training and education
CPD
Job Title: SEN Teaching Assistant (Complex Needs & SEMH)
Contract type: Long term
Location: North Manchester
Start Date: January 2026
The Role
Secondary education presents a specific set of challenges for students navigating SLD, PMLD, and SEMH needs. These students require consistency, dignity, and a teaching assistant who understands that behaviour is often a form of communication. This role places you in a specialist High School setting in North Manchester, where you will facilitate learning for students aged 11-16 who require additional support to access the curriculum and manage their daily routine.
Benefits
- Competitive salary based on experience and qualification.
- Comprehensive professional development and training opportunities, including specialist SEN interventions and strategies.
- Dedicated Randstad consultant support for career guidance and opportunities.
- Long term placements available (6 weeks plus).
Responsibilities
- Provide 1:1 and small group support to students within a secondary setting, focusing on those with SLD, PMLD, and ASD.
- Manage and de-escalate SEMH behaviours using positive reinforcement and established strategies.
- Support students with complex needs and personal care, including manual handling, hoisting, feeding, and toileting, maintaining high standards of dignity at all times.
- Implement specific targets from EHCPs to ensure students meet their developmental milestones.
- Adapt secondary curriculum materials to make lessons accessible and engaging for students with significant cognitive barriers.
- Collaborate with multi-disciplinary teams, including speech and language therapists and occupational therapists, to deliver holistic care.
- Monitor and record student progress, behavioural patterns, and medical observations to provide accurate feedback to teaching staff.
- Create a structured, safe learning environment that reduces anxiety and promotes independence for young people preparing for adulthood.
Requirements
- Minimum of 6 months UK experience supporting children or young people with SEN, specifically Complex Needs and SEMH.
- Valid Team Teach qualification (Essential for this position).
- Experience working within a secondary school or high school environment is highly desirable.
- Competence and confidence in providing personal care and using moving and handling equipment.
- Solid understanding of safeguarding procedures and the ability to recognise and report concerns immediately.
- Resilience and patience when facing challenging behaviours or complex medical situations.
- Ability to communicate clearly with staff, parents, and external agencies.
- Eligibility to work in the UK.
- Enhanced Children and Adults DBS on the update service (or willingness to process a new application).
Conclusion
This position offers a clear pathway for an SEN specialist to apply their skills in a setting where consistency changes lives. You will join a supportive team dedicated to the safety and education of vulnerable young people in North Manchester. Click 'apply now'. A Randstad Education consultant will review your CV.
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