Higher Level Teaching Assistant (HLTA) and Team (Crew) Leader
Walsall Studio School, Walsall, West Midlands, WS1 1RL9 days remaining to apply
Start date details
September 2025
Closing date
30 June 2025 at 11:59pm
Date listed
18 June 2025
Job details
Job role
- HLTA (higher level teaching assistant)
Visa sponsorship
- Visas cannot be sponsored
Working pattern
- Full time: 37
Contract type
- Permanent
Pay scale
- MPS/UPS
Additional allowances
SEN Allowance (£1,525)
What skills and experience we're looking for
The HLTA – Studio 5 Team Leader plays a pivotal role in leading Walsall Studio School’s specialist support provision (SRP), Studio 5. This provision supports students with social, emotional and mental health needs, communication and interaction difficulties, and anxiety. The postholder will deliver high-quality, personalised learning and pastoral support while coordinating a small team of Teaching Assistants and Therapeutic Workers. This role combines classroom support, leadership, and pastoral care to ensure every student in Studio 5 thrives both within the SRP and the wider school.
Key Responsibilities
1. Teaching and Learning Support
- Deliver small group and 1:1 interventions aligned with EHCPs.
- Support students in mainstream lessons, promoting independence and engagement.
- Adapt resources and teaching strategies to meet individual needs.
- Use assessment for learning to monitor and respond to progress.
- Cover and deliver sessions in the absence of teaching staff.
2. Team Leadership
- Line manage Studio 5 support staff, overseeing deployment and development.
- Lead Crew meetings and contribute to SEND planning and reviews.
- Model trauma-informed and inclusive practices.
- Provide coaching and in-role support to ensure high-quality provision.
- Support strategic planning with the Deputy Headteacher.
3. Student Support and Pastoral Care
- Act as a key adult for a small caseload of students.
- Implement trauma-informed and attachment-aware approaches.
- Support emotional regulation, transitions, and relationship-building.
- Liaise with families and external professionals to coordinate support.
- Contribute to risk assessments and crisis management plans.
4. Inclusion and Safeguarding
- Promote inclusive practice and student voice.
- Uphold safeguarding, confidentiality, and data protection policies.
- Maintain accurate records and support statutory SEND processes.
- Encourage attendance, punctuality, and readiness to learn.
5. Professional Development
- Engage in CPD related to SEMH, autism, anxiety, and inclusive education.
- Share best practices and mentor colleagues.
- Maintain HLTA status and pursue agreed training opportunities.
What the school offers its staff
Walsall Studio School and Sixth is a deliberately small, forward-thinking school serving young people aged 14 to 19 who are passionate about creative pathways in performance, music, and media. We offer a unique learning environment that looks and feels like a modern creative workplace rather than a traditional school, with flexible studio spaces and industry-standard facilities that reflect the real world our students are preparing to enter.
At the heart of our mission is a commitment to inclusion, aspiration, and professional standards. We believe in treating our students as young professionals, helping them to thrive both personally and creatively through high expectations, trauma-informed practice, and a deep understanding of the individual. Our culture is one where every student is known, seen, and supported.
As a founding member of The Mercian Trust, we are proud to be part of a family of schools that share our belief in partnership, collaboration, and community. We work closely with industry partners, creative professionals, and local organisations to ensure our students gain not just qualifications, but authentic experiences that prepare them for the world beyond education.
If you share our values and want to help shape the next generation of creative professionals, we would love to hear from you.
The Mercian Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Safeguarding and Safer Recruitment Policies can be found on our website. This position is subject to appropriate vetting procedures including a criminal record check from the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly CRB) which will require you to disclose details of all unspent and unfiltered spent reprimands, formal warnings, cautions and convictions as part of the recruitment process
Commitment to safeguarding
Studio School & Sixth is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. A copy of the ‘Safeguarding Policy’ is available to view or download by logging onto the School website: https://walsallstudio.school/
This position is subject to an Enhanced Disclosure & Barring Service check (formerly CRB) under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. Further details regarding this check are available from the school or by visiting www.crb.gov.uk.
Applying for the job
Apply for the job by following the link below.
CVs are not accepted.
Upload additional documents
If you need these documents in an accessible format, please contact the school.
About Walsall Studio School
- School type
- Free School, ages 14 to 19
- Education phase
- Secondary
- School size
- 179 pupils enrolled
- Age range
- 14 to 19
- Ofsted report
- View Ofsted report
- School website
- Walsall Studio School website
- Email address
- lottie.fellows@merciantrust.org.uk
Studio School & Sixth is a specialist 14-19 non-selective school and founding member of The Mercian Trust.
Located in the heart of Walsall town centre, our unique small school and sixth form offers an immersive professional experience; supporting academic, vocational and personal excellence for students starting Year 10 or Year 12 who seek a creative and digitally rich curriculum.
Vocational learning is really important here, but it would be wrong to think that this means our students focus purely on practical work. There’s plenty of theory to learn and we strike a good balance between the academic and the vocational. Above all, we challenge our students to be the very best they can be in their chosen fields.
Back in the Renaissance, more than 400 years ago, ‘apprentices’ studied under the guidance of ‘masters’ and it’s this model that has influenced the way Studio Schools operate today. Of course, much has changed and now, thankfully, those ‘masters’ and ‘apprentices’ are just as likely to be women and girls as men and boys.
Studio School & Sixth has almost 300 such ‘apprentices’. It’s one of only a handful of Studio Schools in the country and opened its doors in 2013. Its students go on to universities, conservatoires and high-quality apprenticeships. The school focuses on the creative, health and digital industries, which means students have careers as paramedics, therapists, software engineers, actors, dancers, teachers and much else besides.
Arranging a visit to Walsall Studio School
To arrange a visit and increase the chance of a successful application email lottie.fellows@merciantrust.org.uk.
School location
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