SEND Teaching Assistant – Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset

Full-Time | Monday-Friday | Long-Term | ASAP Start | Opportunity to Go Permanent

Are you a Teaching Assistant who loves helping younger children find their voice, build their confidence and achieve things they once found difficult?

We are recruiting a caring, proactive and experienced SEND Teaching Assistant to join a nurturing infant school in Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset, supporting young children with a range of additional needs.

You’ll provide a combination of 1:1 and small-group support, helping children with areas including communication, learning, interaction, emotional development and independence.

This is a full-time, 5-day-per-week position starting ASAP. It’s an ongoing, long-term opportunity with the potential to become permanent for successful applicants who are interested.

We’re looking for someone who wants to become part of the school – not simply pass through it.

Your Role as a SEND Teaching Assistant

Working with younger children means the progress you help create can shape everything that comes afterwards.

As a SEND Teaching Assistant, you’ll work closely with teachers and SEND professionals to provide personalised support to children who need additional help accessing education.

Some pupils may have Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) and require more individualised support.

Children may have needs relating to:

Speech, Language & Communication | Autism | Cognition & Learning | Social Interaction | Emotional Regulation | Sensory Needs | Additional SEND

For one child, success might mean communicating what they want.

For another, it might mean joining an activity with their peers.

For another, it could be completing a task independently for the first time.

Your job is to recognise that progress and help create more of it.

What You’ll Be Doing

As a Teaching Assistant, your responsibilities could include:

• Providing dedicated 1:1 SEND support to individual children.

• Working with small groups to deliver targeted interventions.

• Supporting children with speech, language and communication needs.

• Using visual communication strategies to help children understand routines and expectations.

• Supporting children with Autism and additional communication or interaction needs.

• Helping pupils develop their social skills, confidence and independence.

• Supporting emotional regulation and providing reassurance during difficult moments.

• Breaking activities into manageable, achievable steps.

• Helping children successfully access classroom learning.

• Supporting sensory and physical needs where appropriate.

• Encouraging communication through speech, signs, symbols and visual strategies.

• Working closely with teachers and SEND professionals to follow individual support plans.

• Celebrating progress – including the small steps that can mean everything to a child with SEND.

We’re Looking for Someone Who Connects With Children

Great SEND support isn’t about doing everything for a child.

It’s about giving them the support they need to eventually do more for themselves.

We’re looking for a SEND Teaching Assistant who can build warm, professional relationships while encouraging children to develop confidence and independence.

You’ll need to be:

Patient – because progress happens at different speeds.

Observant – because children don’t always communicate what they need verbally.

Calm – particularly when a child becomes overwhelmed.

Encouraging – because confidence can completely change how a child approaches learning.

Consistent – because routines and familiar adults can be incredibly important for children with SEND.

Reliable – because the children need someone who is going to keep showing up.

Your Experience

Previous UK experience within education and/or health and social care is essential.

We’d particularly like to hear from people with experience as a:

SEND Teaching Assistant | SEN Teaching Assistant | Teaching Assistant | Learning Support Assistant | Early Years Practitioner | Nursery Practitioner | Children’s Support Worker | Residential Support Worker | Care Worker

Experience supporting Autism, Speech and Language needs, communication difficulties, cognition and learning needs, sensory needs or children with EHCPs would be particularly valuable.

Experience with Makaton, PECS, visual communication, sensory strategies or speech and language interventions would also be a great advantage, although it isn’t essential.

Coming From Health & Social Care?

Your experience could transfer extremely well into this Teaching Assistant role.

If you’ve supported children, young people or vulnerable individuals within UK health and social care, you’ll already have valuable skills.

Communication.

Safeguarding.

Patience.

Following individual care or support plans.

Understanding additional needs.

Supporting independence.

Remaining calm when someone becomes overwhelmed.

Building trusting professional relationships.

If you’re ready to transfer those skills into education and can commit to five days per week, we’d love to hear from you.

Why This Opportunity?

This is an inclusive infant setting in Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset where SEND provision is a significant part of school life.

The environment is particularly interesting for candidates who want to develop their experience supporting younger children with complex and communication-based SEND needs.

You’ll have the opportunity to work alongside experienced professionals and build your understanding of areas including speech and language, communication strategies, Makaton, sensory and occupational-therapy approaches, cognition and learning, emotional wellbeing and individualised SEND support.

Most importantly, you’ll have time to get to know the children.

You’ll learn how they communicate.

You’ll discover what motivates them.

You’ll recognise when they’re becoming overwhelmed.

And you’ll see the progress that happens when a child receives consistent support from an adult who understands them.

We Need Long-Term Commitment

For children with SEND, consistency can be incredibly important.

That’s why we’re looking specifically for candidates who can commit to full-time work, Monday to Friday, 5 days per week.

This isn’t aimed at someone looking for occasional supply days.

We’re looking for a Teaching Assistant who wants to become part of one school community, build relationships with children and colleagues, and develop their SEND career.

Role: SEND Teaching Assistant
Location: Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset
Start: ASAP
Hours: Full-time, Monday to Friday – 5 days per week
Contract: Long-term and ongoing
Permanent opportunity: Yes – for successful applicants who are interested
Experience required: UK education and/or health and social care experience
Support: 1:1 and small-group SEND support

Help Build the Foundations

Working with younger children gives you the opportunity to make an impact at the very beginning of their education.

The communication skill you help a child develop today could help them access learning tomorrow.

The independence you encourage now could completely change how they approach school in the future.

And the relationship you build could help a child feel safe, understood and confident enough to try.

If you’re an experienced SEND Teaching Assistant looking for a stable, full-time opportunity – or you’re ready to transfer relevant UK health and social care experience into education – we’d love to hear from you.

Join a nurturing infant setting in Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset and become part of the team helping children build the foundations for their future.

Apply today for this SEND Teaching Assistant opportunity and an ASAP start in Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset.

As a specialist SEND recruiter, child safety and welfare is our number one priority. That is why we conduct thorough checks on all our candidates, and ensure that they abide by our Candidate Code of Conduct.

All Candidates will be required to provide an Enhanced DBS that is actively registered on the Update Service, or apply for one as part of the onboarding process. This is in addition to other mandatory compliance checks in line with the DfE guidelines. For further information please see our Safer Recruitment Policy.

SENDhelp is an equal opportunities employer.