Teaching Assistant - Full-time

We are looking for enthusiastic, engaging, empathetic and resilient candidates to join our fantastic and dedicated team at Shenstone School. You will be required to work as part of a team, under the direction of the Class Teacher/Cover Supervisor helping and supporting pupils with their emotional, social and cognitive learning.
You will use a variety of different techniques to motivate, engage and encourage the pupils to achieve their greatest possible outcomes. You will also be required to initiate and participate in games/activities, toilet/change where necessary and protect pupils safety and wellbeing.
If you are looking for a challenge and are able to support and encourage our amazing pupils with SEND to achieve their full potential in our specialist school setting, then we would welcome your application. The achievements of our pupils are extraordinary and will give you a sense of achievement when they make progress, however small.
It is paramount that you feel confident and resilient in working with pupils with challenging behaviour. As individuals, each pupil presents with different abilities and behavioural needs which vary from child to child.

Shenstone is an all-through school for children and young people with Severe Learning Difficulties (SLD). We work across three sites within Bexley. Two sites are primary (Sidcup and Crayford), and the third site is our growing secondary provision (located in Thamesmead for 2024/25 before moving to a purpose-built new site in Belvedere in September 2025). Exciting times are ahead for everyone at Shenstone School.
Our staff are passionate about providing our students with the best learning opportunities. Working in partnership with parents and carers, we successfully foster and develop a positive attitude in our young people and support them to have opportunities that will allow them to achieve beyond their expectations. The support and guidance students receive from staff give them the confidence to learn independently and strive to achieve their most aspirational outcomes. The school positions itself as a centre of excellence for its students, parents/carers, staff, local authorities and the wider community.
We aim to ensure that all students have the maximum opportunity to participate fully in society to enhance their life chances. We pride ourselves on ensuring that learning remains purposeful but is equally fun. We are committed to supporting the emotional health and well-being of all our students, staff and parents/carers, and we stand by our motto of "Together we engage, thrive and achieve".
We are very proud of Shenstone School and our achievements, which include autism accreditation through the National Autistic Society, The Wellbeing Award for Schools, Outstandingly Happy School status, Move Centre of Excellence Award, National Online Safety Certified School status, and we are also an accredited Arts Award Centre. We continue to expand with new ideas and initiatives to maintain and improve services for students and staff.
Staff at Shenstone School can access the following benefits: excellent induction and probation processes, comprehensive in-house training, competitive pension scheme, employee counselling services, vaccination programmes, on-site mental health first aid team and various other well-being and social activities.