Teaching Assistant to support Complex SEND Needs

Swaffham CofE Primary Academy, Swaffham, Norfolk, PE37 7EA

20 days remaining to apply

• Start date details

  September 2026 with the possibility of an earlier start date this academic year.

• Closing date

  25 June 2026 at 1am

• Date listed

  5 June 2026

Job details

• Job role:
  • Teaching assistant
• Visa sponsorship: Visas cannot be sponsored
• Working pattern: Part time
• Contract type: Fixed term
• Full-time equivalent salary: Scale D, pts 5-6 - £16,286 - £16,544 actual p/a (£25,583 - £25,989 p/a FTE)

Teaching Assistant to support Complex SEND Needs job summary

Part of the Diocese of Norwich Education and Academies Trust 

Tel: 01760 721831 

Email: office@swaffhamprimary.norfolk.sch.uk  

 

• Salary: Scale D, pts 5-6 - £16,286 - £16,544 actual p/a (£25,583 - £25,989 p/a FTE) 
• Fixed Term until 31/08/2027 
• Part Time 
• 27.5 hours per week 
• Term Time + 1 week 
• Start Date: September 2026 with the possibility of an earlier start date this academic year. 

 

About the Role: 

Do you believe in inclusion and that every child has the right and ability to shine, learn, believe and belong? 

“Provision for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities is effective.”  

“Skilled adults deliver support effectively.”  

“Staff enjoy working at the school… feel well supported by leaders… leaders are considerate of their workload and well-being.” Ofsted June 2023 

 

Our values are rooted in enabling every child to flourish through our fantastic curriculum. Swaffham Church of England Primary Academy has an exciting opportunity for someone who is driven to make a positive difference to children’s lives. 

 

We are looking for someone who is adaptive, consistent and patient, who understands how to support pupils with a range of communication and language needs, cognition and learning difficulties and associated communication, social and emotional challenges. 

 

The role includes working in our bespoke provision for children with complex needs with a high adult to child ratio. The pupil(s) that you will be working with will either be in our bespoke provision or experiencing their mainstream base classroom. You will be working either in a small group capacity, or on a 1:1 basis depending on the individual needs and this evolves with the children. Typically, each pupil has a range of needs that are individual to them and require a highly adaptive, responsive and empathetic approach. Their range of needs includes, but is not limited to:  

• Global development delay 
• Significant speech and language needs  
• Autism 
• ADHD  
• SEMH needs  

 

SEND and inclusion Teaching Assistant roles are unique and require a nurturing approach with a positive attitude, where we learn, proactively develop and adapt, as a team, to the needs of the children and support them to get the very best experience they can from school life.  

 

• Are you patient and understanding?  
• Are you child centred?  
• Can you work well as a team?  
• Are you keen to learn and develop your skill set and understanding of SEND?  
• Would you like to be part of our growing, positive team where children are at the very centre of all we do?  
• Are you able to adapt to the evolving needs of individuals? 
• Do you place a great deal of importance on mental health and well-being for all?  
• Are you enthusiastic about supporting children on their individual journey? 

 

If so, this is a fantastic opportunity to make a real difference and have a strong impact on special and inclusion at Swaffham Primary Academy! 

We want to hear from you! 

 

In this role you would be working as part of a team to ensure that high needs children have the provision, patience, understanding and support they need to access an adaptive curriculum and thrive within our setting.  

 

We are seeking to employ someone who can:  

• Support communication and language development  
• Support social, emotional and language needs  
• Be a forward-thinking TA with the willingness to learn, adapt and be flexible to meet the needs of all learners  
• Follow direction of the teacher and in collaboration adapt provision for pupils to access the curriculum  
• Promote inclusion and acceptance of pupils while encouraging constructive relationships within the classroom  
• Under the guidance and direction of the class teacher, promote positive relationships with parents/carers  
• Undertake structured and agreed learning activities, adjusting activities according to pupil responses  
• Support the needs of all learners to access the curriculum and make progress, under the direction of the class teacher  
• Have the ability to be independent and work as part of a team  

 

Desirable experience:  

• Working with ASD, ADHD and SEMH or pupils with global development delay would be an advantage  
• Confident and knowledgeable working with technology to support learning  
• Working with pupils with SEND 

 

Desirable qualification 

• Level 2 or 3 childcare qualification (or equivalent) 

  

We can offer:  

• A Thrive approach  
• Bespoke provision 
• A friendly, welcoming, enthusiastic and committed staff team  
• Fantastic children who are keen to learn  
• A commitment to CPD and professional development with opportunities across the Trust  
• The opportunity to work in a collaborative environment both within the academy and also as part of the DNEAT family of schools  
• A happy and positive working environment  

Fantastic provision including a soft play area, enhanced SEND areas around the school, large outdoor grounds and sensory provision 

Working Hours 

The successful candidate will work Monday to Friday, 08:45 – 15:15, inclusive of an unpaid break of 1 hour. 

Visits to the school are warmly welcomed. Please contact the school office to book an appointment or speak with the SENDCo/ Deputy Headteacher on 01760 721831 or office@swaffhamprimary.norfolk.sch.uk 

 

How to Apply: 

For more information about this role, including the job description and person specification, please read the attached Recruitment Pack available from ‘Attachments’.  

To complete our online application form, click on the ‘Apply for Job’ button, and you will be directed to apply through our Applicant Tracking System. If you do not already have one, you will need to create a ‘Teacher Booker’ account. Please ensure that you give detail and evidence in support of your application within the ‘personal statement’. This should include; why you think you will be a good fit for our school, how your experience/ aptitude and values demonstrate that you meet the person specification for the position being advertised and how you feel you can make an impact in our school. 

We reserve the right to close this vacancy earlier if sufficient applications have been received. 

Within the Trust we use AI to help review applications. If we spot that AI has been used in a misleading way, such as copying unedited AI created answers, exaggerating previous job experience, or pretending to be someone else, we may choose to reject the application without feedback. 

References may be requested prior to interview and may be contacted on receipt of your application form. Please contact us to discuss this further if you have any queries. 

Closing Date: 25 June 2026, 9am 

Interview Date: w/c 29 June 2026 

 

The Diocese of Norwich Education and Academies Trust are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all its children and expects all staff to share this commitment. All appointments will be subject to full safeguarding checks as well as satisfactory references. The Trust's safeguarding policy can be found on our website. 

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act and you will be required to undergo an Enhanced DBS check or Enhanced DBS check with barred list. If you have information to declare it may be protected under the Exceptions Orders and you may not be required to declare it. You will be asked to make a criminal conviction declaration if you are shortlisted for the post. Guidance about whether a conviction or caution should be disclosed can be found on the Ministry of Justice website. 

This post is covered by Part 7 of the Immigration Act (2016) and therefore the ability to speak fluent English is an essential requirement for this role. 

This post is likely to come under the requirements of the Childcare (Disqualification) 2009 Regulations and the successful applicant will be required to complete a declaration form to establish whether they are disqualified under these regulations. 

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 Swaffham CofE Primary Academy

• School type: Academies, Church of England, ages 2 to 11
• Education phase: Primary school
• School size: 209 pupils enrolled
• Age range: 2 to 11
• Ofsted report: View Ofsted report
• School website: Swaffham CofE Primary Academy website
• See more jobs: teaching-vacancies.service.gov.uk/organisations/swaffham-cofe-primary-academy

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