SEND Teaching Assistant at Damers First School

About the role

SEND TEACHING ASSISTANT

JOB REF XS 10.5

Fixed Term Contract - From 01 September 2026 - 28 May 2027 To cover Maternity leave

GRADE 5 SCP 5-6 (Depending on Experience) 30 hours Monday - Friday. Term Time only including Training Days

Annual salary £17,922 to £18,206

We are looking for a Teaching Assistant

We are seeking to appoint a Teaching Assistant to start early November. The position would be with working with a range of pupils with additional needs as directed by the school SENDCo, Complex Communication Base leader or Class Teacher.

Damers School is a dynamic, unique, child centred, caring school with high aspirations for all pupils. We are an Eco school with big ideas and pride ourselves in helping every child thrive with a broad and balanced curriculum that offers many opportunities for each child to achieve their potential. Damers is located in the heart of Poundbury, a supportive community in a Dorset location. We can offer you:

• A friendly, welcoming and supportive team of staff and governors

• Kind, polite and hard-working children who are proud of their school

• A supportive and aspirational workplace where professional development is valued

• An experienced Inclusion Team

We are looking for someone who

• Has some knowledge and experience of working in a busy school and teaching and learning across the Early Years, KS1 and/or KS2.

• Will be proud to work as part of our school and will uphold our ethos and values.

• Understands the development of our youngest children.

• Is willing to work with pupils with additional needs, some of which may have very challenging needs, and deploy a range of different strategies in order to support them

• Is willing to work across a different range of classrooms and spaces throughout the school day

• Can be flexible in their provision and approaches and is resilient and a good communicator

• Is willing to support pupils during lunch time through providing games and activities as part of our enhanced lunchtime provision

• Enjoys a challenge and problem solving within a supportive, fun team

• Can offer new ideas and be open to learning new skills.

• Our ideal candidate will be flexible and adaptable, have patience and understanding, and clear communication skills.

Further Information

Visits to the school are warmly encouraged, please call us on or email

Damers First School values the diversity of our workforce and welcomes applications from all sectors of the community.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people; this is a commitment which we expect all staff and volunteers to share. The successful candidate will be required to have a Disclosure and Barring Service check in line with the Governments safer recruitment guidelines.

The pro rata salary shown is based on the number of hours and weeks worked and includes appropriate paid annual leave and bank holiday entitlements.

The salary quoted is the annual salary for the position at the time of advert. The salary will be paid in equal monthly instalments and will be adjusted at the start of employment and again if leaving part way through the school year to ensure the correct salary is received for the work completed in an academic year.

This role is UK based and your Right to Work will need to be established as part of the appointment process.

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (ROA) 1974. The amendments to the ROA 1974 provide that when applying for certain jobs and activities, certain spent convictions and cautions are 'protected', so they do not need to be disclosed to employers, and if they are disclosed, employers cannot take them into account. The MOJ's guidance on the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and the Exceptions Order provides information about which convictions must be declared during job applications and related exceptions and further information about filtering offences can be found in the DBS filtering guide.

Keeping Children Safe in Education

Damers First School will conduct online searches of shortlisted candidates. This check will be part of a safeguarding check, and the search will purely be based on whether an individual is suitable to work with children. All aspects of social media and internet searches will be conducted. As care must be taken to avoid unconscious bias and any risk of discrimination, a person who will not on the appointment panel will conduct the searches and will only share information if and when findings are relevant and of concern.

About Us

• The opportunity to work alongside a highly experienced and supportive team

• Ongoing professional development and training opportunities

• Outstanding support from our skilled and welcoming administrative team

• A large, modern and purpose-designed learning environment in the heart of Poundbury