SEN Teaching Assistant - Level 1

Ref: 001534

The Trustees are looking to recruit to the posts of SEN Teaching Assistant Level 1 Fixed & Permanent Posts

New Bridge School (Roman Road Campus)

NJC scale point 3: £24,796 per annum (full time, full year salary)

Actual salary: £19,044.00 per annum pro rata

SEN Allowance £1,539 per annum pro rata

Base Allowance (non-contractual) Autism Base only £1491 per annum

Commencing as soon as notice period of applicant will allow

We have an opportunity for an ambitious, passionate individual to take on the role of a teaching assistant in our school. Build your meaningful future with us and take your career to the next level.

Site: New Bridge School, Roman Road, Hollinwood, Oldham.

Department: Various

Salary: TA1 £19,044 + SEN £1,539 + Base Allowance (AB dept only) £2,106

If you’re the kind of person dedicated to improving the lives of children, you’re just the person New Bridge is looking for.

Why New Bridge?

“Staff are proud to work at the school. They are highly supported in their professional development” - Ofsted Report February 2025

We are committed to making a difference where it matters most to create meaningful futures for all

We invest in developing talent through our strong focus on coaching and training.

We nurture teams: fostering a sense of belonging secured by strong purpose and healthy relationships.

As we are a talent first organisation, we are always looking to find people who align themselves to our mission and values. If you feel that could be you then we would love to hear from you.

If you’re the kind of person that is committed to improving the lives of children, by having the ability to build good working relationships, utilising organisational skills, being flexible and innovative, and enjoy working with a range of different stakeholders, then you are the person to support our children and lead our staff. We pride ourselves on being the New Bridge ‘community’, a vocational destination, not just a job.

The school has an Outstanding rated provision which caters for 363 pupils with a wide range of SEND, from moderate learning difficulties to profound and multiple learning difficulties, including severe and complex learning difficulties. The school is popular with families both in Oldham and the surrounding boroughs and our numbers are increasing year on year. We are excited about being able to expand our teaching roles and create new vacancies to meet the needs of our new pupils. The school also caters for a wide range of pupils including those with physical disabilities, multisensory impairments, visual impairments, hearing impairments and autism spectrum conditions. All pupils have an EHC plan. In order to cater to the needs of the range of pupils the school has developed a range of different provisions, including our Key Stage 3 main body, Autism Base, Interactive Base and Key Stage 4 Community Living Groups.

Our vision is to create meaningful futures and as the result of staff moving into promoted posts the Trustees are looking to appoint a number of resilient and enthusiastic Level 1 Teaching Assistants to join our dynamic, growing and committed staff team in the following areas:

Main Body:

Our main body provision is for pupils who are working towards a destination of being independent or working with support in their community. With this in mind the curriculum is underpinned by the intent to maximise the ability for every pupil to live as independently as possible. To achieve this, we seek to offer an engaging, fun and relevant curriculum that is flexible to the needs of our pupils and which reflects EHCP outcomes and supports their wellbeing. In the main body we implement this through a blended model where 70% of lessons are delivered by the form tutor, including English, Maths, Science, Living Skills and RSE. Other Enrichment subjects such as Art, PE, Music and Cooking are delivered by subject specialist teachers. Our main body groups are usually 13 pupils or less with a one teacher and up to two TA’s depending on the needs of the pupils in the group. As a TA1 in our main body

you would be assigned to a form group and would support this group both when they are with the class teacher and also when they move around the school to their other subjects.

Autism Base (AB):

New Bridge School’s discrete Autism provision is a consistent environment for students with a diagnosis of autism and associated complex needs. The curriculum echoes that of the main school and students enjoy all subjects and have full access to all the school’s facilities. The main focus in the Autism Base is to develop social interaction, self and sensory regulation and

communication skills. This supports the pupils to express their wants, needs and emotions in more appropriate ways. These pupils are working towards a destination of playing a part in their community and are likely to require lifelong support to do so.

The class teachers in these settings focus largely on EHCP outcomes and deliver the majority of subjects to pupils. Enrichment subjects like PE, Music and Art are delivered by a specialist teacher. The pupils in these groups may have associated sensory sensitivities and require support from staff to engage in sensory diets to regulate their level of arousal. The majority

of pupils have behaviour plans with strategies to support proactive interventions to successfully support the regulation of emotions. All staff in the department are Team Teach trained but will only use physical intervention as an absolute last resort. Groups in AB are usually no more than seven pupils supported by one teacher and up to four TA’s. TA1’s working in the Autism Base will be assigned a class group and support pupils with all interventions to ensure that they can successfully access their curriculum and aspirational destination.

Applicants should be able to demonstrate how they meet the following essential criteria:

• Previous experience of working with young people of primary/secondary school age who may present with challenging behaviour and complex needs, preferably within an educational setting
• A nurturing and empathetic approach to behaviour management
• The physical and emotional resilience to support students with complex needs, taking a non-judgemental approach
• The ability to support teaching and learning within a special needs setting to a dedicated group of students
• The ability to support the class teacher to monitor student progress, ensuring their improved engagement with the school and their learning
• The ability to record student progress and provide regular feedback to stakeholders.
• The ability to model and encourage appropriate social behaviour in and out of school and to cater for the general welfare of students.
• The ability to work in partnership with classroom teachers to differentiate appropriate interventions for students in relation to the curriculum
• The ability to work as part of a team using own initiative when needed
• Willingness to participate in own professional development

Although based initially at our Roman Road site, all staff are employed by the MAT and are expected to work at any site within the New Bridge Group.

New Bridge MAT is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and applicants must have a commitment to safeguarding young people. This post is subject to a satisfactory enhanced disclosure from the Disclosure and Barring Service and references will be sought prior to appointment.

Salary: NJC scale point 3: £24,796 per annum (full time, full year salary)

Actual Salary: £19,044.00 per annum pro rata

Allowance: SEN allowance £1,539 per annum - Base Allowance -AB dept only £1491

Status: Fixed term & Permanent positions available

Contracted Hours: 32 hours per 55 minutes per week / term time only (195 days)

Based: Initially at New Bridge School, Roman Road, Hollinwood, OL8 3PH

Closing Date: 9am Friday 12 June 2026

Interviews: w/c Monday 22 June 2026

Further Info: Debbie Birch-Hall, Deputy Head of School dhall@newbridgegroup.org

Completed applications to be sent to: recruitment@newbridgegroup.org