Learning Support Assistants

Salary:

Depending on experience

CORE Band £22,737 - £23,500 (FTE)

£18,293 - £18,907 (Actual)

PROFICIENT Band £23,500 - £25,119 (FTE)

£18,907 - £20,209 (Actual) 

Hours:

39 weeks (Term Time Only) , 34.5 hours per week

About Rugby Free Secondary School

‘Pupils benefit from a school community that includes pupils from a wide range of different backgrounds and cultures. There is a culture in which pupils see these differences as a positive thing. Uniqueness is valued and celebrated. Pupils feel confident ‘to be themselves’ at Rugby Free Secondary School. (Ofsted ‘Good’: July 2021)’

At Rugby Free Secondary School, we aim to foster kindness and pride, whilst maximising our academic and personal potential. We believe that all of our students should be happy and safe, whilst demonstrating the limitless endeavour and resilience required to succeed by striving for excellence. To achieve these goals, our school ethos is

underpinned by the foundations of mutual respect, positive relationships and genuine curiosity.

This is encompassed in our educational philosophy of creating more articulate, organised and progressive learners, and the desire to create both independent and collaborative learners who are proud to be educated at Rugby Free Secondary School.

Alongside this, we focus on broadening our students’ core subject knowledge and understanding of the wider world. As a consequence, quality-first Teaching and Learning is at the centre of our school’s ethos, and is the key priority for all staff. Our aim is for teachers to deliver high-quality lessons to all year groups, whilst also being supported to develop through pertinent and purposeful internal and external CPD that is bespoke.

Learning is integral to everything we do at RFSS. We ensure that all of our students, regardless of gender, ethnicity or ability, receive the best possible learning experiences, to enable them to achieve and maximise their potential. Here

at RFSS, we continually support students to develop a love of learning to help them become learners for life, in order to equip them with the knowledge and skills that they will need in the real-world. This is also the case with our teaching staff, who continuously develop and update their own pedagogical practices, through Action Research projects and other bespoke professional development sessions.

Please find below link to our website with the latest Ofsted report when we were graded as ‘Good’.

https://www.rugbyfreesecondary.co.uk/ofsted

Our Values are:

• Kindness – The quality of friendliness, generosity, consideration, honesty
• Collaboration – The belief that working and learning with others will lead to greater success
• Curiosity – A strong desire to know and to learn
• Resilience - The ability to recover quickly and learn from the difficulties we face
• Respect - To appreciate the importance of understanding and admiration for others and self
• Endeavour - The belief that hard work is needed to achieve something we can be proud of

Key duties and responsibilities

• To be committed to and contribute to the Trust’s ethos, work and aims of the school, enshrined in the school’s Mission Statement

• Under the guidance/instruction of the Director of Learning and SENDCo Lead: work with individuals/groups to supervise physical/general care of students, especially those with Special, or Additional Educational Needs.

• Support access to learning for students, prepare resources for the students you work with and provide general support in the classroom
• Participate in the planning, assessment and evaluation of teaching and learning

General Duties of the Role Support for students

• Make sure that the students you support are able to engage in learning and stay on task
• Supervise and provide particular support for individual/groups of students, including those with special needs, ensuring their safety and access to learning activities. Establish good relationships with students, acting as role model and being aware of and responding appropriately to individual needs.
• Promote inclusion and acceptance of all students
• Encourage students to interact with others and engage in activities led by the teacher
• Set challenging and demanding expectations and encourage students to act independently as appropriate
• Provide feedback to students in relation to progress and achievement under guidance of the teacher
• Assist with personal care relevant to the student you are engaged with as required
• Participate in the education of children, including to their health and wellbeing
• Support children with special needs (if appropriate to the focus of the role);

o Sensory and/or physical impairment

o Cognition or learning difficulties

o Behavioural, emotional and social development needs

o Communication and interaction difficulties

o Support for Gifted and Talented students

• To lead group activities independently

Support for the Teachers

• Be aware of students’ problems/progress/achievements and report to the Director of Learning as agreed
• Undertake student record-keeping to monitor the type of support you give and its impact on the student’s progress
• Use strategies, in liaison with the SRP lead teacher, to support students to achieve learning goals
• Assist with the planning of learning activities and accurately record achievement/progress as directed
• Provide detailed and regular feedback to teachers on student achievement progress, problems, etc
• Promote good behaviour, dealing promptly with conflict and incidents in line with established school policy and encourage students to take responsibility for their own behaviour

