Higher Level Teaching Assistant - Studio 5

Walsall Studio School, Walsall, West Midlands, WS1 1RL

10 days remaining to apply

• Start date details

  1st September 2026

• Closing date

  29 June 2026 at 11:59pm

• Date listed

  15 June 2026

Job details

• Job role:
  • Teaching assistant
• Visa sponsorship: Visas cannot be sponsored
• Working pattern: Full time
• Contract type: Permanent
• Full-time equivalent salary: £25,939.00 - £29,749.00 Annually (Actual) Grade 6

Higher Level Teaching Assistant - Studio 5 job summary

Job Title: Higher Level Teaching Assistant - Studio 5

Location: Walsall

Walsall Studio School & Sixth is a deliberately small, forward-thinking school for young people aged 14-19 who are passionate about creative pathways in performance, music, and media.

We offer a unique learning environment that mirrors a modern creative workplace, with flexible studio spaces and industry-standard facilities.

Traditional schools don’t work for everyone, that’s why we built something different. Where others teach theory, we give you networks and experience, so that you are ahead of the game professionally.

With just 60 places in Year 10 and 11 and 90 in Sixth Form, every student is known, supported and challenged to succeed.

Our aim is simple: to provide a curriculum that gets you hired. We work with industry experts to design learning that is real, relevant and future-focussed. Students don’t just sit in classrooms - they collaborate, create, problem-solve and present like professionals.

Students achieved a phenomenal average grade of Distinction+ in 2025, but we know that life is more than just qualifications. We prepare you for responsibility, leadership and resilience - skills that you will need for life.

Everything we do is shaped by our MAGIC values - Motivation, Aspiration, Grit, Independence and Collaboration. We are a place where you can be yourself, push boundaries and become unmissable.

Find more information here:Walsall Studio School

Want to make a difference to young people?

Are you ready to embark on a rewarding journey within an educational community that values increasing opportunities, improving outcomes for our students. We are looking for a Higher Level Teaching Assistant - Studio 5 to join our team.

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

Key Responsibilities

1. Teaching and Learning Support

• Deliver targeted small group and 1:1 interventions across a range of subject areas and social/emotional needs, in line with student EHCPs.
• Support students in accessing learning in mainstream lessons, promoting independence, confidence, and engagement.
• Adapt resources and approaches to meet the specific learning profiles of Studio 5 students.
• Use assessment for learning techniques to track and respond to student progress.
• Work closely with teaching staff to implement support strategies and differentiate appropriately.
• To cover and deliver sessions in the absence of teaching staff

2. Team Leadership (Team Leader Role)

• Line manage a team of Teaching Assistants (TAs) and Therapeutic Workers within Studio 5, overseeing their day-to-day deployment, support, and development.
• Facilitate regular Team meetings, support staff briefings, and contribute to SEND planning and reviews.
• Lead by example in upholding the school’s ethos, expectations, and trauma-informed practices.
• Provide coaching, modelling and in-role support for the team to ensure consistently high-quality practice.
• Work with the Assistant Headteacher to evaluate provision and contribute to strategic development planning.

3. Student Support and Pastoral Care

Act as a key adult and trusted figure for a small caseload of Studio 5 students.

Implement trauma-informed and attachment-aware approaches to behaviour, communication, and regulation.

Support students in managing their emotions, transitions, and relationships in school.

Liaise with parents/carers and external professionals to ensure a coordinated support plan is in place.

Contribute to risk assessments, pastoral plans, and the safe management of crisis situations.

4. Inclusion and Safeguarding

• Champion inclusive practice and student voice within the SRP and wider school community.
• Ensure that safeguarding, confidentiality, and data protection policies are upheld at all times.
• Maintain accurate records and support statutory processes (EHCPs, annual reviews, etc.).
• Promote student attendance, punctuality, and readiness to learn.

5. Professional Development

• Engage in regular CPD linked to SEMH, autism, anxiety, neurodiversity, and inclusive education.
• Contribute to the development of others through mentoring, training, or sharing of best practice.
• Maintain HLTA status and undertake any additional qualifications or training as agreed.

Pay range: £25,135 - £28,826

Qualifications

HLTA status or equivalent qualification/experience

GCSE English and Maths (Grade 4/C or above)

Evidence of ongoing CPD in SEND/SEMH/communication needs

Further qualification in SEND, SEMH or Trauma Informed Practice desirable.

For full details of the post please see attached Job Description and Person Specification

Why The Mercian Trust?

As one Trust we share a common purpose. We call it our social mobility and social justice mission to change our communities through the very best equitable education. When we get this right, it enables our children and young people to fulfil their potential, thrive in the world of work, and make a positive contribution to the local, national and international community. Our recent achievements include:

Sustainable Growth - becoming one of the largest and most diverse trusts in the region

Social Mobility & Social Justice - National recognition for the Trust’s two selective grammar schools who the most successful on the number of local disadvantaged students passing the entrance and joining the schools

Increasing Opportunities - Opening brand-new purpose-built campus in Walsall Town Centre including an alternative provision for students at risk at permanent exclusion from mainstream schools alongside a Digital Skills Hub to provide professionals and employers

Pioneering Spirit - National recognition for pioneering work around youth mental health, including establishing an in-house multi-disciplinary team of clinicians and allied health professionals delivering interventions and providing support to vulnerable students

Outward Looking - Organising and hosting the region’s first Youth Suicide Conference (2023) and Youth Violence Conference (2024) at Villa Park

Innovation and Improvement - A multi-million-pound investment in the digital infrastructure of Trust schools and our Digital Skills Hub underpinning the ongoing transformation of how staff teach, students learn, leaders lead and the whole Trust operates in readiness for the AI-supercharged careers and workplaces of the future.

Want to be a part of something extraordinary? Find out more: The Mercian Trust - Home

What can we offer you:

Benefits:

Financial, Health and Lifestyle

• discounts on everyday purchases (Eden Red)
• a comprehensive free of charge health plan (UK Health Care)
• a cycle to work scheme via Halfords
• Access to the Blue Light Card

For further benefits including education sector leading CPD: The Mercian Trust - What we can offer you

The Mercian Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of young people and vulnerable adults, and all appointments are subject to enhanced Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) checks and satisfactory references.

The Mercian Trust is also committed to promoting equality, challenging discrimination and developing community cohesion. We welcome applications from all sections of the community

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive a high volume of suitable applications. Please apply as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

Further information about the job

The candidate will be required to undergo a full enhanced DBS check and must be eligible to work in the UK.

Visas cannot be sponsored.

If you're interested in teaching or training to teach in England as an international citizen, we can help you understand your next steps.

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

This school accepts applications through their own website, where you may also find more information about this job.

CVs will not be accepted for this application.

About Walsall Studio School

• School type: Free School, ages 14 to 19
• Education phase: Secondary school
• School size: 185 pupils enrolled
• Age range: 14 to 19
• Ofsted report: View Ofsted report
• School website: Walsall Studio School website
• See more jobs: teaching-vacancies.service.gov.uk/organisations/walsall-studio-school

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.

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