Behaviour Support Mentor – Autism Specialist School
Locations: Beckton & North Woolwich, East London
Contract: Full-time
Start Date: Immediate
Setting: Specialist Autism School
DBS: Child & Adult Enhanced DBS required
Are you experienced in supporting autistic young people who may present with behaviours of concern?
Parker Smith Inclusion is working with a specialist SEND school for autistic learners who are looking for a resilient and experienced Behaviour Support Mentor to join their team across their Beckton and North Woolwich sites.
This is a specialist role for someone who understands that behaviour is communication and is confident looking beyond the behaviour itself to understand why it is happening, what function it may serve and how the right support can reduce the likelihood of it occurring again.
The successful candidate will work as part of a wider team to develop and implement effective strategies, providing both proactive and reactive behaviour support across the setting.
About the Role
The Beckton site supports autistic learners who may, at times, demonstrate behaviours of concern.
As a Behaviour Support Mentor, you will work alongside teachers, support staff and other professionals to understand individual learners and identify strategies that help them to feel safe, regulated and able to engage with their environment.
This is a hands-on role where you will need to be confident responding to situations as they arise, whilst also taking a longer-term approach to understanding and reducing behaviours of concern.
Your responsibilities will include:
- Providing proactive and reactive behaviour support across the school site.
- Supporting autistic learners who may display behaviours of concern.
- Developing positive and trusting relationships with learners.
- Working as part of a multidisciplinary team to understand the function of behaviour.
- Supporting the development and implementation of individual behaviour strategies.
- Identifying triggers, patterns and early indicators of dysregulation.
- Using appropriate de-escalation and regulation strategies.
- Supporting learners during periods of heightened anxiety or distress.
- Contributing to proactive plans designed to reduce behaviours of concern.
- Reviewing the effectiveness of strategies and adapting approaches where necessary.
- Working closely with teaching and support staff to ensure consistency.
- Sharing observations and contributing to discussions around individual learners.
- Promoting positive behaviour, emotional regulation and learner independence.
- Supporting a calm, safe and structured environment.
- Following appropriate safeguarding, behaviour and physical intervention procedures.
The Ideal Candidate
We're looking for someone who is resilient, calm and confident working with autistic young people who can present with complex behaviours.
You will need to be able to remain composed in challenging situations and understand that behaviour should be approached with curiosity rather than judgement.
The successful candidate will ideally have:
- Previous experience supporting autistic children or young people.
- Experience working with behaviours of concern.
- A strong understanding of positive behaviour support.
- Experience identifying triggers and understanding the function of behaviour.
- Knowledge of proactive and reactive behaviour strategies.
- Excellent relationship-building skills.
- The ability to remain calm and professional under pressure.
- Strong communication and teamwork skills.
- A reflective and flexible approach.
- The ability to adapt strategies according to the individual learner.
- A genuine commitment to improving outcomes for autistic young people.
Additional Training
Additional behaviour or physical intervention training would be highly desirable.
In particular, experience or training in Team Teach would be advantageous.
Other relevant experience may include:
- Positive Behaviour Support (PBS)
- De-escalation
- Low-arousal approaches
- Functional behaviour assessment
- Trauma-informed practice
- Autism-specific training
- Sensory regulation
- Makaton or other communication approaches
What We're Looking For in Your Approach
This isn't simply a role where you will be expected to respond when behaviour escalates.
We are looking for someone who wants to understand what is driving the behaviour and work with the wider team to put effective support in place.
You might be asking:
What happened immediately before this?
What is the learner trying to communicate?
What environmental factors could be contributing?
What can we change proactively to make this situation less likely to occur again?
The successful candidate will be able to balance immediate response and long-term intervention, supporting colleagues to develop consistent approaches around individual learners.
Important Requirements
You must be comfortable working across both the Beckton and North Woolwich sites (Secondary & Primary)
This is a full-time position, and flexibility to work across the sites is essential.
Due to the nature of the role, you will also be required to hold or obtain Enhanced DBS clearance for both children and adults.
Why Parker Smith Inclusion?
At Parker Smith Inclusion, we specialise exclusively in SEND education. We work with specialist schools and settings across East London and take the time to understand the people we're introducing to them.
If you're an experienced Behaviour Mentor, Behaviour Support Worker, Positive Behaviour Support Practitioner, SEN Teaching Assistant, or similar professional who understands autism and wants to work in a genuinely specialist environment, we'd love to hear from you.
Immediate interviews available. Apply today to speak with Elise @ Parker Smith Inclusion.