• Administer tests and invigilate exams as directed by your line manager
• Provide clerical/admin support, i.e. (collecting) photocopying, distributing coursework/exercise books/tests papers, filing, typing etc

• Assist with the display of students’ work
• Cover LSA absence where necessary

Support for the curriculum

• Undertake structured and agreed learning activities/programmes, adjusting activities according to students’ responses

• Undertake literacy and numeracy programmes, recording achievement and progress and feeding back to the teacher/your line manager

• Support the use of ICT in learning activities and help to develop students’ competence and independence in its use

• Prepare, maintain and use equipment/resources required to meet the lesson plans/relevant learning activity and assist students in their use

Support for the school

• Be aware of and comply with policies and procedures relating to child protection, health, safety and security, confidentiality and data protection, reporting all your concerns to the students’ Achievement Leader, Inclusion Manager or Child Protection Officer.

• Under the direction of the Director of Learning, assist with the supervision of students out of lesson times, including before and after school and during lunchtime, in order to ensure the students’ safety and good behaviour
• Be aware of and support difference and ensure all students have equal access to opportunities to learn and develop. Appreciate and support the role of other professionals

• Attend and participate in relevant meetings as required
• Participate in training including First Aid and specialise training relevant to the students within SEND and other learning activities and performance development as required
• Accompany teaching staff and students on visits, trips and out of school activities as required and take responsibility for a group under the supervision of the teacher

Safeguarding

Rugby Free Secondary School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff to share this and the below commitments.

·        To ensure that all students have a safe environment in which they can learn, reporting any concern about the environment to a member of the site team or if appropriate to one of the Designated Safeguarding Leaders.

·        To be aware of systems which support safeguarding and following the procedures as highlighted in the Safeguarding Policy

·        To identify children who may benefit from early help as soon as possible and discuss this with one of the Designated Safeguarding Leaders

·        To consider at all times what is in the best interests of the child

·        To protect children from maltreatment; preventing impairment of children’s health or development; ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care

·        To take action to enable all children to have the best outcomes

·        Checking of visitor identification, especially at the point of school entry and the issuing of relevant safeguarding information.

Generic Responsibilities of all Rugby Free Secondary School Staff

·        To continue personal development as agreed

·        To engage actively in the appraisal process

·        To undertake any other duty as specified by the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document not mentioned in the above

·        Whilst every effort has been made to explain the main duties and responsibilities of the post, each individual task to be undertaken may not be identified

·        Employees will be expected to comply with any reasonable request from a manager to undertake work of a similar level that is not specified in this job description

·        Employees are expected to adhere to the School’s agreed Code of Conduct and set an example of personal integrity and professionalism

·        Ensure all tasks are carried out with due regard to Health and Safety

·        To remain confidential at all times

·        To adhere to the ethos of the school

·        To promote the agreed vision and aims of the school

·        The school will endeavour to make any necessary reasonable adjustments to the job and the working environment to enable access to employment opportunities for disabled job applicants or continued employment for any employee who develops a disabling condition

·        This job description is current at the date shown but in consultation with the post holder may be changed by the Headteacher to reflect or anticipate changes in the job commensurate with the grade and job title

This job description does not form part of the contract of employment. The job description will be reviewed at least once a year and it may be subjected to modification or amendment at any time after consultation with the holder of the post.

If you feel that you could bring further impetus to our drive to improve the provision for our students and have the necessary energy, enthusiasm, and sense of humour to take us forward in this exciting curriculum area then please get in touch.

To arrange a visit to school or for an informal discussion with the Director of Learning, please call Megan Jones, Operations Manager on 01788 222060 or email; megan.jones@rugbyfreeschool.co.uk

Learning Today, Leading Tomorrow (LT2) is committed to safeguarding children; successful candidates will be subject to an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check. LT2 is always happy to receive speculative applications from excellent teachers and support staff.

The school will endeavour to make any necessary reasonable adjustments to the job and the working environment to enable access to employment opportunities for disabled job applicants or continued employment for any employee who develops a disabling condition.

This job description is current at the date shown but in consultation with the post holder may be changed by the Headteacher to reflect or anticipate changes in the job commensurate with the grade and job title.

We reserve the right to withdraw this vacancy at any time.