Teaching Assistant L2 Special
Seven Hills School, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S2 2RJ16 days remaining to apply
Start date details
As soon as possible
Closing date
4 October 2026 at 11:59pm
Date listed
18 September 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: Full time, part time: Full Time 34.5 hours - Monday - Thursday 8:30 - 4:00. Friday 8:30 - 3:30 Part time working will be considered
Contract type
- Fixed term - Temporary in the first instance until 31 August 2027 when it will be reviewed
Full time equivalent salary
- Grade 4 £27,275 - £29,542 Pro Rata
Pay scale
- Grade 4
What skills and experience we're looking for
Join our Seven Hills community
Seven Hills School is looking to appoint a caring and dedicated Level 2 Special Teaching Assistant to join our supportive and committed team. As a L2 Special you will be providing assistance to students with their medication, tube feeding, and personal care needs. You will need to be sensitive to the needs of the students and respectful, tailoring your approach to meet the individual needs of each student. The successful candidate will need to be patient, empathetic, and committed to fostering a safe and supportive environment where students feel valued and respected.
Our mission is:
“Together, we create a nurturing community where everyone belongs, is celebrated and empowered to shine.”
Our mission is brought to life through our five school values:
Kindness • Integrity • Ambition • Collaboration • Independence
These values are at the heart of life at Seven Hills. They shape the way we support our students, work with families and professionals, and work alongside one another as colleagues.
We are looking for people who share our values, believe in the potential of every young person and want to make a positive difference every day.
About Seven Hills School
Seven Hills School is a co-educational secondary special school for young people aged 11–19. All of our students have learning difficulties, and many have additional needs relating to communication, sensory processing, physical development and/or medical conditions.
Our students are wonderfully individual, with different strengths, interests, aspirations and support needs. Some have increasingly complex needs and may require significant support with communication, emotional regulation, sensory processing, personal care, mobility and behaviour.
Seven Hills is an inspirational community where we nurture talents, share learning and celebrate life. We are committed to providing high-quality teaching and learning opportunities that enable every student to make progress, experience success and achieve their individual potential.
Our teaching and support are designed to inspire curiosity, participation and engagement. We want our students to develop their communication, confidence and independence, preparing them as fully as possible for adulthood and enabling them to contribute to their communities and pursue their individual goals and aspirations.
What the school offers its staff
As a Teaching Assistant at Seven Hills, you will play an important role in helping our students to learn, communicate, develop relationships, become more independent and enjoy their time at school.
Working alongside teachers, other support staff, therapists and professionals, you will provide high-quality support that is responsive to each student’s individual needs.
Your role will include supporting students with their:
- learning and engagement;
- communication and interaction;
- social and emotional development;
- sensory and physical needs;
- personal care and wellbeing;
- mobility and safe moving and handling;
- development of independence and life skills; and
- behaviour and emotional regulation.
You will take a genuine interest in each young person, getting to know how they communicate, what motivates them, what they enjoy and how they can best be supported to succeed.
Teaching Assistants also contribute to students’ formal and informal assessment and play an important part in developing positive and effective relationships between home and school.
Living our values every day
Being part of Seven Hills means putting our values into practice in everything we do.
Kindness – You will treat every student with compassion, patience, dignity and respect. You will build trusting relationships and recognise that behaviour is a form of communication.
Integrity – You will act professionally, consistently and responsibly, doing what is right for our students and helping to keep them safe, respected and valued.
Ambition – You will have high expectations and believe in every student’s potential. You will encourage young people to try, persevere, make progress and celebrate achievements both large and small.
Collaboration – You will work positively as part of a team, sharing information and expertise and working closely with colleagues, families, therapists and other professionals to achieve the best possible outcomes for students.
Independence – You will encourage students to develop their own voice, make choices and build skills for life. You will understand the importance of supporting young people to do as much as possible for themselves rather than automatically doing things for them.
Who are we looking for?
We are looking for people who can develop warm, positive and professional relationships with young people with a wide range of learning and additional needs.
You will need to:
- have a calm, friendly, patient and positive approach;
- communicate effectively with young people and adults;
- build positive relationships with students, families and colleagues;
- work collaboratively as part of a staff team and alongside visiting therapists and other professionals;
- be flexible and able to adapt to changing situations;
- respond sensitively to the individual communication, sensory, physical and emotional needs of students;
- maintain high expectations while recognising and celebrating individual progress;
- be committed to safeguarding and promoting the wellbeing of our students; and
- demonstrate our values of Kindness, Integrity, Ambition, Collaboration and Independence through your everyday practice.
Supporting students with complex needs
Some of our students experience significant challenges with social communication, sensory processing and emotional regulation. At times, students may communicate distress through behaviours that challenge, including physical behaviours.
We are therefore particularly interested in candidates who have experience of, or a strong interest in, supporting young people with complex needs, including students with physical disabilities and those whose behaviour may challenge.
This aspect of the role requires staff to be calm, consistent, resilient and compassionate. You will be expected to follow agreed approaches and individual support plans to help students regulate, remain safe and re-engage with their learning.
Building trusting relationships is central to this work. We want our staff to look beyond behaviour, seek to understand what a young person may be communicating and support them with dignity and respect.
You will not be expected to do this alone. You will work as part of an experienced and collaborative team, and appropriate training and support will be provided.
Experience and professional development
Previous experience of working with young people with disabilities, learning difficulties, complex needs or communication difficulties would be an advantage, as would knowledge of Makaton and basic ICT skills.
However, experience is not everything.
We also welcome applications from people who demonstrate the right values, attitude and commitment to our young people, and who are enthusiastic about learning and developing their professional practice.
All Teaching Assistants are required to become proficient in safe moving and handling techniques and Team Teach approaches. Full training will be provided where necessary.
We are committed to supporting staff development and creating a culture where colleagues learn from one another, share expertise and continually develop their practice.
Where will I work?
Seven Hills School operates across three sites:
Granville Road (S2) The Bridge, on the Talbot/Newfield campus (S8) Peaks College, Waterthorpe Greenway (S20)
Successful applicants may be required to work at any of our sites.
Why Seven Hills?
At Seven Hills, you will be joining a strong, caring and resourceful community with a shared commitment to creating the very best opportunities for our students.
No two days are exactly the same. The role can be challenging, but it also provides the opportunity to see young people develop new skills, communicate in new ways, overcome barriers, become more independent and achieve things that matter to them.
We want colleagues who will celebrate those achievements and recognise the difference that small steps can make to a young person’s life.
If you can bring Kindness to your relationships, Integrity to your practice, Ambition for our students, a commitment to Collaboration, and a passion for developing young people’s Independence, we would love to hear from you.
Together, we create a nurturing community where everyone belongs, is celebrated and empowered to shine.
For further information about Seven Hills School, please visit www.sevenhillslearning.co.uk.
Further information about the job
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 job requires you to download an application form, you will be able to upload the application once complete.
CVs will not be accepted for this application.
About Seven Hills School
- Organisation type
- Academy, ages 11 to 19
- Size
- Up to 120 pupils
- Age range
- 11 to 19
- Ofsted report
- View Ofsted report
- Website
- Seven Hills School website
- Email address
- tmycroft@nexusmat.org
- Phone number
- 0114 3082003
Arranging a visit to Seven Hills School
To arrange a visit and increase the chance of a successful application email tmycroft@nexusmat.org.
School location
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