Teaching Assistant

River Mead School, Melksham, Wiltshire, SN12 7ED

11 days remaining to apply

• Job start date

  12 October 2026

• Closing date

  25 September 2026 at 9am

• Date listed

  14 September 2026

Job details

• Job role:
  • Other support role
• Visa sponsorship: Visas cannot be sponsored
• Working pattern: Part time
• Contract type: Fixed term
• Full time equivalent salary: £26,016 - £26,847 per annum pro rata | £17,992 - £18,989 per annum (Teaching Assistant ). £25,614 per annum pro rata | £1,450 - £1,483 per annum (MDSA).

Teaching Assistant job summary

The working hours for this role are expected to be 32.25 hours per week. As a Teaching Assistant, you will work 29.75 hours per week, 39 weeks per year. As an MDSA, you will work 2.5 hours per week, 38 weeks per year. The start date for this role is 12 October 2026 or as soon as possible.

River Mead School and Nursery is seeking to appoint a dynamic and highly motivated Teaching Assistant to support their team. As a member of staff within our Trust, you will contribute to a collaborative working environment and play a key role in supporting the learning and development of all pupils.

Teaching Assistant:

As a Teaching Assistant, you will play an important role in helping pupils achieve their full potential by supporting teaching and learning across the curriculum. You will provide individual and small-group support, helping children to build confidence and make progress in key areas of learning while assisting with the preparation of resources and learning activities. The role requires you to promote positive behaviour, encourage independence, and foster a nurturing and inclusive environment where every child can thrive. Working closely with teachers and other professionals, you will support pupils' academic, social, and emotional development, including the delivery of targeted interventions where appropriate. Safeguarding, wellbeing, and the creation of a safe and stimulating learning environment will be central to your work. We are looking for a caring, enthusiastic, and adaptable individual who is passionate about making a positive difference to children's lives and supporting their success both in and beyond the classroom.

MDSA:

As a Midday Supervisory Assistant, you will play a key role in ensuring the safety, wellbeing, and positive behaviour of pupils during the lunchtime period. You will supervise children in the dining hall and around the school site, supporting them as they eat, play, and take part in activities while promoting the school's values and expectations. The role includes maintaining a safe and welcoming environment, providing minor first aid where required, and encouraging positive relationships and social development. Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children will be central to your work, alongside reporting concerns and supporting a positive lunchtime experience for all pupils.

For a complete Job Description, Person Specification, and Candidate Briefing Pack, please view the attached documents. We recommend viewing these documents as they will guide you in preparing a strong application and help you understand what we’re looking for in an ideal candidate.

About EQUA Mead Learning Trust

EQUA Mead Learning Trust is a leading educational institution based in Wiltshire. Dedicated to providing high-quality education to students from diverse backgrounds. Members of staff across EQUA Mead will be committed to improving the life chances of the pupils we educate and ensure we give Every Child, Every Chance. As a growing Trust, currently educating almost 6000 pupils across 22 different schools (pre-school, primary, secondary, and sixth form) we are immensely proud of our staff and endeavour to be an employer of choice. This is an exciting time as we continue to grow the number of schools and children we support.

Important Application Information

When completing your application, please ensure that you add at least 2 references, with the first being your most recent employer. Please ensure that you read the attached referencing guidelines to familiarise yourself with our process. 

As part of our safer recruitment procedures, it is important that references are requested and, wherever possible, obtained before the interview. Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) guidance states that references should be sought before interview wherever possible and should be scrutinised as part of the recruitment process to help ensure that only suitable individuals are appointed to work with children.

Early applications are encouraged, as we reserve the right to interview before the closing date. Your application must include a full employment history, accounting for any periods of time where you were not in active employment. If this is not included it may not be possible to consider your application. To comply with safer recruitment regulations, we cannot accept applications using a CV. An incomplete application will not be considered. 

This role will involve contact with children, and the post holder will be engaged in regulated activity relevant to children and will be subject to an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check before appointment is confirmed. 

We will only submit a DBS application to the relevant disclosure service when a position is accepted. 

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

This role involves contact with children. The post-holder will be engaged in regulated activity relevant to children and subject to an Enhanced DBS check before appointment is confirmed. We submit DBS applications upon position acceptance. We follow Safer Recruitment procedures. Interviews include safeguarding questions. Our Safeguarding Policy is on our website.

Posts involving direct contact with children are exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. Amendments to the Exception Order 1975 (2013/2020) provide certain spent convictions/cautions are ‘protected’. These are not subject to disclosure and cannot be taken into account. Guidance is on the Ministry of Justice website.

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 River Mead School

• Organisation type: Academy, ages 2 to 11
• Education phase: Primary school
• Size: 261 pupils enrolled
• Age range: 2 to 11
• Ofsted report: View Ofsted report
• Website: River Mead School website
• See more jobs: teaching-vacancies.service.gov.uk/organisations/river-mead-school

We strive to ensure that the school is the centre of our community and with the support of an excellent staff team we do our utmost to develop children into respectful, well-mannered individuals with a passion for learning. The school environment should provide every child with the very best opportunities available, to achieve their potential both academically and in their wider skills; our children are happy, polite and enthusiastic learners. In 2019 OFSTED recognised this passion for excellence stating “River Mead is a nurturing haven of aspiration. Pupils feel safe to make mistakes and are eager to learn from them. They demonstrate pride in their learning and show an appetite to learn”. Working as part of The Mead Trust, we are very proud to be part of a forward-thinking and creative family of schools. These close, supportive links and a shared vision of shaping inspirational learning for all, help enable our school to strive for excellence in all we do.

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