Teaching Assistant - Special School Level 1

St Giles School, Pampisford Road, South Croydon, CR2 6DF

Start date: 25th November 2024 or asap

Hours of work: 8.45am-3.30pm Mon-Fri term time only - 45 minutes unpaid lunch

Grade 3 – SCP 5-6 – FTE £27,030- £27,438

30 hours per week 46.2 weeks per annum

We are looking for additional teaching assistants to join our hard working and supportive staff at St Giles School. We are a school for pupils with complex medical needs, physical disabilities and learning difficulties and include pupils and students in Early Years, Primary, Secondary and Post 16. We are a happy and successful learning environment where we value creativity and celebrate everyone’s efforts to participate and contribute to the best of their ability.

Our Teaching Assistants are based in a class and support learning, therapy programmes, medical and personal care.

You will be enthusiastic and creative with experience of working with children and at least a Level 2 qualification in an education or care related area. We will provide further training and support, fantastic colleagues and amazing children.

This is a temporary position from 25th November 2024 (or asap) to 31st August 2025. This role will be reviewed annually.

St Giles School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff to share this commitment. Please note these posts will be subject to an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service, pre-employment health screening and Right to Work checks. We will be undertaking an online search on candidates shortlisted for a vacancy.

We value diversity in our workforce and positively welcome applications from all sections of the community.

Applications will only be considered with a completed application form, supporting statement, detailing your experience and suitability for the role and a covering letter. Please ensure you also complete the equal opportunities form.

Please ensure that any gaps in your work history are fully explained on the form, including any caring responsibilities / education.

Closing date: Wednesday 23rd October 2024, 5pm.

Shortlisting: Monday 28th October 2024

Interviews – during week beginning Monday 28th October 2024

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (ROA) 1974. If you are appointed, you will be required to undertake an Enhanced Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check. If you are shortlisted for interview, you will be required to declare any cautions, convictions, reprimands or final warnings which are not protected (i.e., that are not filtered out*), as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended). 

 You will also be required to disclose any other information that would suggest that you may be unsuitable to work with children. Having a criminal record will not necessarily prevent you from taking up appointment; it will depend on the nature of the offence(s) and their relevance to the post you are applying for. 

 However, should you not declare any of the above and this is subsequently revealed, for example through the DBS check, then this may place your employment in jeopardy. 

 Any information given will be treated in the strictest confidence and with due regard to the ROA and data protection legislation. *Amendments to the Exceptions Order 1975 provide that certain spent convictions and cautions are ‘protected’ meaning that they are not subject to disclosure to employers and cannot be taken into account. 

 All guidance and criteria on the filtering of these cautions and convictions can be found in the DBS filtering collection on the Gov.uk website and further information on disclosing a criminal record can also be obtained from Nacro: www.nacro.org.uk. It is a criminal offence to apply for this role if you are barred from engaging in regulated activity relevant to children.

 Online Searches following shortlisting: 

In line with the statutory guidance document Keeping Children Safe in Education (2023), the school will conduct online searches after the shortlisting process for any candidates who accept an invitation to interview. The purpose of the online search is to uncover any information that may suggest the candidate is: 

• a potential safeguarding risk 

• their appointment may damage the reputation of the school or; 

• they are unqualified for the role they have applied for.

No recruitment decision will be made solely on the basis of an online search and all relevant information uncovered will be discussed with the applicant at interview. All online searches will be conducted by individuals who are not involved in any other aspect of the recruitment process. No irrelevant information uncovered will be provided to the staff responsible for interviewing the job applicant. All candidates will be treated consistently. 

The same online search for all shortlisted candidates will be undertaken consisting of: 

• A Google search of the candidate’s name linked to their current employer, previous employer, educational institutions attended, previous job titles and news articles