Teaching Assistant (Complex needs)

The Learning & Enterprise College Bexley is a vibrant adult education college responsible for delivering high quality outcomes for learners, residents, and employers, while contributing to the strategic objectives laid out in Bexley Council’s corporate priorities for adult learning, employment and wellbeing. Our SEND provision, for learners with an education, health care plan (EHCP) is largely based at our Brampton Road site with the specialised provision for learners with profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD) at our Sensory Pathways site in Belvedere.

We are committed to ensuring the best possible outcomes for all our learners and we achieve this through creative curriculum and personalised intervention strategies to ensure each individual students’ needs, interests and abilities are fully met. We focus on the development of communication and independence skills whilst ensuring that our students are empowered and enjoy positive wellbeing.

About the Role

We are expanding our team of highly motivated teaching assistants to enable access to learning for learners with complex learning needs including those with a diagnosis of conditions such as autism, other specific learning disorders, and PMLD, with an EHCP.

This role is based at our Sensory Pathways provision on our Belvedere site (DA17 5PP) and is suitable for individuals who are motivated, patient, and passionate about learners’ learning and wellbeing.

This role includes personal care tasks such as intimate care and feeding and the use of hoists and other specialist equipment to safely lift and move learners. Experience in personal care tasks are essential for the role and full training will be given in the use of specialist equipment at the site.  

We reserve the right to close adverts earlier than the closing date.

Please refer to the Job Description attached for more information.

For an informal discussion about the role please contact the SEND mailbox and a member of the team will respond - [email protected]

Candidate Profile

The successful candidate will have an interesting and varied role, working as part of the SEND team.  The ideal person will be a good communicator who is able to provide practical and administrative support to enable learners to achieve their outcomes.

Experience of working with children and young people and/or adults with complex needs including autism is desirable but we also welcome applicants who are willing to develop their skills. Experience of working in an adult education setting, with an awareness of the different kinds of learning difficulty (e.g. Dyslexia, Autism Spectrum, ADHD etc.) would be an advantage.

Candidates from a health and social care background, may consider this role an opportunity widen their skillset to include learning support. We offer support to gain teaching assistant qualifications for those moving from a health and social care career. 

A minimum of Level 2 English and Maths (or equivalent) is required.

Appointment to this post will be subject to the outcome of an Enhanced Disclosure obtained through the Disclosure and Barring Service.

This authority is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

This post is considered by the authority to be a customer-facing position; as such it falls within scope of the Code of Practice on English language requirement for public sector workers. The council therefore has a statutory duty under Part 7 of the Immigration Act 2016 to ensure that post holders have a command of spoken English sufficient for the effective performance of the job requirements. The appropriate standards are set out in the JD/Person Specification. These will be applied during the recruitment/selection and probationary stages.    

For the full list of essential and desirable criteria for this role then please refer to the Person Specification within the Job Description attached.

Appointment to this post will be subject to the outcome of an Enhanced Disclosure obtained through the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS)

Bexley is a vibrant and diverse outer London Borough nestled in the Thames Gateway between London and Kent which means it combines the perfect blend of city vibe and the tranquillity of Kent. It's got award-winning parks, open spaces, and heritage sites. The borough has excellent transport connections, including the Elizabeth Line and proximity to the M25. Bexley offers fantastic amenities such as libraries, leisure centres, and shopping areas. Our borough is also home to numerous primary and secondary schools, as well as further education institutions.

Our Offer to you

We will offer you in return a package that includes a competitive salary, coaching and mentoring programmes, an excellent pension scheme and generous annual leave plus bank holidays. For more information on the benefits package on offer please refer to the Candidate Information document attached.

Recruitment Information

As a disability confident employer Bexley welcomes applications from people with all disabilities, including hidden disabilities and mental health conditions. We will interview any disabled applicant who meets the minimum criteria. If you require reasonable adjustments to be made to any part of the recruitment process due to your disability, please contact us on  [email protected]

This authority is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

This role may be available as a development opportunity through secondment for the Council’s existing employees.  The Council’s Secondment Scheme can be found here. If this option is of interest, please contact the recruiting manager.

We reserve the right to close adverts earlier than the closing date.