Specialist Learning Support Assistant

**About Us**

Here at West Sussex County Council we are ambitious for our children and our workforce. Our Children, Young People and Learning directorate is committed to improving our services for the children and families in West Sussex we support through our 'ChildrenFirst' improvement plan. The West Sussex approach puts the child first. We work with children, families, communities, our partners and schools in a restorative, strengths based way. Strong relationships are at the heart of what we do.

The Autism and Social Communication Advisory Team provides advice and support to schools for individual pupils with Autism social and communication needs, to provide best inclusive practice for children with special educational needs and disabilities. Workingfor us is all about making a positive difference to the children and young people of West Sussex.

**About The Job**

**Salary**: £20,440 - £20,852 (£17,456 - £17,804 TTO pro-rata)
**Working Pattern**: 1 year fixed term contract, full-time, term time only (39 weeks per year)
**Location**: Various (County-wide travel)

This is an exciting opportunity to be a key member of the team delivering effective support and intervention to meet the needs of children who are autistic or have social communication differences.

Working as a Specialist Learning Support Assistant, you will support school staff develop their skills so that they can ensure that children can access their educational settings and are engaged in their learning. This field of specialisation requires youto work with Advisory Teachers, leaders and practitioners to ensure children and young people achieve positive learning outcomes.

You will support school staff to develop their skills to ensure that the children are able to access their educational setting and are engaged positively in their learning. There will be a need to be able to travel independently to various schools and educationalestablishments around the county, including to areas that may not be easily accessible by public transport.

In order to succeed in this role you will be expected to have knowledge and understanding of neurodiversity, an understanding of effective teaching strategies used for working with children, a commitment to inclusive practice and an ability challenge existingto practice and identify innovative solutions.

**Experience and Skills**

**Key Skills**:

- Sound communication and interpersonal skills in order to interact effectively with a range of clients and create effective working relationships.
- Ability to respond sensitively and flexibly to diverse groups of service users whilst maintaining confidentiality.
- Ability to meet set deadlines and to understand when problems need to be referred upwards.
- Ability to work in a customer-focused way, gaining trust of customers and providing a high-quality service with a high level of attention to detail.
- Excellent literacy and numeracy skills in order to maintain financial records and ordering systems, analyse and interpret detailed information including statutory legislation, and provide written material including the preparation of data.
- Ability to demonstrate emotional resilience and respond flexibly to the emotional and practical needs of the customer and any situations which may arise.

**Qualifications and/or experience**:

- GSCE (or equivalent qualification or experience) in English and Mathematics.
- BTEC or NVQ (or equivalent) in educational support of children (Desirable).
- Experience of working in early years and/or schools and working with practitioners.
- Experience of multi-agency working (Desirable).

**Rewards and Benefits**

As an employer we recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive and dynamic working environment where employees can achieve their full potential, achieve a healthy work-life balance and are rewardedfor the work they do. For a full list of the benefits offered to you as a West Sussex County Council employee, please visit our website.

**Further Information**

The reference number for this role is **CAFHE03570**.

To apply, upload your CV and a covering letter explaining how you meet the key skills and experience you can bring to the role (this will be used for shortlisting), ensuring that any gaps in employment are covered in your CV. Please ensure you have savedthe job description attached to the main advert on our website as, once the job has closed, you may not have the opportunity to download again.