Teaching Assistant at Twynham Primary School

About the Post

We are looking to appoint a Teaching Assistant to join our learning support team. The successful candidate will be responsible for working with a range of pupil needs (e.g. physical, emotional or learning) and for the most part delivered on a one-to-one basis.

The hours for this role will be Monday - Friday 8.30am – 12.30pm.

There is a Special Needs input in the support to pupils in activities. Support is largely on a one-to-one basis to pupils with disability, learning difficulties or social, emotional and mental health needs. This may include pupils with a high learning ability (‘gifted/talented’).

This is an exciting opportunity for a talented colleague.

At Twynham Primary School we recognise that each child is different and we pride ourselves on ensuring that we teach children from their starting points. Laying the foundations for future learning is important to us, and each child at Twynham Primary School will have a very clear understanding of their learning skills, applying them in all areas of learning both academic and social.

We are a member of Twynham Learning - an exciting multi-academy trust of ambitious infant, junior and secondary schools serving the local community. Its aim is to offer this generation of children, young people and those involved in their education the very best leadership, teaching and learning, professional development and support services.

We are looking for an outstanding individual who will relish the opportunity to:

• Support the teaching and learning processes
• Assist the Headteacher/SENCo to promote individual pupils’ academic, social and emotional development through the development and implementation of programmes of pupil work and support and in the provision of a stable, caring and supportive learning environment
• To enable the pupil(s) to achieve their full learning potential and facilitate their personal, academic, social and moral development
• Promote and safeguard the welfare of children and young people in accordance with our Safeguarding and Child Protection policies

What we can offer you

• An opportunity to work with wonderful children and their families
• Automatic membership of the Dorset Local Government Pension Scheme
• Free, confidential access to our Employee Assistance Programme, which offers a range of counselling services plus financial, legal and practical support from qualified professionals on a range of personal issues and access to online health and wellbeing resources
• A trust-wide intranet, where we share our news, information and resources
• Local discounts negotiated on behalf of our staff e.g. gym memberships, hair and beauty salons, chiropractic care, cycle shops, restaurants, motoring services and retail/DIY stores
• Access to national discounts on a wide variety of huge brands
• A welcoming staff room with complimentary tea and coffee available throughout the day
• Free on-site parking
• The opportunity to work within Twynham Learning; a progressive multi-academy trust
• The opportunity to work in one of the most beautiful areas of the South Coast

Who we are looking for

We would love to hear from you if you:

• Have experience of working with children in an educational setting, together with the identified specific competences/skills
• Have significant empathy with pupils who have additional or special educational needs.  Where appropriate, to be prepared to undertake special skills training e.g. signing, to meet additional educational and communication needs
• Are you willing to attend courses as required to enhance the knowledge, understanding and skills to improve the general level and quality of support given to pupils and teachers and to maintain the identified competence of the post holder
• Have a minimum of 5 GCSEs A-C (9-4), including Maths and English, or equivalent NVQ Level 3/BTEC in Learning Support is essential

You will also be keen to live our Twynham Learning employee values which are:

• Aim high
• Keep improving
• Don’t leave anyone behind
• See the bigger picture

Any questions?

To discuss the post or your application, please contact Emma Barton on 01202 026065 or email us at [email protected] 

How to apply

To apply for this vacancy, please submit a Job Application Form and Diversity Questionnaire by email to: [email protected]  

Only applications made using our own official application form will be accepted. You can download the form and questionnaire here:  www.twynhamlearning.com/187/staff-vacancies 

The closing date for applications is Friday 3 July 2026 at 8am. However, we reserve the right to interview and/or appoint strong candidates before this, so we encourage you to apply early. Interviews will be held on a date to be confirmed. 

Twynham Primary School values the diversity of our workforce and welcomes applications from all sectors of the community.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people; this is a commitment which we expect all staff and volunteers to share. The successful candidate will be required to have a Disclosure and Barring Service check in line with the Governments safer recruitment guidelines.

The pro rata salary shown is based on the number of hours and weeks worked and includes appropriate paid annual leave and bank holiday entitlements.

The salary quoted is the annual salary for the position at the time of advert. The salary will be paid in equal monthly instalments and will be adjusted if leaving part way through the school year to ensure the correct salary is received for the work completed in an academic year.

This role is UK based and your Right to Work will need to be established as part of the appointment process.

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (ROA) 1974. The amendments to the ROA 1974 (Exceptions Order 1975, (2013 and 2020)) provide that when applying for certain jobs and activities, certain spent convictions and cautions are ‘protected’, so they do not need to be disclosed to employers, and if they are disclosed, employers cannot take them into account. The MOJ’s guidance on the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and the Exceptions Order 1975, provides information about which convictions must be declared during job applications and related exceptions and further information about filtering offences can be found in the DBS filtering guide.

Keeping Children Safe in Education

Twynham Primary School will conduct online searches of shortlisted candidates. This check will be part of a safeguarding check, and the search will purely be based on whether an individual is suitable to work with children. All aspects of social media and internet searches will be conducted. As care must be taken to avoid unconscious bias and any risk of discrimination, a person who will not on the appointment panel will conduct the searches and will only share information if and when findings are relevant and of concern.