Level 3 Teaching Assistant with a focus on ASD and Severe Challenging Behaviour Hours of work: Term Time Only (39 weeks) 32.5 hrs per week Start date: 1st September 2025 Full time salary: Grade 7 £29,093 - £31,067 We are looking for someone who truly wants to make a difference to young people’s lives; someone willing to be and make a difference. Someone who wants to help our pupils with ASD and Severe Challenging Behaviour fulfil their potential to SHINE:
to be Successful Healthy Individuals Nurturing Excellence The successful candidate will be committed and prepared to deal with regular challenges as they arise. Resilience as well as an open and honest approach are essential in this role. Reporting to the Class Teacher, the ideal candidate will have an NVQ level 3 qualification or equivalent. Be confident in supporting lessons and an excellent good team player. Positive approaches to behaviour support and considerable experience of working with young people with severe complex needs are essential. As a teaching assistant within this school you will be supporting pupils with complex and profound Additional Learning Needs (ALN) on a 1:1 and small group basis. You will work alongside the class teacher to offer a stimulating and engaging learning environment for all pupils and implement positive behaviour strategies including sensory play/therapy, "Now & Next", distraction, and much more. As the classes within this school are small, with the largest class consisting of 12 pupils, you will have the full support of the class teacher and at a minimum 2 other teaching assistants. As you will be supporting complex ALN, you will closely monitor pupils' behaviours and emotional states, adapting your approach to best suit the individual pupils. The role will require you to take responsibility for supporting small groups/sessions.. The successful candidate will be confident to supervise and lead whole classes during the short-term absence of teachers, managing behaviour and assisting pupils to undertake set activities. A large number of our pupils have autism with profound learning difficulties and can present with extremely challenging behaviour. Ysgol Penmaes has adopted a ‘Team Teach’, holistic approach to behaviour support and interventions. The role will require you to complete factual behaviour logs in a timely manner and discuss any issues and concerns with senior leaders. You will also be expected to contribute to pupils' Individual Support Plans. We provide many personalised curriculums, designed to address the holistic needs of our pupils. Pupils have identified differentiation as part of their education and individual timetables as appropriate, as well as working on the key skills of literacy, numeracy, and Curriculum for Wales areas of learning and experience. Some of our senior classes follow accreditations such as WJEC Pathways, ASDAN and the DofE Award. We want everyone who works at Ysgol Penmaes to foster an attractive learning environment to ensure that our pupils spend their school life in stimulating surroundings. As a teaching assistant you will be required to adhere to a code of conduct as well as the Assisting Teaching Standards for Wales. You will be provided with a robust induction as well any training deemed appropriate through performance management processes and procedures. https://hwb.gov.wales/api/storage/1f42779c-2002-4bb3-8d8d-b7bd56fca32e/professionalstandards-for-assisting-teaching-interactive-pdf-for-pc.pdf https://www.ewc.wales/site/index.php/en/fitness-to-practise/code-of-professional-conduct-andpractice To be considered in your application you must have full "Right to Work" in the UK as well as recent referenceable experience supporting children and young people with complex and profound needs, as well as: ● Minimum GCSE (or equivalent) in English, Welsh if required and Maths (A*-C) ● Hold a recognised and relevant qualification at NVQ 3 (or equivalent) or have evidence of equivalent knowledge and experience in a relevant discipline ● Have considerable experience of working to support children/pupils with Additional Learning Needs needs and/or working in a specialist environment ● Have experience of and/or training in the use of ALN Intervention Programmes ● Have excellent communication and listening skills
