Teaching Assistant

Our Teaching Assistants are fulfilled by the idea of making even the smallest positive changes in our young people, so we celebrate the little things. There’s lots of ups and downs, and to some of our young people, sitting through a lesson can be a big win. We call these huge small victories and whilst they may seem small on the surface, they add up to make a big difference.

You’ll be working with children and young people with Autistic Spectrum Disorder/Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs. You’ll be there to help them learn, develop their abilities and raise their self‑esteem. You will need to be resilient and dedicated, but those huge small victories that you achieve will be something you’re really proud of.

It can be a tough journey, but the positive steps forward will more than make up for it. As a Teaching Assistant at Witherslack Group, you’ll get all the support you need to succeed. Your colleagues will be the best at what they do, the school environments will be well‑resourced and we’ll be with you every step of the way, helping you build a rewarding teaching career.

Lavender Lodge school resides within an 18th Century building in the heart of Mitcham. Our pupils come from many different boroughs to attend our school and are lucky to experience ‘a life changing love of learning.’ We are proud of our pupils and our dedicated team and pupils leave us with a sense of achievement.

Skill set requirements – We were recently recognised as Good by Ofsted .

• Must have worked with pupils who are autistic and have previous experience of this
• Needs to be able to communicate in a variety of ways as 70% of our pupils are non‑verbal e.g. can use Makaton, picture display symbols – we use PEC’s and PODD, have experience working with non‑verbal pupils
• Have worked with pupils who display challenging behaviour but would have the will and desire to support pupils to manage their behaviour and also for you to work to understand the function of the behaviour
• Be flexible to work with pupils from 4 through to 11 years old
• Be able to think outside the box in regards to delivering lessons. We have lots of tools to help support this, but our pupils need a bespoke and accessible curriculum

Have an awareness of autism strategies such as TEACCH, attention autism and use of PODD and be able to use these in practise

We know you’re going to do great things. For your hard work and commitment, we reward you with the best salary and benefits package in the education sector. With us, you’ll get to bring learning to life and make a genuine difference to the lives of our young people – plus you’ll get:

Training: A full induction and on the job training

Holiday:
You’ll work hard at WG, so you’ll be rewarded with full school holidays

Progression:
If career development is your thing, most of our head teachers and leaders have been promoted from within our group

Flexible benefits: meaning you can increase/decrease benefits such as life insurance – check out our benefits here

Wellbeing: a host of wellbeing tools and advice including employee assistance

Medical cover so you can claim back the cost of things like an opticians or dentist appointment and a host of high‑street discounts

Beautiful working environments with the very best facilities – check out our schools here

A recommend a friend scheme that offers a £1,000 bonus every time

Contributory pension (matched up to 5%)

Our young people come from all walks of life, diverse backgrounds and with different needs – and our workforce reflects that diversity, so that our teams can engage, encourage and inspire our young people to be themselves. You’ll be more than a Teaching Assistant, you’ll be able to connect with our pupils because of:

Your ‘can do’ attitude – a team player who rolls up their sleeves to help others

Ideally you’ll have experience working in a classroom, but if not, we can provide you will all the relevant training

Your genuine passion for supporting children to learn and the impact it can have on their lives

Your enthusiasm and expertise to support the teacher and work closely with our therapists