SEMH Teaching Assistant - Richmond, South West London / Surrey
Full-time, immediate start
£500 - £550 PAYE per week, permanent contract opportunity
When a young person in your care has a hard day, are you the one colleagues call to help them settle?
If so, this SEMH Teaching Assistant role at a specialist SEND secondary school in Richmond needs that experience. The school supports young people with social, emotional and mental health needs, and some students also have ASC or ADHD. The role starts as soon as possible, pays £100-£110 per day through PAYE, and runs long-term with a route to permanent employment.
You may have built your experience in a mainstream school, another SEN setting, a residential children’s home, a mental health hospital or a secure setting. Wherever it came from, ask yourself whether your current role makes good use of it. A school that plans its whole day around SEMH needs to give that experience a place to grow.
About the School
Students join this school after mainstream education did not meet their needs. Many carry anxiety, low self-esteem or the effects of difficult past experiences, and that shapes how they respond to new adults. Some will test you early to see whether you stay. The school works in a trauma-informed way, so staff look for what a behaviour communicates before deciding how to respond, and every adult receives training to work in this way.
The school is within commuting distance of Walton-on-Thames, Teddington, and Feltham.
What You Will Be Doing
- Support secondary-aged students with SEMH needs across lessons, small groups and unstructured times, including some with ASC or ADHD
- Build trusting, consistent relationships with the students you work with each day
- Recognise rising anxiety or frustration early and use calm de-escalation to help a student regulate
- Help students return to learning after a difficult moment, without holding the incident against them
- Record and share what you observe with Teachers and pastoral staff, so support stays consistent across the school
About You
- Experience supporting young people with SEMH needs, anxiety, trauma or behaviour that challenges (essential)
- That experience can come from mainstream schools, SEN schools, residential care, mental health hospitals, prisons or youth custody
- Confidence using de-escalation and staying calm under pressure
- A genuine interest in young people’s mental health and an openness to trauma-informed training
- Right to work in the UK and an enhanced DBS, or willingness to apply for one with support from Parker Smith Inclusion
If your experience comes from youth work, mentoring, sports coaching or support work with young people who have complex needs, please apply. A degree in Psychology, Criminology, or Social Work is welcome, though it does not replace hands-on experience.
Why Apply
Trauma-informed practice is how everyone at this school works, and staff are trained to match. That gives you a recognised specialism to carry into Teaching, Counselling, Social Work, Assistant Psychologist posts or Educational Psychology. Parker Smith Inclusion pays every candidate weekly through PAYE, with no umbrella company and no hidden deductions, and offers free CPD alongside the school’s own training. After two terms in a long-term placement, you have a genuine route to a permanent contract with the school.
The school is interviewing now and wants the right person in place as soon as possible, so early applications will be given priority.
Parker Smith Inclusion is an ethical SEND specialist recruitment agency. We put people first, taking the time to get to know you and finding you the right career opportunity. We recruit across a wide range of SEND settings for all career stages, including support staff, teachers, therapists, and senior leaders.
Interested?
Apply today or call Heeji Moon on 0203 011 4848. Alternatively, send your up-to-date CV to heeji@psinclusion.co.uk.