Student Support Assistant

Valence School, Westerham, Kent, TN16 1QN

48 days remaining to apply

• Closing date

  31 August 2025 at 11:59pm

• Date listed

  10 July 2025

Job details

• Job role:
  • Other support roles
• Visa sponsorship: Visas cannot be sponsored
• Working pattern: Part time, full time
• Contract type: Permanent
• Full-time equivalent salary: £13.50 Hourly Full time, 40 hours per week (£24,528 actual p.a.)

Student Support Assistant job summary

Full Time & Part Time opportunities : School Term Time only : Permanent

£13.50 per hour (£24,528 actual p.a.) for 39 working weeks and 6.4 weeks paid holiday

Full Time : 40 hours : Monday to Friday : Hours worked on set shifts between 7am and 10pm

Pattern 1: Monday (12:30-22:00), Tuesday (12:30-10:00), Wednesday (07:00-14:30), Thursday (07:00-14:30), Friday (07:00-15:30)

Pattern 2: Monday (08:00-15:30), Tuesday (07:00-14:30), Wednesday (12:30-22:00), Thursday (12:30-22:00), Friday (07:00-15:30)

Part Time : 3 days : 24.5 hours (1 early, 2 late)

Please indicate when applying, your preferred working hours (Full time or Part time)

Benefits include a generous pension scheme & life cover, retail discounts, well-being sessions, subsidised meals, free on site parking, staff accommodation available for those working a 10pm late shift followed by a 7am early shift

You can make a difference! You will be responsible for enabling our students to learn, promote their independence and help them to achieve.

As a Student Support Assistant you will

• support students within the learning and residential environments in order to promote their intellectual, physical, social and emotional development;
• promote a caring environment and provide a high standard of care including washing, toileting, bathing and mealtime assistance;
• ensure that communication with students, staff and other departments is effective and contributes to our high standards of care and personal development for students;
• maintain excellent standards of safety and good practice in relation to safeguarding, health and safety issues, implementing students’ care plans and appropriately using the recording and reporting processes

The role will include a substantial amount of moving and handling and personal care. Although experience of complex physical and medical needs is not essential, as we provide comprehensive training, an aspiration to enable students to learn and achieve meaningful independence is. The successful candidate will be supported to complete the Level 3 Diploma in Residential Childcare, if not already achieved. We also offer a friendly, supportive working environment in a country school setting on the outskirts of Westerham.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy, interview and appoint earlier if we receive sufficient applications for this role.

Valence School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of every student and we expect all our staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Valence School is committed to valuing diversity and promoting equality for all.

References will be taken up before interview and online checks undertaken for shortlisted candidates. The successful applicant will require an enhanced DBS check (this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act).

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

Our organisation is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. We expect all staff, volunteers and trustees to share this commitment.

Our recruitment process follows the keeping children safe in education guidance.

Offers of employment may be subject to the following checks (where relevant):
childcare disqualification
Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS)
medical
online and social media
prohibition from teaching
right to work
satisfactory references
suitability to work with children

You must tell us about any unspent conviction, cautions, reprimands or warnings under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975.

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 Valence School

• School type: Special school, ages 4 to 19
• School size: 132 pupils enrolled
• Age range: 4 to 19
• Ofsted report: View Ofsted report
• School website: Valence School website
• See more jobs: teaching-vacancies.service.gov.uk/organisations/valence-school

We are proud to share with you the excellent work we do with children and young people who have physical disabilities and complex medical needs. Our school is unique within the maintained sector in the whole of southern England. We cater for students aged 4 to 19 and have both day and boarding places. We have a large site with high quality teaching, social care and health care facilities. A staff team of over 200 people provides specialist teaching, social care, therapies and nursing care to an exceptionally high standard.

Our overall aim is to enable every child and young person to achieve meaningful independence. Students flourish in a supportive but challenging environment, making good educational progress and achieving a range of accreditation as they get older. There is excellent support to enable students to achieve functional communication, mobility and skills for daily living.

We are a Foundation Special School and are part of the Kent SEN Trust, a cooperative trust of ten schools working together to improve outcomes for all the children and young people attending the schools. In 2008 Valence became a specialist Sports College and this status plays a significant role in raising students’ achievements and their participation in high quality physical education and sport.

The School works proactively with parents and external professionals to provide holistic support for every child and young person. It is also developing high quality outreach support services to local schools and more widely for children and young people in Kent who have physical disabilities who are attending mainstream schools.

The School always places children and young people at the centre of all decisions it takes and it has a relentless focus on achieving the best possible outcomes for every student.

School location

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