attainment.

3. Support for the Teacher

• Provide information to help the class teacher plan appropriate work.
• Help to prepare the learning environment for use.
• Be available before lessons start in order to discuss required activities.
• Undertake support activities for the teacher as required, e.g. photocopying, preparation of materials, mounting displays etc.
• Contribute to the management of pupil behaviour and take control of minor incidents to allow the teacher to continue the lesson.
• Keep records and assessments as required by the school.
• Liaise with other professions under the guidance of the class teacher/senco.
• Liaise with parents/carers under the guidance of the class teacher.

4. Support for the School

• Act in accordance with school policies and procedures particularly in relation to child protection and behaviour management.
• Develop and maintain effective working relationships with other staff.
• Contribute to the maintenance of a safe and healthy environment.
• Attend and actively participate in staff meetings as required.
• Accompany staff and pupils on visits, trips and out of school activities as required.
• Provide support for school events, e.g. school plays, fund-raising events etc.
• Undertake supervision of pupils at lunchtimes and break times.
• Carry out any reasonable task which is necessary for the efficient running of the school and the safety and wellbeing of the pupils.
• Promote the welfare of children and support the school in safeguarding children though relevant policies and procedures.
• Promote equality as an integral part of the role and to treat everyone with fairness and dignity.
• Recognise that health and safety is a responsibility of every employee, to take reasonable care of self and others and to comply with the School’s Health and Safety policy and any school-specific procedures / rules that apply to this role.

An annual review of this job description and allocation of particular responsibilities will take place as part of the Performance Management Review.

About you

We wish to appoint a dedicated, hard-working and motivated Teaching Assistant. The contract will be term time only, fixed term, ending 31.8.2024 in the first instance.
You will be a valuable member of the team working with the class teacher to support the children. You will also be part of the lunchtime team for ½ hour each day. The successful applicant will need enthusiasm, patience, caring and understanding. Also fluent in standard English.
Experience working with children and a willingness to work in all year groups of the Federation is required.

Our benefits

We value our colleagues in Cambridgeshire County Council and have developed a number of benefits:

• Flexible working
• Flexible Bank Holidays
• A comprehensive wellbeing package
• Our Cambs Rewards employee discounts
• A comprehensive pension scheme
• IDEAL staff equality, diversity and inclusion network.
• Camweb our staff intranet helping to keep you informed
• An employee recognition scheme

About us

Cambridgeshire is a great place to work and live with a diverse population, an urban centre in Cambridge, historic Isle of Ely, Huntingdon and St Ives as well as more rural landscapes.

Our four values are central to our culture, driving everything we do.

We are proud to serve the diverse communities of Cambridgeshire and want our workforce to be reflective of this diversity, which we firmly believe benefits our colleagues, the organisation and our communities. If you don’t meet every single requirement in the job role but think this could be you, please don’t be put off.   We are committed to building a workplace that is compassionate and inclusive as well as diverse, so if you think you could be a good candidate for this role please consider applying and speak to the recruiting manager if you have any questions.

Our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy, along with our employee network 'IDEAL' and self-organised peer support groups help us to foster an inclusive, supportive and safe working environment where people feel valued, respected, and empowered.  We collect relevant diversity data for monitoring as part of the recruitment process to understand the diversity of our applicants and monitor any trends throughout the recruitment processes so that we can take meaningful action.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. We fully support providing reasonable adjustments throughout our recruitment process, as well as when you join us, and we encourage candidates to contact the Hiring Manager, whose details can be found in the advert, to discuss any adjustment needs. Some examples of adjustments could include additional time to complete an assessment or printing a document on pastel coloured paper with larger font size and line spacing. We would value talking about what might be possible to enable you to join us and thrive, so if there is something that would help you to do your best during your journey with us, please get in touch.

Visit our jobs and careers section to find out more about our wide range of learning and development opportunities; apprenticeships; our wellbeing package; staff benefits; our commitment to equality, diversity and Inclusion. 

https://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/council/jobs-and-careers