Learning Support Assistant

The Role

This is a fantastic opportunity for a candidate to join one of the UK’s best academies as a Learning Support Assistant. The successful candidate will also be part of a large, dynamic and friendly inclusion team that spans the mainstream learning support hub and The Grandin Centre, a resource base for autism. The school currently has 78 students with Educational Health Care Plans. The successful candidate will support a range of students in lessons but will assigned, based on skills, to either the Grandin Centre or Learning Support. They will be responsible for enabling a range of students who are neuro diverse to be successful in the mainstream school, providing knowledgeable and well-planned support to students in order that they thrive academically and emotionally.

The successful candidate will be providing timetabled support in lessons across the school and working with teachers to support learning. There will also be a number of withdrawal sessions with their key students where Learning Support Assistants provide high quality planned lessons on either academic work or social and emotional development. This could also include specific interventions in specific subject areas where the Learning Support Assistant’s academic background gives them strength in these areas. This could include GCSE preparation or at A Level if appropriate. The successful candidate will be working with a number of professionals and parents in order to get the best outcome for the students they work with. The successful candidate would need a strong academic background as well as the ability to support social and emotional development of complex students.

Working Hours: Monday-Thursday (8am-4.30pm), Friday (8am-4pm)

What KAA offers

Our Learning Support team is an incredibly valued part of our staff body. We know how much our students benefit from the one-to-one support our LSAs provide them, both in and outside of the classroom.  For some students, the relationships they form with their key workers is crucial to their educational and emotional development and in some cases, can make a real difference to the experience they have here at KAA.

This role offers you the chance to work creatively with staff and students to focus specifically on the context you will have, given your working relationship with these students. You will have the opportunity to get involved in many enrichments and wider-school activities, all of which are designed to expand our students' education far wider than what they learn in the classroom.

There is extensive training at KAA for the LSA team. Our specialist resource provision for autism means our staff receive a high level of learning from outside professionals as well as the management team on a weekly basis. Good practice is shared within the large LSA team and you have the opportunity to deliver a social skills session as well be able to deliver pre and post learning on particular lessons or learning material.

What you offer KAA

With a diverse student body, we are looking for someone who has the ability to motivate and inspire students to achieve their best. You will bring enthusiasm and creativity to the role so that students of all abilities develop a love of learning, despite the challenges they may face. The ideal person will be a positive role model to our young people, exhibiting excellent communication, be an organised professional, and committed to supporting disadvantaged students to achieve their best.

At KAA we have a proud tradition of developing and investing in our staff. This role offers the opportunity to gain valuable experience in schools, and previous LSAs have gone on to take up senior roles in the school, and teach in many of our GCSE/A Level subjects.