Teaching Assistant

The vision of Harris Academy Clapham is a simple one. From our opening in September 2020, our academy is a place where 'everything is possible'.

The Clapham curriculum is designed to meet the needs, aspirations and abilities of every one of our students. Our aim is to improve their life chances and enable them to make a positive contribution to the city and world in which they live.

At Harris Clapham, the curriculum is delivered through high-quality teaching. This is codified in our research-informed approach to pedagogy, which we call the Clapham Way. The following principles apply in our curriculum:

• Subject specific knowledge and skills come first
• Embedding and building on the basics - ensuring that every student acquires the vocabulary, literacy and numeracy skills to enable them to fully participate in society
• The curriculum must be rigorous and relevant by engaging with the best of what has been thought and said and acknowledging that knowledge is fluid and can be contested
• The curriculum must prepare for life in modern Britain and beyond, and enable Clapham students to understand their rights and fulfil their responsibilities under the Equality Act.

Through the Clapham academic, enrichment and pastoral curriculum we expect our students to develop powerful knowledge and the following values and character attributes that will enable them to achieve our vision that 'Everything is Possible'.

Endeavour for excellence

• Learning to work hard and relish challenge.
• Learning to never give up.
• Learning to take sensible risks.
• Learning to always strive for the best for themselves and each other.

Integrity and honesty

• Always acting with kindness.
• Treating others the way they would like to be treated.

Self-belief with a global view

• Growing to have the agency to achieve their ambitions for themselves and the wider world.

Our staff are supported in their work and in developing their future careers via:

• A centralised behaviour system, with each year group supported by non-teaching pastoral leaders
• A programme of instructional coaching, supported by the Step Lab platform
• Access to a wide range of National Professional Qualifications delivered by the Institute of Teaching
• Federation subject consultant support
• Harris Federation professional development training days and networking support.

Harris Academy Clapham is looking for a Teaching Assistant to support individuals and groups of students at the academy, including those with SEND.

This will involve supporting learning in the classroom and attending to students' personal needs where required, including social, health, physical, hygiene, first aid and welfare matters.

The actual salary for this role will be £26,817.65-£ weeks per year, 37.5 hours per week).

Your responsibilities will include:

• Supervising and supporting identified students in 1:1, group or whole class situations, ensuring their safety and access to learning in a purposeful and supportive learning environment.
• Assisting in developing resources, schemes of work and teaching strategies, working with the teacher to ensure the provision supports learning needs.
• Assisting in evaluating identified students' progress and providing feedback on their achievements, progress and needs.
• Leading small group sessions and interventions as appropriate.
• Attending to students' personal needs where required.
• Supporting with behaviour management.
• Undertaking learning activities/teaching programmes, adjusting activities to ensure achievement of learning goals.
• Assisting with the supervision of students out of lesson times, including playtimes and undertaking lunchtime duty.
• Supporting students with their learning and development in respect of local and national learning strategies.
• Preparing the classroom for lessons, clearing afterwards and assisting with the display of students' work.
• Preparing and maintaining resources and assisting students in their use.
• Undertaking record keeping as requested.
• Establishing and maintaining positive relationships with parents/carers, gathering and reporting information as directed.
• Providing administrative support as required.
• Accompanying teaching staff and students on visits, trips and off site activities as required.

The successful candidate will have:

• Qualifications to degree level or equivalent
• Basic knowledge of SEND and learning barriers
• Some knowledge of strategies in working with young people with challenging behaviours
• Knowledge of some of the social issues facing students from disadvantaged backgrounds
• Awareness of Health and Safety issues in the workplace
• Experience of working directly with young people in an education or training environment, supporting the learning of students
• Experience of establishing and maintaining positive working relationships with a range of stakeholders, at all levels
• Experience of managing and being responsible for own workload
• Good literacy and numeracy skills
• Good interpersonal and communication skills, with an excellent standard of written and spoken English
• Good administrative and organisational skills
• Ability to interest, encourage, motivate and engage children
• Ability to work effectively with team members across a wide range of levels and responsibilities
• Good ICT skills, including a working knowledge of Microsoft packages and the ability to update records and databases.
• Ability to work using own initiative, exercising good judgement where unsupervised
• Flexibility of approach to work
• Ability to maintain confidentiality, exer