Learning Support Assistant - Cognition and Learning

Build the structured strategies that help students master independent learning and achieve their true potential.

A specialised pastoral and academic role within a highly collaborative team focused on building lifelong student independence.

Our learning support environment is built on clarity and progress. Instead of just helping a student complete a task, we design the scaffolding they need to solve problems on their own. Seeing a student move from requiring constant reassurance to navigating a lesson independently is incredibly rewarding.

At 10am on a normal Tuesday, you will walk into a learning support space filled with students who are eager to learn, guided by a team of highly skilled professionals. In this role, you are not just providing classroom assistance; you are the architect of a student's cognitive independence. By implementing tailored literacy, numeracy, and executive-functioning interventions, your day-to-day work directly ensures that children with specific learning needs overcome barriers and find sustainable success across the curriculum.

The ultimate impact of your work will be seen directly in the growing success and independence of our students.

• A reflective, evidence-informed mindset regarding secondary education and cognitive learning needs.
• Experience delivering structured interventions (such as targeted literacy or numeracy frameworks) that build independent working habits.
• Strong interpersonal skills to collaborate effectively with teachers, parents, and external professionals.
• An analytical approach to student progress, tracking small-step improvements accurately.
• Resilience and calm authority, maintaining consistent expectations in line with our shared behaviour routines.

• True Professional Agency:
  We trust our learning support teams as the experts in their domain, providing you with the autonomy to implement interventions that work best for your students.
• High-Quality CPLD:
  Access to targeted development pathways alongside collaborative networking opportunities across the Trust's wider secondary network.
• A Workload-Sensitive Culture:
  We align our processes to the DfE Workload Reduction Toolkit, actively auditing our systems to eliminate admin-heavy tasks that do not add direct value to student outcomes.

Education has the power to change lives... we are better, faster, stronger together.

• Professional Security:
  Recognised continuous service across the public sector and access to the government-backed Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) with built-in life cover.
• Shared Growth:
  Funding pathways for formal professional qualifications and apprenticeships to support your long-term career progression.
• The Whole Person: 24/7 confidential Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) offering telephone and face-to-face counselling for you and your immediate family.

This role includes regulated activity relevant to children.

River Learning Trust and Chipping Norton School are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children and preventing extremism. We conduct checks and online searches in accordance with Keeping Children Safe In Education guidance. It is an offence to apply for certain roles within schools if you are barred from engaging in regulated activity relevant to children.

We don't just accept difference; we celebrate "different contributions" and are dedicated to building an inclusive environment where every colleague can thrive. If you require any reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, please let us know so we can support you to be at your best.