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The Team

The CCI specialist outreach team is a small, friendly, and supportive team. We are dedicated to improving outcomes for children and young people with Complex Communication and Interaction (CCI) needs, including those with a diagnosis of autism, throughout Kirklees.

The children we support are at the heart of our work. We work collaboratively as a team, with families, school staff and with other professionals, such as educational psychologists and speech therapists. We provide guidance and model best practice for school teams to enhance support of the children in their care to help them thrive.

We are looking for someone with extensive experience of supporting children and young people with CCI needs/autism in special or mainstream schools. Excellent interpersonal skills are essential for this role as you will be working with a wide range of people and sharing best practice with mainstream schools.

The Role

As an Advanced Educational Teaching Assistant, you will organise, deliver and evaluate the support for children with CCI needs.

You will be responsible, under the direction of a specialist teacher, for assessing and identifying need, organising, and providing learning and educational activities, developing skills, supporting integration and transition, securing children’s physical and emotional well-being, whilst raising self-esteem and encouraging independence.

As part of this role you will need:

• Specific skills and experience relating to complex communication and interaction needs including autism.
• Mainstream and/or special school support experience in either primary and/or secondary phases.
• Experience in leading, modelling and developing effective classroom practice with other staff.
• Ability to manage difficult conversations and meetings.

We are based at Empire House, Dewsbury, but as you will support schools across Kirklees travel is an essential part of this job. It would be extremely difficult for you to do your job effectively if you did not use a car for all or most of the time. It is essential that you hold a full and valid driving licence, and it is expected that you will either use your own car or a council vehicle (exceptions may be made for disabled applicants).

For a full list of the role requirements please see the attached Job Profile.

What the team say about the role

“No two days are the same, just like the children that we support and that is what I personally enjoy about the job.”

“We are passionate about our work and love to ignite that same passion in others, sharing knowledge and modelling strategies. The pupils we work with are a pleasure and a joy to be around and teach us so much!”

“I love my job; each day is different! Each child is unique and individual… We use a holistic approach which means that we value working with the families, staff and outside agencies – together we aim to make school a positive place to thrive for our children….”

“I would say that that the applicant needs to thrive on working in a range of varied and sometimes challenging environments and enjoy meeting new people. They need be driven by a need to make a difference for young people with complex needs.”

What can we offer?

• Friendly and supportive team environment
• Ongoing training and career development
• Excellent pension scheme
• Discounts with local and national retailers
• We offer a wide range of well-being initiatives including a cycle to work scheme and discounted KAL membership

If you have any questions about the role please contact Sherrie Simpson (Interim Strand Lead - CCI) at [email protected] or on 01924 483744

Shortlisting Questions

As part of the application process you will be asked the following 4 questions:

• Please describe your experience of working in mainstream and/or special schools in primary and/or secondary education.
• Please detail your experience of working with children with CCI needs, including autism and your knowledge of autism-specific approaches.
• Please demonstrate your experience in working with families in meeting the needs for children with CCI needs.
• Please detail your experience of leading, role-modelling and developing effective classroom practice with other staff.

Interview date(s): Wednesday 21 June 2023