Teaching Assistant (Maternity Cover contract)

Langley Park Primary Academy has a fantastic opportunity to appoint an enthusiastic and motivated Teaching Assistant (Maternity Cover contract) to join our highly collaborative and supportive team from April 2024. Our Teaching Assistants are pivotal to our success in the classroom and provide a great deal of support for our teachers, therefore our successful candidate will be able to establish strong working relationships with staff and students alike.

We are looking for someone who;

• is dedicated to the job and prioritises the needs of the children in their care;
• has experience of working with primary aged children and preferably experience of working with children who have special educational needs;
• is resilient and solution-focused.

The successful candidate/s will need to have relevant experience and/or qualifications in working with primary-aged children. We are also looking for proven high standards of both spoken and written English and Mathematics. Being able to communicate effectively with children and adults is essential, together with a friendly and approachable manner. Our newly appointed Teaching Assistants will be able to work using their own initiative and can demonstrate effective behaviour management skills. In return, they will join a supportive environment with plenty of development opportunities within the academy and across the wider Trust.

This role offers an actual salary £18,480 per annum (£22,714 full time equivalent) based on 35 hours per week (Monday to Friday 08:30-16:00), Term Time + 1 week of inset. This is a maternity cover contract for 1 year. Please note that every effort will be made to offer a substantive role within a LAT academy thereafter. 

There are many perks to being a teaching assistant at Langley Park Primary Academy. Here are just a few of what to expect:

• Being part of a highly effective and supportive team
• Working with an understanding and approachable senior leadership team
• Free wraparound care during your contracted hours should your child already attend the academy
• A Wellbeing Half Day
• An investment in your professional development where you will have regular sessions with key leaders in the school
• Opportunities for progression and increased responsibilities following successful demonstration of practice

We strongly recommend that you come to visit our setting so that you can see in action what an inspiring and purposeful environment it is, for both pupils and adults.

Working for Langley Park Primary Academy: Langley Park Primary Academy is a unique academy with pupils from Nursery to Year 6 with an onsite Specialist Resource Provision for children with a primary need of ASD. This exciting provision demonstrates the academy’s sense of ambition to serve the community where pupils’ educational journey is so important. Being part of a provision that caters for such a wide range of age groups and needs means that there are copious opportunities for both children and staff to extend their experiences to grow and develop in many different ways. To enrich our curriculum, we take advantage of the resources and subject specific expertise we have in abundance in our academy. This means our pupils benefit from subjects like PE and Forest School being taught by specialists. There are also plenty of opportunities for colleagues to collaborate across all age ranges and roles to ensure that we are developing our pupils into well-rounded life long learners who are well equipped to contribute to society throughout their lives. In addition to this, the pupils and staff have access to resources that are unique to our provision. These include; a DT lab (including cookers and other various equipment), a sensory room, a forest school, sports facilities and a well stocked library.

We are delighted to announce that following our most recent Ofsted inspection in July 2019 the hard work and dedication of the academy was recognised and was judged as 'Good' with 'Outstanding' features in for our early years provision, personal development, behaviour and welfare and effectiveness of leadership and management. 

Being part of Leigh Academies Trust: As of 1st April 2024, our Trust comprises 32 geographically organised academies (16 secondaries, 14 primaries and 2 special) educating more than 20,000 students and employing 3,000 talented staff. Nearly 40% of our academies are judged outstanding overall by Ofsted, versus 15% nationally. The Trust is establishing four ‘clusters’ of academies: North Kent; Central Kent; South East London; Medway. In addition, the Trust is responsible for one of the region’s biggest initial teaching training organisations, a large teaching school hub and is an accredited apprenticeship provider. Our future plans are found in our Vision 2030 document available on our website.

As part of Leigh Academies Trust, you will have ample opportunity to collaborate with your peers both within the academy and across the whole Trust. This is an important part of our vision as we know through experience that we perform better when we work together. You are supported to undertake regular self-development to continue your professional development and hopefully progress further within the organisation.

Click here to view the benefits available to all LAT employees from day one.

Our commitment to safeguarding: Leigh Academies Trust and all of our academies are committed to ensuring the highest levels of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of our pupils, and we expect all our staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We adopt a fair, robust and consistent recruitment process across all academies and business units. All offers of employment are subject to an Enhanced DBS check, references, and where applicable, a prohibition from teaching check.  

Our commitment to equality and diversity: As a Trust we are passionate about diversity and recognise that as individuals, we all bring something unique to the role regardless of any protected characteristics which is why we treat all of our people equally, without compromise. We are committed to providing equality and fairness throughout our recruitment and employment practices and not to discriminate on any grounds.

Based on the quality and quantity of applications received, Leigh Academies Trust reserves the right to close this vacancy sooner than the specified closing date. Applicants will be notified of this where possible. Therefore, early applications are encouraged.