Teaching Assistant - Symondsbury Primary School

An opportunity has arisen for a Teaching Assistant to join our friendly and hardworking team here at Symondsbury CE VA Primary School in our Reception class.

This post is for 32.5 hours per week, Monday to Friday, term time only plus one Inset day. Working hours 8:00am to 3:30pm. This is a permanent position. Grade 5 (pay award pending)

Candidates would need to:

• Have excellent interpersonal skills, dynamism and drive;
• Be committed to high expectations of pupil’s achievement and behaviour;
• Be organised and creative in your approach to children’s learning;
• Be open to learning and have a passion and drive to be the best teaching assistant you could be;
• Have the ability to ‘spark’ children’s curiosity and make learning fun;
• Have a commitment to supporting our school’s caring, Christian ethos;
• To engage and inspire children through our rural environment;
• Be passionate, imaginative and reflective: and
• Be able to work as part of a team.

Please complete your application on line

Closing Date: Tuesday 3^rd June 2025

Interview Date: Thursday 12^th June 2025

Visits to the school are strongly encouraged and warmly welcomed.

Please contact Emma Roberts (Headteacher) on 01308 423502 to arrange a visit.

Symondsbury CE VA 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 at the start of employment and again 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

The 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.

We can offer:

• A thriving school with supportive parents, dedicated governors and school community;
• A commitment to the professional development of staff;
• A good school with high expectations and clear vision for improvement;
• Enthusiastic and respectful children who are eager to learn;
• A talented, dedicated and hardworking staff team committed to raising standards;
• A purposeful, supportive and happy work environment;
• An inclusive and caring culture: And

• Caring, polite and well-behaved children with a love of learning and a sense of community.

If you can demonstrate the qualities we are looking for we would welcome your application. Application forms and further details are available from the Dorset for You website.