Castle Hill Infant and Junior Schools Address: Ipswich, Suffolk IP1 6QD Salary: £13.05 per hour (£25,185 pro rata) Hours: 32.5 hours per week, 38 weeks per year Contract: Fixed term until 31 August 2026. Required as soon as possible Reference: 8382 Castle Hill Infant and Junior Schools are two established schools, working as one, based in Ipswich. Castle Hill is a vibrant school community within ASSET Education, creating learners who are equipped for the 21st century. We place great emphasis on developing children’s character, using our bespoke Learning Knights, restorative practices and Trauma Informed approach, in order to prepare them for the challenges that lie ahead in both their education and life. We are incredibly proud of our two specialist units and wish to incorporate their expertise within our mainstream provision. This is an exciting opportunity to join a consistently evolving Specialist Unit at Castle Hill Infant and Junior Schools as a SEND Teaching Assistant. Our Infant Unit has two classrooms; one is for children who have Severe Learning Disabilities (SLD) and the other is an Assessment Unit which can admit pupils from any broad area of need and assess the appropriate provision pathway for the next step of their journey. We are looking for individuals with a passion for SEN to join our friendly, hardworking team and make an impact on the learning of our pupils. You will need to be flexible and prepared to assist pupils on a 1-to-1 basis as well as in small groups and whole class settings. Experience of severe and moderate learning difficulties, ASD, dysregulated behaviours, strategies to enhance communication and ability to accept changes in routines will be invaluable. You will be supported in your role by experienced SEND teachers who will be available to offer advice and guidance as we continue to strive forward. You will: be a team player who is solution focused, patient and caring. This is to ensure pupils enter a positive learning environment have the ability to think on your feet and use your own initiative provide support with a range of personal care needs have a good knowledge of sensory strategies and how to use these to support children to co-regulate and self-regulate have a sound understanding of different communication methods have experience of PECS or Makaton (would be an advantage), however support and training will be provided supervise and provide support for pupils, ensuring their safety, well-being and access to learning activities, using specialist skills in behavioural management assist with the development and implementation of short term targets linked to EHCP outcomes and gather evidence need to connect with pupils to build trusting relationships promote the inclusion and acceptance of pupils within the classroom consistently support pupils whilst recognising and responding to their individual needs help with the production of visuals and resources to enhance their understanding, communication and engagement support pupils in sharing a space positively with peers support pupils learning to share and turn take on preferred activities. This post will be reporting directly to the SU Lead and will be based in our Specialist Unit within the school. To find out more Please read the Job Description (pdf) and Recruitment Pack (pdf) For further details, or to arrange an initial discussion with the Headteacher, Mrs Smith please call Joanne Sparkhall, Office Manager on 01473 741758 or email office@castlehillprimary.org.uk / jsparkhall@castlehillprimary.org.uk For further information about our school, please visit our website. How to apply To apply, please visit the My New Term Website. Closing date: 1 pm, 9 February 2026. Interview date: 12 February 2026. ASSET Education is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and the amendments to the Exceptions Order 1975, 2013 and 2020. The successful candidate will have to meet the requirements of the job description and will be subject to pre-employment checks including an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) and children's barred list check, health check, online search and satisfactory references.