Specialist Education Support Assistant

Downend School, Bristol, BS16 6XA

13 days remaining to apply

• Job start date

  28 January 2026

• Closing date

  11 February 2026 at 9am

• Date listed

  28 January 2026

Job details

• Job role:
  • Teaching assistant
• Visa sponsorship: Visas cannot be sponsored
• Key stage: Key stage 3, Key stage 4, Key stage 5
• Working pattern: Full time
• Contract type: Permanent
• Full-time equivalent salary: CSET 9. £28,598 FTE, £21,606 prorated

Specialist Education Support Assistant job summary

Job title: Specialist ESA

Salary: CSET 9. £28,598 FTE, £21,606 prorated

Hours: 32.5 hours per week

Contract Type: Permanent

About the role

We are looking for a dedicated individual to work as part of a team promoting the emotional, physical, and educational development of pupils, including those with special needs. Reporting to the Education Support Lead, you will play a key role in planning and delivering targeted interventions to identified students who require additional support.

Key responsibilities include:

• Leading small group work and 1:1 intervention sessions, specifically supporting literacy and numeracy skills.
  
• Contributing to the "Assess, Plan, Do, Review" cycle for students on the SEND register.
  
• Monitoring student responses to learning activities and helping them achieve learning targets.
  
• Liaising with classroom teachers to plan effective support and maintain accurate special needs records.
  
• Assisting with the implementation of behavior management programs and ensuring student safety.
  

About you

You are an experienced, enthusiastic, and proactive person committed to securing high standards for all young people. You possess endless supplies of compassion and patience, alongside the confidence to work with secondary students from KS3 to KS5.

The ideal candidate will have:

• A good standard of education (including English and Maths) and experience working with young people with SEND.
  
• An understanding of what constitutes an effective intervention and how to use data to inform impact.
  
• Excellent organizational skills and the ability to communicate effectively with parents, outside agencies, and students.
  
• Desirable: Extra training in evidence-based interventions related to literacy, numeracy, or speech and language.
  

About us

At Downend School we provide a safe, supportive and challenging learning environment that aims to inspire and empower young people to grasp opportunity; to reach their potential and excel; to develop responsibility and integrity and to respect themselves and others.

We have a strong ethos based on our core PRIDE values of participation, respect, identity, determination and excellence. We set standards high and aim to nurture young people who are well equipped to become active and positive members of the school community and to develop the knowledge and skills necessary to succeed in a time of rapid change.

We are proud of the care and support we offer our students. We strongly believe in the value of creating a friendly and caring school community where youngsters feel a sense of belonging and feel valued and respected. Happy and motivated students will flourish and become successful young people. Above all, Downend is a happy school.

We can offer you:

• Confident, well-behaved students and calm and orderly classrooms, backed up with a centralised behaviour system
  
• Dedicated, friendly colleagues at all levels of the school, who have a huge amount of expertise and a commitment to working in the best interests of our students
  
• A clear curriculum vision and focus on evidence-based practice
  
• A strong commitment to CPD and development of all staff, in order to ensure continuous improvement for individuals and the school
  
• An inclusive ethos and a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion for both staff, students and families
  
• A commitment to the health and wellbeing of our staff
  
• An excellent benefits package including up to 30% discount with Microsoft and Dell; discounted gym membership; cycle to work scheme and a dedicated counselling service
  

In order to apply for this role please complete an application form by 9am, 11th February. Please let us know if you require any adjustments as part of the process.

Further details and additional information about our school may be viewed on our website.

Please know that depending on the number of applications received we may decide to close the advert early. If you do not hear from us by a week after the closing date then please assume that you have not been shortlisted for an interview. If you have previously applied for this role there is no requirement to apply again, all applications will be reviewed. We wish you all the best in your future and ask that you join our E-Teach Talent Pool so as to keep up to date with all of our latest current opportunities.

Join us in Providing a Great Education for Every Child

CSET is committed to equal opportunities and encourages applicants from all backgrounds and communities, as we recognise the importance and benefit this has for our students.

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

CSET is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. We expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Successful candidates are subject to child protection screening appropriate to the post, which will include an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check for the children’s workforce and a Children’s Barred List check.

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 Downend School

• School type: Academy, ages 11 to 18
• Education phase: Secondary school
• School size: 1429 pupils enrolled
• Age range: 11 to 18
• Ofsted report: View Ofsted report
• School website: Downend School website
• See more jobs: teaching-vacancies.service.gov.uk/organisations/downend-school

Downend School is an exciting and vibrant learning community where every student is supported to achieve their absolute best and every member of teaching and support staff play their part in creating this ethos. We are proud of the exciting curriculum, outstanding pastoral care and excellent opportunities for enrichment that Downend School provides.

Downend School is situated in leafy South Gloucestershire, but is less than 25 minutes away from the heart of the cosmopolitan vibrancy of Bristol City Centre. We offer the benefits not only of working in an exciting and supportive school, but also from being part of Castle School Education Trust.

School location

Get a job alert when similar jobs are listed

Find more school jobs in Bristol