Specialist Teaching Assistant - Redeployment 20391 at ORC External

• Suffolk County Council

• Address: Rushmere Hall Primary School, Ipswich IP4 3EJ

• Salary: £25,185 per annum pro rata

• Hours: 30 per week - Term Time Only

• Contract: Permanent

When you join the Services for Deaf Children as a Specialist Teaching Assistant, we’ll support your development from the start. We’ll help you to play to your strengths, diversify your skills and build an influential and impactful career. 

Do you have recent experience of working with children or young people? If you would like to work in a challenging and rewarding role and you are passionate about making a positive difference to the lives of deaf children and young people in Suffolk, then we would welcome your consideration. 

Your role and responsibilities:

You will support the communication, learning and achievement, development and inclusion of deaf children and young people, based at the specialist resource provision in Rushmere Hall Primary School in Ipswich and will be line managed by the Teacher of the Deaf (ToD).

In a resource base, children and young people are offered bespoke packages of support, including support to access education in the mainstream. In the role, you will support the team in providing a robust and effective service, to ensure improved educational outcomes for deaf children and young people (CYP).

You will work with children or young people in the base or with them in their mainstream class, to make communication and learning accessible.

You will:

• facilitate access to learning in the mainstream classroom through supporting communication and understanding
• deliver interventions or bespoke lessons and activities, under the direction of the teacher of the deaf
• promote deaf awareness, inclusion and understanding
• support flexibly, children with a variety of learning needs who communicate through spoken language, sign language or a combination of the two. 

You will need 

You will need experience of working with children to support and manage learning and ideally some experience of the needs of deaf learners. Although you may not have a sign language qualification, you should be familiar with the basics of British Sign Language (BSL) and be prepared to undertake training to achieve BSL Levels one and two.

To be successful in the role you will need to:

• have good communication skills
• be able to build effective working relationships with children and staff
• be deaf aware

The team 

Services for Deaf Children and Young People are a very much valued part of the specialist education services. We all work closely together as part of Suffolk County Council’s Inclusion Service. 

We have a large team of specialists who are highly committed to deaf children and young people in Suffolk and their families. We embrace our work with our many schools and education settings, from Early Years to Post 16, empowering them to work within their varied communities. 

We are a friendly, energetic and committed team. We are supportive of each other and thrive on the difference we can make to deaf children, young people and their families.  

Empowering Everyone 

We’re big believers in potential, possibility and the power of different ideas. We’re always searching for ways to encourage, respect and enable everyone to be the best they can be. We want to represent the diverse communities we serve. We welcome applications from all individuals, especially those from groups that are currently underrepresented in the organisation, as shown in our Workforce Equality Report.

For more information 

For an informal discussion about this role, please contact Andrea Carron (Head of Services for Deaf Children and Young People) on 07850 217238, [email protected] or Kim Hodge (Head of Service) on 07540668579 or [email protected]

How to apply 

Step 1 - Read the Job and Person Profile (JPP) (word). 

Step 2 - Click ‘Apply Now’ to start your online application. 

Step 3 - Upload a supporting statement answering the following questions below (no more than 400 words per question). You should use the Supporting Statement template.  

1. Describe any experience you have of working with children or young people who are deaf. What did your support involve?
2. What experience do you have of supporting language development? Please give some examples.
3. Describe a time when you were given a new responsibility. What were the challenges you faced and how did you manage?

We value authentic applications that showcase your genuine skills and experiences. Applications suspected of being generated by AI may be rejected. We ask you to present your own work and ideas throughout the application process. 

Please note: Without a supporting statement, your interest will not be progressed. If you require any reasonable adjustments to the application process before the next selection stage, please contact our Recruitment Team by emailing [email protected] or calling 03456 014412. If you are invited to the next stage of selection, you will have another opportunity to request adjustments for the next stages of the process. 

Closing date: 11.30pm, 31 August 2025

This authority is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) checks or police vetting will be required for relevant posts. 

As a modern and effective council, we offer a wide variety of careers to suit people with a range of skills, abilities and ambitions. We offer working options that flex to reflect the way people work today and take the time to understand and support your individual needs. We’re driven to make a positive difference to the world around us and encourage everyone with drive and focus to join us and build an influential and impactful career. Reimagine the possibilities.

In return, you’ll enjoy:

• up to 29 days annual leave entitlement (pro rata), plus UK bank holidays and two paid volunteering days
• membership of a competitive Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS)
• travel, lifestyle, health and wellbeing benefits
• performance-related annual pay progression, in addition to an annual cost-of-living pay increase
• training and encouragement to expand your knowledge
• a variety of career development opportunities across our organisation
• diverse and active staff networks
• flexible working options, with the right to request flexible working from your first day

If you want to know more about our benefits, values and equality commitments please visit our Suffolk County Council careers website (careers.Suffolk.gov.uk).