Senior Learning Support Assistant - Woodlands Primary Pupil Referral Unit

Overview

We are looking for enthusiastic and proactive Senior Learning Support Assistants to join our team based at Woodlands Primary PRU, High Wycombe, during the Spring Term 2025.

Are you an experienced LSA, HLTA or cover supervisor looking for new challenges and opportunities?

Have you worked with children with complex SEND needs or met challenging behaviour in a primary school or a special school setting?

Alternatively, you may have experience of supporting children with complex needs in a different role and you are looking for a new opportunity to extend your skills and knowledge.

A visit to one of our sites is highly recommended. Come and talk to us about what it is like to work at our PRU and meet some of our amazing team.

Term time only: Yes

Salary Type: Bucks pay

Salary details: Range 3 - £27,310 to 29,295 (pro rata £21,916)

Contract type: Permanent

Hours: 35 hours per week - 8:30am to 3:30pm term time only (plus INSETS)

Closing date: 20/01/2025 17:00

Interviews to be held: On Friday 31st January 2025 at Woodlands Primary PRU in High Wycombe

About us

We are the Buckinghamshire Primary PRU. We support children who are finding life difficult at their mainstream school. Everyone who works for the PRU is passionate about giving the children we support the best opportunities to succeed, with a great reputation and close links with the mainstream schools in our community so that we can work together to help children overcome barriers and instil a lifelong love of learning.

You can find out more about us on our website www.bucksprimarypru.co.uk. We are delighted that Ofsted have assessed our provision to be Outstanding across all the categories they include in their report. This can be viewed on our website.

About the role

About the role: The role is based at Woodlands Primary PRU in High Wycombe and is a fantastic opportunity to learn about the different provisions offered by the PRU and will give you a chance to develop and consolidate excellent behaviour management skills. Life is never boring at a PRU! Each day brings different challenges and that is why it is so rewarding to work here. You will receive training and support from our experienced and friendly team to enable you to be successful. Once fully trained, you will have opportunities to work with pupils in mainstream schools as part of our outreach service.

This is a permanent role, term time only as described above. The actual salary is from £21,916 and will depend on experience. We will consider full or part time (at least three days a week but this must include a Wednesday) and the applicant must be available between 8:30am and 3:30pm each working day.

As part of our LSA team you will be working alongside classroom colleagues to deliver interventions to both individuals and small groups of pupils. Our class sizes are typically between six and eight pupils, which reflects their level of need. Our Senior LSAs also provide cover for teaching colleagues and lead classes when teachers are carrying out other responsibilities.

About you

You will want to make a difference to children who find it difficult to cope in school. Ideally you will have experience of working with children with SEMH needs in a primary school or a special school setting and want to explore what can be achieved for the benefit of many more pupils across Buckinghamshire. Alternatively, you may have had other roles or experiences (for example as an outreach worker or a tutor) which will allow you to bring that knowledge and skill into our setting, and with training and support, quickly adapt to a role at the PRU. Above all we are looking for someone with the right attitude, personality and experiences to add value to our existing team.

We want someone who is innovative and highly motivated. You will need to be well-organised and be able to take responsibility for working with small groups or 1:1, working alongside class teachers and other LSAs to give our pupils the best opportunities for learning.

As a Senior LSA you will also be:

• able to lead small classes in the absence of the teacher
• confident in your ability to lead outreach programmes for named pupils, building effective working relationships with mainstream colleagues
• able to fully contribute to the team, including supporting and mentoring colleagues to share best practice
Our pupils enjoy working with staff who take the time to get to know them individually, challenge them, support them with their emotional well-being and provide them with opportunities to shine. Take a look at the job description and the person specification and see if you are up to the challenge! Your application should tell us why you want to work for us and what skills and experiences you have to offer.

Other information

Visits to the school are warmly welcomed. To arrange a visit or to find out more about the role, please contact our school office on the number below.

Please send completed application forms to the email address below.

Tel No: 01494 475350

Email: [email protected]

Please note that we will be assessing applications as we receive them. We may choose to close the advert early if we feel that we have a sufficient number of quality applicants who are suitable for the role.

Safeguarding statement: The PRU operates safe recruitment practices and checks will be made through the Disclosure and Barring Service. All applications must be on Bucks Council application forms.

The Buckinghamshire Primary PRU is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. References will be sought, and an enhanced DBS check and an online profile search will be carried out for shortlisted candidates.

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore applicants are required to declare:

• All unspent convictions and conditional cautions
• All spent convictions and adult cautions that are not protected (i.e. that are not filtered out) as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2020).

For further information on filtering please refer to Nacro guidance and the guidance issued by the Ministry of Justice (see, in particular, the section titled ‘Exceptions Order’).

It is an offence to apply for the role if you are barred from engaging in regulated activity relevant to children. All shortlisted applicants will be required to complete self-disclosure form and return prior to interview.